Kevin

By this time in my photographic life I'm at least a little more willing to approach complete strangers and take photos of them. With Kevin, the introduction was the ice breaker. Well, it was actually the opposite - we met high on the side of a mountain who's shadowed edge still had snow with only a small path etched into it. He had tried to cross each section earlier that morning but it was too cold, and the snow was too icy. That is when our group met him. Jen was quick to offer up a hiking pole to help stabilize him against the snow, and I was quick to give him a slap-fast intro into how to use it like an ice axe and use it for self arrest should he slip. But he never did.

We parted ways during our trip to each Burrough, but managed to line back up more than once, sharing our progess with each other. Having left Washington for California, then returning and finally coming back to visit the northern side of Mt. Rainier he was unsure why he never did before. It is so much different than the southern side, he said, and the trails take you so much closer.

There was a lot about this particular hike that we will not forget. The view is without a doubt part of that, but the view specifically puts each one of us into a certain context. It is one that very nicely says we are important, but collectively so. We are as individuals what makes up the sum of our lives. Meeting each other and affecting one another in some way, be it for good or otherwise.

Kevin's path happened to cross ours on that 8 hour hike, and we shared that context each time we arrived back to one another. Such is the way that our lives unfold.

This is Kevin as we approached Second Burrough, with Mt. Rainier and Little Tahoma showing everyone who views this image how great but small we are. I was prepared and after taking his photo handed him a card, telling him that I specialize in stranger portraiture. He's not likely to run into any other photographer to ever tell him that. And if he ever did, it is even less likely to occur in front of a 14,000ft volcano.

I've said it before: life is rich with experience. Welcome to the gallery Kevin.