Rocked the Kasba ... Lake Lodge.
In the spring of 2018 I got the call of a lifetime. A request to combine basically most of my favourite things; fly fishing, photography, and travel. My friends at Kasba lake Lodge invited me up to create the new media for their marketing campaigns. I was elated…and then I was injured.
In the spring of 2018 I got the call of a lifetime. A request to combine basically most of my favourite things; fly fishing, photography, and travel. My friends at Kasba lake Lodge invited me up to create the new media for their marketing campaigns. I was elated…and then it all fell apart.
While doing some fairly routine yard work I pinched a nerve at my c6/c7 vertebrae and was pretty well incapacitated. I was in bed for 5 weeks straight, no medication helped, no physiotherapy worked, chiro, massage, nothing seemed to take the pain away. So unfortunately I had to back out of the trip. Rather than find someone else, the good folks at Kasba stayed the course and rescheduled our trip for summer of 2019, and it was worth every minute of the wait.
The injury wound up being a long lasting thing, in fact, I still have little to no feeling in my right hand finger tips. But oddly enough the thing that it effected most was my confidence. I’m not sure why but it shook me up so bad, but for the first time in as long as I can remember I felt like maybe I wasn’t as strong and tough as I thought. So as this years trip grew closer and closer I started to get really anxious, about the travel, about the work, about my ability to get the job done at the level I expected of myself.
As the weeks leading up arrived and my departure grew nearer I knew deep down that the nerves would shake off as soon as I got out on my first freelance trip in over 18 months, but that doesn't mean I wasn’t still anxious; I was a basket case.
In order to get to the lodge you first need to get to Winnipeg and then you take a chartered plane to the Northwest Territories and land right at the lodge on a massive gravel runway. At first I thought it’d be a bit nerve wracking to land on gravel but it was actually super smooth and the lodge and cabins are just steps away once you’ve landed so no need to drive or float plane elsewhere, you’ve arrived. You’re just steps from your cabin.
We were at the lodge for 4 nights and the facility and service is incredible. We were immediately greeted with a full breakfast menu and hot coffee and within half an hour of landing myself and my trusty assistant (Also my Dad, Pops) were meeting with Matt Hill - one of the lodge managers - to go over and narrow down our media goals for the trip. By this point my nerves were starting to drop off and excitement was taking over, I was finally starting to feel like my old self again.
After getting settled Matt set us up with our guide Nate and as we headed out for our first morning of fishing and shooting we exchanged some hellos and high-fives and quickly realized that not only was Nate also from Vancouver Island; but he was from the exact same small town as me, and just an hours drive from Pops place. So us three islanders set out in search of big fish and great photos and neither the lake, nor Nate would disappoint. I can definitely admit that me and Pops had no idea what was coming our way.
It wasn’t long at all and Nate had us into some beautiful pike in a little grass filled channel called ‘Hole in the Wall’. And really that’s how the next few days unfolded. Nate picked spots and took us to them at just the right times of day and thinking back, I can’t recall too many times over the trip that we went more than a half an hour without getting into fish. The lake is home to three native species of fish; Pike, Lake Trout and Arctic Grayling and we were fortunate enough to catch monsters of each species. In fact we caught trophy sized fish of each species on fly rods, which makes the fight even better.
One of the raddest options that the lodge offers is a float plane trip across the lake to the Kazan River. For an added fee guests can be flown over there for the day to experience world class trophy sized arctic greyling in their most natural environment, a crystal clear, cold as ice, running river. On day three we got in with Eugene - the lodges pilot - and he dropped us off for what would be an absolute highlight day of the trip. For anyone considering a trip to Kasba, you really need to take a hard look at the Kazan River day it was nothing short of incredible.
We hadn’t been on the river half an hour before Matt and Brandon landed this absolute pig of a grayling. The consensus was that it was in the 4+ lbs range which is a pound + over what is classified as a trophy weight for arctic grayling. The fish would prove a bit more finicky to land than what we had expected and it’s awful to say but it was a bit of a slow day, as a group I think we wound up with just over a dozen fish landed. But the picky fish didn’t bring anyone down, we travelled as a pack of three boats, we explored lots of different runs, ate a gourmet shore lunch and laughed the day away. I’ve been a professional photographer for over a decade now and this day will be nearly impossible to dethrone as my favourite day of work ever. By the time we left the river to fly back to the lodge I couldn’t help but reflect on how just a few days earlier I was nearing panic attack status about this trip, and now here I was on cloud nine. Funny how life works.
All week long we were paired up at breakfast and lunch with four other guests, we had Janet and Mike, a mother and son from Manitoba/Saskatchewan and we had Nelson and Brandon a father/son sort of also from Vancouver Island. Because us islanders tend to stick together we wound up spending a good portion of the last few lake days, as well as the Kazan River day all fishing together. And while they started the week gear fishing, we were able to drag at least Brandon to the fly fishing side by weeks end. I think we would have had Nelly too but he had kept in pretty close with The Kraken all week and most of his fine motor skills had left the boat by about noon each day.
The lodge itself and their staff and service is second to none. Great food, friendly service, hot coffee and cold beer. There isn’t much else you could ask of a lodge where the closest road is 150 miles away. The management and crew really stop at nothing to make sure that all of the guests feel at home and are having a great time.
After all was said and done, pushing myself to get out and get after this shoot wound up being one of the best decisions of my life. I went form completely shook and nervous to elated and confident again by weeks end, and to have been able to experience it all with my favourite photo assistant ever, my Pops, was just the icing on the cake.
If you’re interested in some more info about Kasba Lake Lodge check out their website or contact them at the info below, they’re great people and I’m sure they’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Kasba Lake Lodge
PO Box 96
Parksville, BC
V9P 2G3
1.888.908.0821
Or online at:
Click on the video below to see a video slideshow of the trip!
Thoughts, comments?
Very Far From Home.
One side of my in-laws lives in Nanaimo, BC not too far down the highway from home. The other side lives in a sleepy little town called Alexander, Manitoba; very far from home…I repeat…VERY FAR FROM HOME.
Drive through the prairies they said…it will be cool they said…Well ‘they’ may have exaggerated just a little. Saying it was cool would be a bit like saying McDonalds makes a great burger; it’s passable, in a pinch, but what’s actually cool is pretty much anything else.
One side of my in-laws lives in Nanaimo, BC not too far down the highway from home. The other side lives in a sleepy little town called Alexander, Manitoba; very far from home…I repeat…VERY FAR FROM HOME.
Our trip started out a bit roughly but once we left the lower mainland and sunk our teeth into the drive everything started to fall away, work stress eased off, home stress, cleaning, laundry, yard work, the usual day to day skullduggery all kind of slipped away and vacation mode took over. The drive out took us 3.5 days and was a roller coaster of crazy hotels, lack lustre continental breakfasts, ridiculous laughs and amazing scenery.
The only complaint I have was the prairies. I was really hoping for these ultra flat, hay bail filled, tree-desolate landscapes that old time Canadiana had raised me on, but I was tricked! The scenery through this section of the prairies was flat, to a degree, but more in the way that central Alberta is flat. The hills roll by endlessly, patches of trees line farmhouses protecting them from the winds sweeping across the fields and the highway winds through it all like a concrete river chasing the path of least resistance. Beautiful, but not what I was expecting.
Manitoba was really quite something. The bulk of our week there was spent in the two small towns of Alexander and Oak Lake Beach with moonlights in Brandon and Winnipeg. Unbeknownst to me Winnipeg has an amazing zoo where they are really doing it right. None of these tiny pens and depressed animals, these guys have gone all out. Huge multi-acre pens with a ton of effort put into truly building the animals a natural feeling and functioning environment. The polar bear pen is incredible, it’s massive and all built as a natural landscape with the exception of one giant glass tube for us lowly humans to walk through while the bears swim above.
Up until this point we had travelled over 3000kms and packed our days full of activities so following the zoo, a few days at the cabin was it just what the doctor ordered. It was really our first chance to out and out relax on the trip and this is when everyone really hit their vacation groove. The boys played outside and learned from Grandpa how to build fires, Heather and Jody got right to work on a puzzle and I launched into what is now one of my favourite books ‘Sick in the Head’ by Judd Apatow.
All good family reunions should end with fireworks right? Even if the person or persons responsible for said fireworks can’t get them to light and the watchers are being eaten alive by what are quite probably west nile carrying mosquitos…or whatever.
And just like that our time in Manitoba was done. It’s never easy to say goodbye to Don and Jody but alas the (road)show must go on. Up next was a marathon trip to Northern BC to visit family and friends in Fort St John, with a quick stop over in Calgary, Ab.
Before leaving Fort St John we had a chance to visit a friend of a friends house that was in a landslide last year. In total the house moved about 350 feet! It just slid, the whole thing, foundation and all. Then to make matters worse some kids came in and trashed the place while the owners were figuring out that ultimately they wouldn’t be covered by insurance or government subsidy as; the slide was an act of god. So at the end fo the day they basically lost the house completely. It was pretty surreal to go and walk through, such an unfortunate set of circumstances.
Hudson Redfern Photo
Hudson Redfern Photo
And just like that we were back on the road, leaving Fort St John and making the long journey home. We took our time, we stopped lots along the way, we drove partway with my brother and his boys, and just generally soaked up the last few days of what I’m sure will be a long remembered trip as a family, visiting family. Of all the things in life, of anything I could pick, my family, close and extended is my absolute favourite thing.
If you made it this far I’m shocked and very grateful for you. Thank you.
Thoughts, comments?
The 2019 Open ... @ CFQB
The CrossFit Open is easily one of the coolest event formats in all of sports. In lames terms - which is really as far as my expertise on the subject extend - it would allow anyone, from anywhere, who can complete the workouts on a professional level to funnel themselves from any corner of the globe, right to the Annual CrossFit Games, the sport of fitness’ very own super bowl.
The CrossFit Open is easily one of the coolest event formats in all of sports. In lames terms - which is really as far as my expertise on the subject extend - it would allow anyone, from anywhere, who can complete the workouts on a professional level to funnel themselves from any corner of the globe, right to the Annual CrossFit Games, the sport of fitness’ very own super bowl.
In our own little corner of the world we have a CrossFit Box (Gym), CrossFit Qualicum Beach (CFQB as I will refer to it herein), and it’s run by a couple beautifully good people who are nothing less than extremely passionate about helping others live their best lives. Each year the member of CFQB gather for what is an incredibly exciting 5 weeks at the box. It works as follows; on Thursday nights the CrossFit Headquarters releases via live webcast, the weekly workout. Registered athletes then have until end of day Friday to complete the workout at a certified CrossFit affiliate, (which, CFQB is) and record their scores online. From there begins the funnelling and while some are trying their best to make it to the CrossFit Games some are trying their best to beat their current bests, a feat no less noble the the former.
For the February 2019 open I teamed up with CFQB’s owners Lucas & Maggy to hash out a rough schedule of the five weekly workouts with the goal that I was able to make it to each of the 5 daily classes, 6:30am, 9:30am, Noon, 4:30pm and 5:30pm, on different weeks of the open. I know that sounds confusing but as this post unfolds you’ll see that the light changes from time to time because the photos were taken over the course of that 5 week period.
From week to week the Open definitely has an ebb and flow to it. One of the things that I love most about CrossFit as fitness plan is that the exercises vary so much. So because The CrossFit Open is a series of competition workouts some weeks are more advanced techniques in lower volume, some weeks the workouts are more basic techniques required in higher volume. CrossFit Qualicum Beach is so great at making sure everyone scales their own WOD to suit their own skill level that you wind up with a very supportive environment of people all pushing their limits to achieve their best workout results. It’s a very exciting atmosphere to buzz around being a fly on the wall.
Photographically shooting at CFQb is a blessing and a curse. On one hand you have an entire bank of windows to provide that beautiful, natural light but on the other hand the space is tight and there are lots of nooks and crannies for athletes to hide and get tucked away in. Because everyone is working in a time sensitive arena and pushing themselves there are non do-overs. Moments come up quickly and happen organically and may only transpire once so you need to be ready so I watch the majority of the Open unfold through my camera’s viewfinder; waiting for the moments. In 2019’s Open one of my favourite stories and moments was the 4:30 class and the always competitive Wilson brothers, Al and Steve. This was Al’s first open back in the box after a battle with cancer so to be on hand to see the two of them competing with and against each other, with the year they had pushed though together, was a very special thing to see. Very inspiring.
Al Wilson getting his Open workout score sheet ready.
One thing that always strikes me while covering The Open for CFQB is how quickly the 5 weeks goes by. I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is or how it is, but somehow, here in our sleepy little beach town; Lucas & Maggy have created something very very special. CFQB has become home for a group of people or athletes really, new and established, young and not so young, who through suffering, growing, gaining, and learning together, have become a very close family.
If you’ve heard CrossFit is bad, or you’re worried about getting hurt doing it, or if you’re worried about not being good enough to try it, I can tell you first hand, STOP WORRYING; CrossFit Qualicum Beach is different. Hit them up at the contact info below and just go once. You will not regret it.
CrossFit Qualicum Beach
#101 - 166 First Ave,
Qualicum Beach , BC, V9K 1G9.
Or online at:
Thoughts, comments?
One Pine Day...
When my Dad mentioned last fall that he was driving from Vancouver Island up to Northern BC to see my younger brother and fish a little, I did what any good and very annoying human would do - offered to break up a pleasant, silent, relaxing drive by inserting myself into the trip… And boy am I happy that I did.
When my Dad (Pops) mentioned last fall that he was driving from Vancouver Island up to Northern BC to see my younger brother and fish a little; I did what any good and very annoying human would do. I offered to break up what would be a pleasant, silent, relaxing drive by inserting myself into the trip… And boy oh boy am I happy I did.
Fall is without a doubt the absolute best time to road trip through British Columbia. The temperature has shifted away from the super hot summers, the leaves have started to change to their warm autumn colours and the highways are significantly less busy, which, if you’ve ever lived through a tourist season in BC, and the fall that follows you know of what I speak.
For the sake of keeping this post under a million words I’ll start the story as we leave Quesnel, on Day 3 of the trip, starting the last leg, a six hour jaunt into Fort St John. The weather had been a bit touch and go so far and day 3 was no exception. Rain and clouds were the story of the morning which was fine since the first 3-4 hours of the drive is getting to, and over the significant Pine pass.
As we settled into the early afternoon and began to descend the northern side of the Pine pass, some of the cloud cover started to break and patches of sun were moving in more and more. Pops had fished this area pretty extensively while living in Northern BC himself and had a spot picked for us to stop and check out, a good spot to stretch our legs and see if there was any activity.
As we pulled off the highway and crawled over the clunky wooden bridge, scoping the Pine river below, it was clear that by some kind of miracle the conditions were all coming together just right. The river was absolutely crystal clear, the sun was backlighting the run we had picked and the water was running at a perfect pace. We suited up, tied on a few lucky flies and started towards the river.
Because Pops is the way he is and he’d much rather watch me catch fish all day then land any himself, he pointed me in the direction of a spot he’d had good results fishing before and I got my first cast laid beautifully into a group of pillars from an old dock structure. I was fishing a Tom Thumb and it took its place perfectly, drifting right through a rippling seam in the river. It hadn’t been drifting more than a few seconds when BAM! A massive hit from an Arctic Grayling! We celebrated and laughed at a first cast fish and chalked it up to fluke but, man were we wrong…
That first fish gave way to what could easily be described as the single most productive and hilarious session of my life. Between the two of us we caught well over 30 Arctic Grayling, a dozen or so Rainbow Trout and a handful of beautifully healthy Bull Trout. It, was, insane! At one point we switched to my all time favourite fly, The Royal Coachman, because the Grayling were engulfing the Tom Thumbs and we were having to use the hemostats to dig them out of the fish. The sun continued to grace our spot on the river for a couple of hours before moving on and with it went a lot of the fish, but for that little slice of time, it was fish, after fish, after fish. The kind of day that happens to some anglers only very few times in their entire fishing lifetimes.
We rolled into Fort St John that evening greeted by absolutely torrential rain but with a fish tale for the ages. Probably a hard one for others to grasp in that moment since sunshine seemed so long away, but the buzz was infectious.
The next day we took my brother and his girlfriend, both avid anglers, back to the same spot on the pine but the rain had nearly blown the river out and had all but eliminated any visibility in the water at all. We fished every available run, with let’s say… limited success, but we did all land at least one small rainbow and a bunch of good jokes so although it wasn’t a repeat of the benchmark day before, it was still a great day on the river with our favourite fishing crew.
I’m well aware of how rare days like this one on the Pine River was and to be able to share it with Pops means everything, in fact, we’ll still text each other out of there blue with ‘Remember that one day, THAT one day’ followed by electronic chuckles and virtual recollections of a bite that has yet to be a rivalled. It’ll live there I guess, and here, until the elements line up just right again, and all hell breaks loose once more.
Thoughts, comments?
Reverence Movie Pt.2 : The Claw
The general way it goes when Darren and I work together is: I use my expertise to compose a photo I know will be great, Claw (Darren) then comes over to my angle, holds his hands up in front of himself as to make a makeshift photo frame, ponders for a second and then tells me to move. I then tell Claw to get lost, we argue back and forth, and sometimes I move, sometimes I stay, it’s a crap shoot! (See what I did there?)
The second segment the Clever Bear guys had me out to shoot was none other than Parksville/Qualicum local, and 20-some odd-year friend of mine Darren Berrecloth’s. When you’ve been friends with someone that long there is a certain familiarity that comes with the territory, or in this case, bossiness.
The general way it goes when Darren and I work together is: I use my expertise to compose a photo I know will be great, Claw (Darren) then comes over to my angle, holds his hands up in front of himself as to make a makeshift photo frame, ponders for a second and then tells me to move. I then tell Claw to get lost, we argue back and forth, and sometimes I move, sometimes I stay, it’s a crap shoot! Hahaha, but as frustrating as that sounds it really isn’t and there is benefits to working with a life long friend as well and it’s that same familiarity that allows us to collaborate so closely on things and know what the other is going to be stoked on without needing to wade through pleasantries.
For the Darrens segment of the Reverence movie he had a few stunts specifically selected for us to film/shoot. They were both fairly rowdy so nothing was a guarantee. The first line was a multi stunt trail Darren had built in a clear cut on the side of a mountain. There was a big drop up top, then a few medium sized gaps along the trail and it culminated in a HUGE rock to rock transfer near the bottom. The trouble with this stunt in particular was that as the trial makes its way out further and further into the clear cut, the whole thing becomes more and more susceptible to wind, which, when you’re dealing with a 45’ rock to rock transfer, is not ideal. More on that later.
I absolutely love shooting stills for movies. If there was one gig that could pull me away from my current situation it would be a very high paying, very low stress, very diverse photo job shooting behind the scenes on movies. Action sports, comedies, HORROR! All of it would be a dream come true. I love collaborating on angles, and chatting with the cinematographers, working with a team for a common goal, I love it…
More on that wind. We tried three different days, three different times of day, three different weather days. Wind. Wind. And more wind. Claw rode well and there were a few run ins I thought he was going to send the bottom gap but alas it just wasn’t meant to be. I mean, that’s the thing with these shoots, is that there is a lot on the line. For me it’s easy, I show up, hike a bit, set up, and wait. For the riders though it’s life and limb, and as much as I’m ready to capture some sick images I’m just as ready for everyone to make it home in one piece. At the end of our timeline for Reverence we didn’t get this trail top to bottom and that’s just the underwhelming way these things go sometimes.
After our exercise in frustration with the clear cut trail we moved back into the dank rainforests that Vancouver Island is known for. Claw had carved out a massive drop in one of his other super secret zones and so we made our way out to it to make sure we had some footage rather than none at all. The drop is in a really dark part of the woods so photographically it wasn't going to be easy. Introducing higher ISO speeds would help me get some more light but it also introduces more grain which reduces the sharpness of the image overall. Luckily we managed to time our shoot with a nice bit of high overcast which reduced the hot sun spots on the trees, allowing me to at least have some level of even light throughout the frame.
Once we all got our angles dialled, drones in the air, landings visualized, there was nothing left to do but for Claw to tee up the drop. He must have hit it three or four times, every time reminding us - and to a degree I’m sure to himself - that the circumstances of the clearcut were just a minor set back. He nailed it, clean, every time, because that’s what legends do.
All frustrations aside it was a great week traipsing around the woods with good friends creating some magic and sharing some laughs.
Reverence Movie features some of Freeride mountain bikinis best athletes and chronicles their journey into fear. It’is out on all of the major outlets so check out the website below for the trailer and track down the movie.
Thoughts, comments?
Reverence Movie Pt.1 : Matt MacDuff
I had met Matt before but only once; we crossed paths at Woodward West in Tehachapi, California a number of years ago. I was there on a winter respite photo trip with some friends and he was there living off of ramen noodle and sweeping floors to earn his riding time.
It’s always great to get the call to work with video production companies. It’s something that I really enjoy doing. So when I got the call to shoot stills for two segments of the upcoming Clever Bears production Reverence: A Journey Into Fear I was really stoked.
The first segment they had me out to shoot was Matt MacDuff’s segment which was being filmed in Errington, one of four small towns that make up the area where I live. I had met Matt before but only once; we crossed paths at Woodward West in Tehachapi, California a number of years ago. I was there on a winter respite photo trip with some friends and he was there living off of ramen noodle and sweeping floors to earn his riding time. At that point I think most people in the Mountain Bike world has heard of Matt but his celebrity certainly hadn’t risen to the post-pure-darkness level that we all know him as now.
One of the major challenges on film shoots (movies) is timing the weather. There’s always a lot of moving parts; filmers, athletes, equipment, are all arriving and available at different times. So when you get all of those elements aligned often times the weather is the last factor to connect the pieces. On this particular shoot we had a lofty goal, to help Matt get his vengeance on a double back flip out of an open loop; a trick that Matt had broken hi back trying just two years earlier. The trouble was, the weather was not part of the team. Was not helping. Was not doing its part. In fact it was doing everything it could to hold us up.
Claw had built a massive open loop takeoff ramp and an equally massive landing at his property, only, it had rained so much that there was no way it could be ridden. So we packed up the ramp, rented an air bag and Claw called in a favour to a local business who lent us their yard so Matt could practice. Once we got down there and got set up we managed to sneak in a short window when the rain wasn’t torrential and a serious practice session was had.
Because time is always tight on these shoots and deadlines are always looming after we managed a whole 24 hrs without rain it was time to get back to Darrens, set up the loop, dry out the run up and try our best to get the jump running well enough for Matt to carry enough speed to actually be able to get two rotations out of the ramp.
An amazing crew worked their tails off to get this thing going and once Matt was happy it was finally time to get some tires to dirt. Even Claw jumped in and learned flip no handers out of the loop, because, you know, that’s what 36 year old retired free riders do…
Eleven tries. Eleven crashes. Eleven landing fix ups. Countless yells of frustration…And then this;
Success! The worlds first double backflip out of an open loop and Matt had his revenge on a trick that broke his back. All of the hard work, all of the frustration, location changes, weather delays, run in issues, all fade away. Definitely a day of ‘work’ that I won’t soon forget. Being on hand, to help share this moment with Matt and the team was just an amazing honour. And to top it all off Matt got back up there, on the roof roll in from hell and stomped a huge flip-whip out of the ramp so that I could create what has become one of my all time favourite action sports images.
An incredible experience working on the film with these guys. I can’t say enough about how dedicated the whole team was to seeing this thing through with Matt. If you’re interested in seeing the movie have a click through the link below.