Take a hike

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Sometimes, you just need to hike. It's good for you. At least that's what my "little brother" Hunter keeps telling me.  I say  little brother with quotes because we're not REALLY related... but he's about as close to a goofy kid brother as a best friend can be. 

Don't tell him I said he's one of my best friends either. That will go straight to his head, and quite frankly... that boy just doesn't need the ego boost. I'm kidding of course, I doubt his ego would get any bigger. Maybe. Hell, I don't know. It very well might explode if he read that. 

Anyhow, last week I messaged him in our typical fashion. 

 Hey dork... I need eggs. ALSO... I need a model. 
 Ok on the eggs... and... a model? o.0
 Yeah... you got buffalo plaid and an axe right?
 What... you know what... ok. I do. Saturday?
 Yep. Saturday works for me

That MAY have been a shortened version. The version where I reassured him this was actually for work and not for a surprise Christmas present for Jonathan Charles Fox. was just too long to re-type from text messages.

Saturday morning I put on my jeans and boots, grabbed my camera and headed over to Hunter's house.  The first and honestly most important thing I did that morning was steal his son from his arms and gush over just how big that little baby was getting.  (Yes Hunter, you are in fact second fiddle to that little cutie. It's just the way it is. Accept it, and move on.)

My real mission that day was two-fold. A cover shot for Explore the Great Outdoors and a secondary cover shot for the Narrowburg Logging Days pull-out we ran in the newspaper this past week. 

We took a ride over the mountain and up the dirt roads to visit Hunter's father. His dad had the perfect specimen for the cover of the magazine and also offered up a crosscut saw for our cover shoot. 

"Ohhh... this is golden," I giggled.  Hunter (ever the good sport) just smirked.

"Let's get that buck photo," his dad said as we walked across the yard.  Hunter's father Adam owns Adam Hill Hunting Adventures and had just what I needed to make the cover pop.  Always happy to show me around, Adam led the way and I got into position. The buck, who's photo I didn't post in this blog purposely (gotta entice you to pick up the magazine somehow...) lined up perfectly and I got my shot within ten minutes of being there. I was completely satisfied. 

Hunter though, well... he thought a hike would be a good idea. With the baby safely hanging out at the house, and it being a nice sunny day, I didn't see any reason to tell him no. 

Off we went in my truck, up a two-wheel path. Brush and trees hugged the truck along the trail that we were calling a road. 

"Listen," he said as we got out of the truck, "when you get tired, say something and we'll take a break or head back."

Right... that sounded like a challenge. 

And so, I found myself hiking uphill, downhill, across some cliff faces and back through with Hunter. We laughed and talked and watched for the different types of animals that AHHA has to offer. I won't list everything that happened, but the photos really turned out spectacular. 

When we finally got back in the truck an hour or so later I put the truck in reverse and looked over at him, "Huh... guess I did good. Didn't get too tired."

We both laughed at it as we headed back to his dad's place to take the other photos.  And by other photos, I mean I was asking Hunter to be a lumberjack. At least for the camera. 

Off we went with the crosscut saw. We both knew you technically should have a second person for the saw, but that didn't stop us from faking some of the shots by conveniently leaving the second person out.

We laughed, and generally had a good time in my opinion.  

I got the photos I needed, and had another great day outside before the cold hit.  And Hunter... well, if you check his instagram... he's quite proud of being a covermodel for the Logging Days. 

graphically enabled, explore the great outdoors

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