Fall 2020

Man, this season really got away from me. After returning from the Grand Sierra Traverse, it quickly became time to harvest and trim at the Moonshadow CBD farm. We were so busy I didn’t capture many images of the process, but we did end up with 120+ pounds of trimmed flower and 750 pounds of biomass, so I'll call it a net win! Partway through, I managed to slip away to Santa Cruz for my first extended trip down the California coast, where Sierra was an excellent tour guide. I still prefer the mountains, but the water isn’t half bad! I was also able to get out on a few overnight hikes, including a long awaited trip to the Ruby Mountains of Nevada as well as a bushwhack in Tahoe to some alpine lakes where I crossed paths with a bear, yellowjackets, a mountain lion and some deer (luckily, not simultaneously).

As harvest was wrapping up, I was getting antsy from being at the farm for so long. To remedy this, I started aimlessly driving north and ended up with a couple of pals on the Oregon coast for halloween night, spent around a very welcome fire. Being at the farm the majority of the year made it incredibly easy to avoid people and make intelligent Covid decisions, but now that I’m in Tahoe for the winter working exclusively with tourists it’s going to be a whole different ballgame. Hopefully people do their part to protect their neighbors around the holidays and just maybe, the ski resorts will stay open. As always, I’m incredibly lucky to be happy and healthy. Bring on the snow!

Fall 2020 Tunes

Ash from the CZU Lightning Complex fire falls from the sky near a swimming hole called "The Garden of Eden" | 9/24/20 Santa Cruz, CA

Sierra dries off after a chilly river dunk. | 9/24/20 Santa Cruz, CA

Sierra insisted on a picture of me enjoying the coast, so here ya go! | 9/25/20 Santa Cruz, CA

Overland Lake catches its first glimpse of morning light amidst the smoke from the California wildfires. The Ruby Mountains are known as "the Swiss Alps of Nevada" and while I haven't been to the Alps before, I'm still a little skeptical. | 10/4/20 Ruby Crest Trail, NV

An empty valley on BLM land where I spent the night on my way back to the farm from the Ruby Mountains. | 10/5/20 Winnemucca, NV

Cole gets moody while waiting in the car on a grocery run. | 10/11/20 Oroville, CA

One of the Moonshadow barns filled with 800+ CBG hemp plants. This batch is destined to become CBG biomass: once dry, we shuck the flowers and leaves off, cure it and create topical products from the oil. | 10/27/20 Arjay Ranch, CA

At the last minute, I was able to convince Justin to drive through the night from Boise to meet me on the Oregon Coast. As luck would have it, another Athens pal, Caleb, was able to hang for halloween beach brewskis as well! | 10/31/20 Yachats, OR

Caleb and Justin, reunited once more. | 10/31/20 Yachats, OR

My campsite for the night just north of the California border. | 11/1/20 Brookings, OR

Emily celebrates after the first run of the season. The snow was hard and chunky, but there's no such thing as a bad day on skis! | 11/15/20 Mt. Rose, NV

Sierra soaks up the sounds and smells of the woods in the Garden of Eden. | 9/24/20 Santa Cruz, CA

The tide on its way out, slowly revealing the jagged rocks below. | 9/25/20 Santa Cruz, CA

I was able to wrangle up Bjorn to come meet me for a weekend in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada. Here we prepare to set out the next morning. | 10/2/2020 Ruby Valley, NV

Bjorn, eager to get off the trail to scramble up the ridge and down the other side to our car. Equally exciting was the the promise of burritos, since he brought only powdered milk and granola to fuel him for 36 miles. | 10/4/20 Ruby Crest Trail, NV

A quick break from harvest work at the farm meant a visit to the Feather River Fish Hatchery. They have a viewing area along the fish ladder so we could watch the truly massive King Salmon returning to breed. | 10/11/20 Oroville, CA

Sierra poses for a portrait along the Yuba River. | 10/16/20 North San Juan, CA

Puppy prints in the sand on the Oregon coast, hard to get more pleasant than this! | 10/31/20 Newport, OR

Soaking up that Pacific juju at the expense of purple toes. | 10/31/20 Yachats, OR

Caleb swiped my camera and snapped this gem. I got bored at the farm one night and chopped off the beard! Don't worry though, it's coming back ASAP. | 10/31/20 Yachats, OR

Sierra tries her hand at some side-country snowboarding after an early season storm, which opened the mountains to snow sports before the resorts. | 11/15/20 Mt. Rose, NV

Post-ski hors d'oeuvres out of the back of my car. Shortly after, snack time came to an abrupt halt as the sun set and it got brutally cold. | 11/15/20 Mt. Rose, NV