As 2018 draws to a close it’s time for our annual post highlighting our favorite photos of the year. Without further ado we present to you 2018 in photos (and words).

Owen

July : Blue Ridge Parkway

We almost didn’t make it here. After finding a campsite 15 miles away I debated whether it was worth the drive to Humpback Rock when staying at camp would be so easy. Luckily, in the end the desire to do a short hike won out and we got to enjoy this dreamy sunset. The light was beautiful and the hills looked like waves rolling into the beach. We soaked it in and enjoyed a beer as the day transitioned to night.

July : Acadia National Park

Acadia is full of a great hikes but the Precipice Trail reigns supreme. Pretty quickly you get above the forest and then you get to enjoy views the rest of the hike up. In this case the word “hike” is an all encompassing term that includes crawling through rock gardens, climbing up ladders, and scrambling up steep rock. I loved every minute of it. As we neared the top the exposure became greater and the views even more vast. We timed it so we’d be at the top for sunset but we got a bit of a late start and ended up running the last quarter mile of the trail to make it in time. Right before our sprint to the top we walked carefully along this ridge. 

August : Nova Scotia

Camping in Canada is awesome. This summer was hands down the best camping we’ve ever experienced. Our first night in Nova Scotia we situated ourselves on a small isthmus connecting an “island” to the mainland. A nice breeze rolled in as we enjoyed our dinner, wine, and the sunset. Later on when the stars came out, we were wowed yet again. Very few nights have we seen such a magnificent display of stars and the milky way. That same night we also locked ourselves out of the cab of Lando, but that’s another story for another day. 

August : Nova Scotia

Did I mention camping in Canada is awesome? This was literally the next day from the last photo. The campsite we found ourselves at overlooked this delta which undergoes a huge transformation with the large tidal swings in the Bay of Fundy. It was amazing to see the difference. As it turns out, during high tide this isn’t a delta at all, it’s just a river. I went absolutely ballistic over this sunset. I forgot about the food sitting in front of me and started running around like a crazy person trying to grab all the cameras. It kept getting better and better and I took SO MANY photos. Eventually as the high wore off I was able to calm my rabid mind and enjoy the spectacle unfolding before us. Sometimes sitting back and taking it in is even more satisfying than taking a picture. 

September : Gros Morne National Park

Newfoundland is one of my favorite places we’ve ever visited. The people are nice and the scenery is incredible. The food left a lot to be desired but you can’t have everything right? Well, Gros Morne might just have everything. The park features widely varying landscapes, archeological significance, and they even have some decent food around it. The Green Gardens trail weaves it’s way over several miles to a rugged coastline. You can even camp out on the coast, which we didn’t know at the time. When we made it to the water we meandered along the cliffs checking the area out. We noticed a lot of poop on the ground and thought we might be in for a herd of caribou. As it turns out, the culprits were a bunch of sheep. Even with that mild disappointment we managed to thoroughly enjoy the scenery. 

MAK

January : Fort Bragg, North Carolina

It’s no secret that our year got off to a later start than we hoped for. Even though that wasn’t how we hoped things would turn out there were some silver linings. We got to spend a ton of time with our families! One occasion, in particular, was where we got this picture. My brother Erick followed my Dad’s footsteps by going into the Army. His first deployment sent him to Afghanistan for seven months and we were lucky enough to be around for his return. We drove from Orlando to Fort Bragg, North Carolina to welcome him home. It was a fun and emotional weekend which is why it’s at the top of my list of favorite pictures for the year!

August : Nova Scotia

Our night on Partridge Island, Nova Scotia is one that we’ll never forget. I kept pinching myself not believing that we were allowed to camp there! We settled into camp near a pavilion and a crude fire ring. As we were wrapping up dinner the sun began to set and we, as usual, pulled out our cameras for the display. This time I decided to shoot the sunset on my Nikon FE film camera. The only lens I have for that camera is tighter than I like for taking pictures of landscapes so I decided to do a “pano” consisting of three shots pivoting from the same spot. It was nearly two months later when I finally got to see the results of my experiment. The photos are now laid out creating the pano in photoshop. I left the edges untrimmed because it adds to the scale of the scene and I like it like that.

August: Nova Scotia

Our life in Lando was mostly lived on the tailgate. It became our kitchen, our office, our living room, front porch, lawn chairs, and everything else under the sun. I took this photo of Owen while he was taking one of me at a spot that we called home for the night. We watched an amazing sunset, met our neighbors who had two cute cats, and fell asleep to the sound of the rising tide on the rocks next to us. I think I love this photo so much because it captured what our year was like in this little truck. It was fun, it was simple, and Owen is cute no matter where I take him. <3

September: North Eastern Newfoundland

Arches Provincial Park is a small blip on the map north of Gros Morne National Park. When Owen mentioned he wanted to go to a park called Arches, we pulled it up on the map. I couldn’t help but laugh because at how tiny it was. When I think Arches...I think of Arches National Park in Moab, Utah! With little light remaining in the day, we pulled into the parking lot and descended the stairs to the beach. What we found was possibly the smallest provincial park we’ve ever come across made up of one huge rock with three perfect arches creating windows onto the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was breathtaking. Only two other people were there, one of which was a highly entertaining man with a selfie stick who left no photos untaken!

October: Red River Gorge, Kentucky

If we were going to send out a Christmas card this year, this would be the photo we’d use.
We don’t often have the chance to have our picture taken together because of how much time we spend in remote areas where there isn’t a soul around. However, this fall we were in Red River Gorge, KY and hiked to a popular overlook. A man saw Owen and I taking turns getting pictures of each other and offered to take a picture of both of us. We accepted and I walked over to hand him our camera and explain our manual focus lens. He quickly stopped my tutorial and said “No need! I know how to use one of these things!”. I tried once more to explain that this isn’t how a digital camera normally works and again he insisted he knew how to use it. I joined Owen on the cliff edge and our photo-savvy friend fired off a hand full of images. We thanked him without looking at the pictures and he went on his way. This is the photo we got. I know it’s a terrible photo but I can’t help but laugh every time I see it!