mastodon 4.7.2I do landscape photography professionally, and I teach photography workshops.
I also enjoy:
Freelance writing, urban sketching, haiku, hand-drawn maps, public speaking, kayak, canoe, bike, bikepack, backpack, xc ski & adventure. Slacker. Pro-wild rice.
Grand Marais, Minnesota, USA
Sunset from the Blue Ridge Parkway
Lake Superior at sunrise.
ICE Out Now!
Happy Spring! Here's this year's the first spring sunrise over Lake Superior in northern Minnesota.
My 2027 Photography Workshops opened for registration over the weekend. I'm humbled that a few filled up and several others just have one space available on them. Twenty years ago this year when I first started teaching photo workshops, I never imagined that my workshops would fill up so quickly. I never imagined that I'd have to plan my life a year in advance to run my workshops. It's almost like living in a dream. I'm so thankful for everyone that has helped me along the way.
I broke in the packraft yesterday on Lake Superior. The ice formations are really wild right now.
Note: I was dressed for immersion, etc. This isn't something that you should try without training, skills, and experience in paddling in these conditions.
80% of fatal paddling incidents share one detail: the paddler wasn't wearing a life vest. Coast Guard accident data reveals what's killing paddlers and what you can do about it.
https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/why-paddlers-die-life-vest-use-and-the-boating-accident-data/
My Unofficial Superior Hiking Trail map is finished and available for free. This was a personal project that I wanted to do, and it resonated with a few hikers who asked me to make them available. This will likely be the only edition of this map, but it should be one of the most accurate produced. I aligned the entire SHT with Strava heat map data via Open Street Maps. That took many, many hours!
Get it here:
https://bryanhansel.lemonsqueezy.com/checkout/buy/16d0dbf5-dcd8-46c3-89ab-dc0667a54e37
No Kings in St. Paul was so cool today. Springsteen was amazing, and seeing Joan Baez, Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Maggie Rogers, Twin Cities Singing Resistance, and Brass Solidarity perform together was unreal.
Sunrise in Death Valley National Park
Today is moon approach day for the Artemis mission. I'm excited. How about you?
the earth rises
over a cratered moon —
"a whole civilization will die tonight"
Northern lights over a campsite (vertical shot)
One of my favorite nl shots.
#photography #NorthernLights #night #Minnesota #bwcaw #LandscapePhotography
Little Red Corvette - Baby, you're much too fast
I'm below 10 pounds of gear for my backpacking bikepacking, and canoe camping base weight (paddling gear and biking gear not included). For bikepacking, I don't use the pack listed, and I haven't weighed the bikepacking bags that I use. I'm using Ortleib gravel panniers, a Rogue Panda top tube bag, and a Revelate Designs Pronghorn and Egress handlebar bag. So, probably 4 pounds in bags. I should get lighter panniers.
Full list here: lighterpack.com/r/ocdm37
Here's my latest essay about why your favorite photos matter more than your best.
A brief return of a rare winter phenomenon and how changing conditions and crowds reshaped the way I photographed one of Lake Superior’s most fleeting landscapes.
Learn how carving your own wooden camping spoon builds skills, self-reliance, and a lighter, custom tool for the outdoors.
https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/the-best-lightweight-camping-spoon-is-a-diy-wooden-spoon/
Ever paddled the Great Lakes and wished you could see them in a completely new way?
That’s what cartographer Stephen Kennedy does with his The Great Islands map. He inverts Great Lakes bathymetry so the lakes become land, and the land becomes sea.
https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/what-if-the-great-lakes-were-the-great-islands/
During a recent vote in Congress, Republicans removed protections from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the most used wilderness area in the country with over 1,175 lakes and interconnected waterways spread across 1.1 million acres in northern Minnesota.
https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/they-sold-out-the-boundary-waters/
A first paddle in the Alpacka Raft Caribou reveals how this lightweight packraft performs on Lake Superior and why it is making me see new potential in places that I've gone before.
https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/alpacka-raft-caribou-a-small-boat-with-big-possibilities/
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is under immediate threat. Congress is trying to fast-track a vote to strip long-standing mining protections and push a toxic copper-sulfide mine into its watershed.
Call your senators now: 202-224-3121 and ask them to vote NO!
More info in the post.
https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/take-action-now-defend-protections-for-the-boundary-waters/
A personal essay about what experiencing solitude under the winter night sky means, and how it feels being the one that interrupts another’s solitude.
https://bryanhansel.substack.com/p/sorry-to-interrupt-your-solitude
I worked in retail with VF bought TNF and saw what this article talks about. Small, local brands are where you find quality now, such as Cooke Custom Sewing and Frost River in Minnesota.
I ended up buying a packraft for bikerafting, and I'm planning a new adventure. I wasn't planning on writing a long article about this, but here it is.
https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/bikerafting-my-new-adventure/
Without a press release or public announcement, the U.S. Forest Service quietly updated its filming and photography rules, which are now in effect now, bringing its policies in line with the EXPLORE Act, but leaving a critical question unanswered.
https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/forest-service-updates-filming-and-photography-rules/
I was on WTIP's Boundary Waters Podcast. They released the episode today.
"In this far-reaching conversation, Hansel shares the historic role that art and photography have played in the preservation of public lands, from the establishment of the first National Parks through today."
Listen here:
Gun Violence Is Actually Worse in Red States. It’s Not Even Close.
This is an interesting analysis of gun violence in the US.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/23/surprising-geography-of-gun-violence-00092413
Learn how navigation really works in the Boundary Waters and why magnetic anomalies rarely affect your compass. Tips on deviation, declination, and staying accurate.
sunbreak —
frozen Lake Superior
cracks and groans
This purple DCF is hot! I just got this new stuff sack for my old tarp.
It's the February 18, 1926 Weather from the Hill update from Olaf Thorvaldsen, the first official weatherman for Grand Marais, Minnesota
Need a last minute gift for Valentine's Day. Wild Rye might be a good way to go. Here's what my wife has been using all winter long as a midlayer.
https://www.paddlinglight.com/reviews/wild-rye-sale-for-valentines-day/
Anyone out there with a packraft have a good gauge for speed on a mainly flat water river with some rapids to class 2 on it?
I'm planning a trip that involves bikepacking and packrafting, and I need a general idea for planning purposes. I'm thinking ~2.5-3 mph (4-5km/h). The river gradient is ~2.4 feet per mile, and I'm hoping to catch it at a moderate to high flow.
The HikeLight Dyneema Stuff Sack is a lightweight stuff sack made by a small maker in the USA. I ordered one and have a few thoughts.
https://www.paddlinglight.com/reviews/hikelight-dyneema-stuff-sack-review/
The Zpacks Comfy Camp Pillow is a lightweight pillow that doesn't use an inflatable bladder. Is it a good option for a camp pillow? Let's find out.
https://www.paddlinglight.com/reviews/zpacks-comfy-camp-pillow-review-first-look/
@Wolf@social.incognoble.com I got the Caribou
