Every day for the month of February I will write and record an original song and post it. Here’s a playlist with the tracks:
"Big Basin Will Never Be The Same" is a short film I created in the wake of the devastation of the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire at California's oldest state park, Big Basin. This is the trailer for the full 18-minute film that will be released this week in remembrance of the one year anniversary of the fire. Offering a unique synchronized and continuous side-by-side before and after view of the fire's destruction, this piece of non-verbal cinema uses only music to accompany the viewer through a mesmerizing and heart wrenching exploration of profound loss, grief, time, scale, and consequence. This footage is unlikely to exist in similar form anywhere or ever again and I hope to be able to make future iterations of this film to document the landscape over time. This footage will be donated to the archive at @bigbasin_sp and all proceeds will be split equally and donated to @friendsofscstateparks, @mountainparksfoundation, @sempervirensfund, and @savetheredwoods. I genuinely believe this footage has value to the public and should be seen if you love Big Basin, Santa Cruz, or are concerned with the ecological effects of climate change. Thank you to Senator John Laird of California's 17th district for his support of this project. If this work interests you, please like, bookmark, comment, or share.
Big Sur's iconic Pine Ridge Trail in the Ventana Wilderness of Los Padres National Forest reopened 04/13/21, 5 years after the 2016 Soberanes Fire that closed it. I celebrated the occasion by being the first and only backpacker to do an overnight on opening day. The tubs at Sykes hot springs were removed because humans are terrible, definitely the right call for the future. Blackened Redwoods have sprung new growth and spawned saplings, though some did not survive. The trail is in great shape and I'm excited public access has been restored to this most beautiful place. Film and music by Eric Parson.