Mayor Bill in Hinkley | Route 66

Driving south along Route 66 I made my way into Barstow and was looking for interesting places to explore. I noticed a small community on my map nearby that sounded familiar. After a few moments I placed it. The town was Hinkley, California and its notority came from Erin Brockovich and the groundwater contamination case against Pacific Gas & Electric. 

I pulled up to a turn off and immediately noticed a sign about PG&E. I followed the road a bit further and almost thought I'd gone the wrong way. There's not much left in Hinkley today. Not surprisingly, it seems like most people left after the settlement from PG&E. I stopped to grab a picture of the Hinkley sign above what I thought was an abandoned store, and was then greeted by Bill, a man wearing a makeshift button stating that he was the mayor.  

Whether he was the mayor or not, Bill was pretty friendly and seemed like he was still enjoying himself from the night before. He was interested about the pictures I was taking so I told him about my road trip around the desert. In return he told me about the town, insisted a few more times that he really was the mayor, and our brief interaction ended with me requesting to snap a few pictures of him. Were it not for the encounter I wouldn't have had much to share about this nearly abandoned community. Bill made my detour to Hinkley memorable. 

Shambhala Music Festival: A Photo Series

Trying to document the visual explosion that is Shambhala is no easy task. This electronic music festival in British Columbia, Canada is a non-stop party with an incredible and infectious energy - one that I quickly found myself embracing. I was lucky to have a media pass to showcase this amazing experience and this 10 part photo series was the result. 


After tens of thousands of views I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has followed along. It's been an absolute blast for me to recap this unforgettable experience! To wrap up this project I've put together a few of my highlights from Shambhala 2015 below. View the remainder of the series here. Take me home! 

Redwoods in Northern California

Winding roads lead through a foggy mist that lifted and revealed an incredible forest. In driving the Pacific Coast in northern California it was seeing these massive redwoods, the tallest trees on Earth, that I was most excited about. It's an awe-inspiring place to hike and explore.