Our Spring '15 Stumptown Lookbook from the lens of photographer Kyle Hannon.
My favorite part of shooting the lookbook was traveling to White River Falls. The falls are massive and hiking down and getting to shoot in the abandon mill was so cool. I have always loved shooting in abandon buildings and nature so being able to do both in the same location was amazing.
Our Spring '15 Stumptown Lookbook from the lens of photographer Amanda Leigh Smith.
My favorite moment from the shoot was on the drive out of the desert and north to The Dalles. We went over a pass totally engulfed with thick fog and it was absolutely stunning. We pulled off the highway to take some photos in the frozen grass and I caught Tally dancing in the middle of the street while waiting for the others to come back to the van. Then we stopped to climb a giant gravel mound and I was the only one to make it to the top. I’ve honestly wanted to climb one of those things since I was little kid, so that was pretty exciting.
We all dream of adventure. An escape from our daily routine. An exploration that offers new perspective.
Many think that adventure leads you to the top of a mountain or opposite ends of the world. But grasping to that, often unattainable, mentality is going to lead you no further than your computer screen, where you stare with jealousy at those that get outside and get after it.
Lindsey Smith and her family venture to Mount Ida, Arkansas to mine crystals and homestead in the South’s oldest and largest forest.
When the weather starts to change, when the wind grows crisp and the air seems to brighten, I want to feel it all. Even with my greatest attempts at home, it all seems to happen too fast. There is too much time spent in front of machines and far too little time spent experiencing life...nature...place. Sometimes it takes a 7 hour drive into the South's oldest and largest forest to feel the sweet respite of the wild. Mount Ida, Arkansas is the quartz crystal capital of the U.S., and it was there we marked our destination for one week, on the homestead of friends.
The Danner Light Sherman is our most recent collaboration with our long-time friends, Tanner Goods. Combining unmatched comfort and Oregon craftsmanship, the Sherman boot is our most versatile boot to date, and fits exquisitely well with any lifestyle, in any environment, day in and day out.
Photographer Hunter Lawrence and his wife explore their new home state of Colorado.
It’s still a surreal feeling for me to call the Rocky Mountains of Colorado home. I grew up at sea level in a small Texas town close to the coastline, and now in a matter of 45 minutes I can be up to 12,000 feet altitude.
For the last 30 years, our Mountain Light boot has been believed by many to be the greatest backpacking boot of all time. As a trip to Iceland loomed for the first issue of Uncrate Quarterly, our friends at Uncrate teamed up with us to design a pair they’d want to wear all winter long, no matter where their travels took them.
Overland Empire's Mark Nielsen takes to the North Georgia mountains for some trout fishing and quail hunting.
This was our sixth year in a row coming up to the North Georgia mountains. What started as a camping and fishing trip between our dad and his two boys had turned into a recurring cabin trip with the entire family, which had grown to 14 strong.
The story behind the build of the 2X2 motorcycle in our Fall '14 Stumptown lookbook.
The Inventor of the 2X2 motorcycle was an eccentric man named Charlie Fehn. Charlie, born in 1915, was a self-taught inventor by trade and was always working on many projects at any given time. However, it was the two wheel drive motorcycle that captured his imagination.
Chukar hunting in the American West with Larry McKurtis and his dog, Ava.
The dog rocketed across the top of the wide chute. She seemed not to touch the ground until an odd footfall displaced a rock and sent it tumbling down the steep mountain side, another chip out of these ancient ridges. She effortlessly leapt over patches of thorns near the saddle of the ridge. She didn't break stride to inspect the thorn patches because she already knew they were there. Being on her back on the tailgate with my pliers prodding her leathery pads wasn't her favorite place to be. Leaping clear of the thorns she worked nose down to an often occupied chukar hideout. The inspection of the house sized boulder lasted only a few seconds before she kept moving up the ridge toward the peak.
The women's Mountain Light Cascade is featured in the Fox Searchlight Pictures release, WILD, based on the New York Times best-selling book by Cheryl Strayed. The film, which follows Strayed's journey on the Pacific Crest Trail, will be released in select theaters on December 5, 2014.
The importance of family camping, as told by Mark Nielsen, founder of Overland Empire.
We hadn’t camped as a family in a while. Between work travel and guys’ trips, it seems the only family trips had become beach trips and hotel stays. Not exactly the right thing for an adventurous family. Our girls are now 9 and 11, and we needed to make sure that sleeping outdoors would always stay on top of their list of family memories. So when the opportunity arose to attend Overland Expo near Asheville, North Carolina, we packed the whole family in the Land Rover and went for a drive. An eleven-hour drive through four states.
Deep in the Alaska backcountry, photographer Jeff Marsh goes in search of grizzlies and adventure.
Denali Grizzly Encounter Journal Entry:
On June 25, we took the park bus deep into Denali National Park. We were assigned a zone to camp (31) by the rangers. We had our bus driver drop is off at Polychrome Pass lookout. Because there are no trails in the park, we literally just headed straight into the wilderness, looking for a peak to climb and to camp on. It was pouring and swampy, with wild banshee mosquitoes. We were soaked. We stopped for a quick breather when I spotted a massive grizzly bear on the hillside far above us. We watched as he made his way down the hill towards us. We backed off a bit, and he continued to follow us, getting within a couple hundred yards of us. He seemed very interested in us and kept moving in so we picked up our speed. All of a sudden a full-grown moose came bolting out of the bushes about 75 feet from us. He got startled by the bear and scared the crap out of us. We thought the bear was following us but was in fact sniffing out the moose. We found ourselves in the middle of a big game hunt. Thankfully the moose took off quickly and the bear was quite lazy and turned around. This all lasted about an hour. We had our bear spray out, Caleb's hatchet, bear bells, 23 cameras and were making plenty of noise, but it definitely had our attention. Thankfully we had watched the mandatory safety video 2 hours before, so we knew how to handle ourselves properly. #ChasingBears14 quickly turned into #RunningFromBears14.
To introduce this season's Stumptown Collection, we head back outside with See See Motorcycles, catching misty mountaintop views from the PCT and defying gravity over the dusty Oregon dunes. With a retrofit two- wheel drive Rokon in tow, we easily made it Miles from Nowhere.
Wildlife biologist Jamie Granger shares her experience as a woman with a strong affinity for the outdoors.
Not long ago, leaving the pool after a roll session, with my kayak on my shoulder, I stopped to talk with an older lady in the parking lot. Seeing my kayak piqued her curiosity and she peppered me with questions about my life. After a few answers, she asked if I had always been a tomboy. The directness of her question took me by surprise- a tomboy! I thought, hadn’t she noticed my dangling earrings, fitted shirt and skinny jeans? I laughed, then retorted, that in my opinion, the fact that I enjoy spending time outdoors, doesn’t necessarily delineate me as a tomboy.
I consider myself to be a very fortunate person. I missed a shot on a nice 5 x 5 elk this year, the last week of the archery season in Colorado. There I was in the Flattops wilderness area, with a bull elk coming in to what he thought was a cow looking for romance. I missed what should have been an easy shot due to a combination of errors on my part, the main one being using the wrong pin.
This fall, we introduced the Danner High Ground, a family of men’s and women’s lightweight big game hunting boots. The athletic design, combined with key elements that lighten the boot and increase functionality, ensure you are quick on your feet no matter the hunting terrain.
Every year I await the cool mountain air and the turning leaves that signal September is here. For me, September means archery season and rutting elk. This year my good buddy Stan and I loaded up the truck and headed for our favorite elk hunting location. After driving half the night we finally arrived at the trailhead and unloaded our gear. Our chosen camping spot was over seven miles in, so we decided to hunt our way over the course of the morning.
We’ve teamed up with our friends from wings+horns to develop a limited edition version of our iconic Mountain light. Vancouver, BC based wings+horns is a brand that has been combining classic designs with innovative fabrics since 2004. They share our same love for the Pacific Northwest and quality manufacturing.
There is a saying that “every dog will have his day” and this most certainly applies to hunting. If you spend enough time in the woods, you are bound to experience an “epic” encounter at some point. A few weeks back, my number was apparently up to be thrown a bone and I was to experience one of these “epic encounters”.
