ECC Photo

A photo journal of the places we see and things we experience. We are currently on a trip to visit e For Mark's birthday, the duo traveled to Costa Rica.

MarkandMelody Photography was born from a mutual love of travel and documenting the beauty seen along the way. Two nomads managed to find each other and start a whirlwind of road trips, collecting state signs, waterfalls, water towers, and landscape shots of the USA in 2013. In 2014, MarkandMelody went international and hiked through British Columbia. Blink and you might miss long exposure shots from spontaneous midnight road trip or a weekend out of country. Thank you for visiting!

06/01/2022

Enjoying the last bit of winter at ! Reservations are required and they’re in 2-hour increments. We were lucky to get a reservation same day. Completely snowy at the peak over Memorial Day Weekend with cleared sidewalks, boots are definitely helpful! The folks winging it in flip flops were sliding all over the snow. At the peak it was 20mph winds and about 40 degrees, so bring layers!

05/27/2022

Summer is coming and we could not be more excited for the long sunny days and sunset hikes.

05/18/2022

Yosemite Falls as seen through the Valley Loop Trail on a blistering (85 degree) May spring day.

05/17/2022

Hello from the Yosemite Valley!

04/13/2022

at
Love springtime and the falls it brings.

04/11/2022

Lake 22, Mountain Loop Highway.
A mixture of rain and hail and sleet and snow, worth the view though. Didn’t hear any avalanches. An early start for this one is better, by the time we were on our way back there was a steady stream of hikers lake bound.

04/04/2022

3/26/2022: Mt. St Helens attempt via Worm Flows Route.

Drove down the day before with the hiker crew and arrived at 9pm. Woke up at 3am and started the route at 4am. Donned the headlamps, the six layers of clothing, grabbed my ice axe and set off for the Summit.

Air was frigid with a wind that turned into a brutal vortex of ice as we arrived at the clearing for the final mile and elevation gain. The first photo is Helens hiding behind the icy fog. Feeling the wind picking up by the minute, complete lack of visibility, and bitter cold frosting my veins, I turned back at the 3.5 mile mark of a 5 mile summit.

The measure of strength is not only in perseverance when the trail is difficult, but also calling it off when the danger is relentless. Right before I turned back, I saw tiny headlamps aglow, and tiny human figures blown off their feet, side to side, around the mountain like a frozen tumbleweed.

Helens will be there for my second attempt in 2022.