Imagine you were a sax player. You've played for years and are passionate about it, its a part of you. Now imagine you got to jam with John Coltrane in a New York club he had never played in before. How cool would that be! Or imagine as a wedding photographer you got to hang out and spend a day shooting with Denis Reggie at a top drawer location. That'd be amazing!

As a Sierra Mountaineer Doug Robinson is a living legend, and last Sunday he accompanied modern Yosemite and Sierra visionary first ascentionist Sean Jones, freshly infatuated with climbing and on his first peak climb Graham Hunt, and myself on a wondrous adventure on Mt Emerson, surprisingly a mountain Doug had never climber before. After more than 50 years of climbing in the Sierra, there's not so many mountains left that haven't been graced by Doug's cheery presence. It was an incredible crew we had and the love and excitement was contagious. They call Doug the father of clean climbing and he's a natural born storyteller, being one of the most respected and revered authors in the outdoor world. He has so graciously taken time to write a guest blog recounting our adventure. You should check it out on my blog!

Shawn -- your shots are absolutely breath-taking (an appropriate high-altitude comment, eh?)...

Keep up the great work.

Always great stuff Shawn! I love the next to last one, great portrait!!

Man, these are awesome.

Shawn, your work is always an inspiration. Congrats on your recent Rangefinder article too!

These are nothing short of glorious! It makes me want to pack my bags right now and escape to those mountains.

Simply incredible!

Shawn - these are incredible. You make me (sort of) actually like the mountains. I think because you get to the top of them and you can SEE!!

Congrats on your article in Rangefinder - as soon as I saw the pictures, I knew they were yours. That's awesome.

Wow, these are great. I REALLY like the second image.... it makes me feel happy, like those huge smiles on their faces are a little contagious! Gorgious light and yummy PP.

I am overwelmed with what you do Shawn. Just looking at some of these gives me vertigo! I'm not exactly afraid of heights, but this is in a whole other league .....

Annie

Incredible!

No ropes, though? yikes... that is sccccccccaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrry.

I'm not sure which is better, the images or the story. Bravo Shawn!!

Wow, that's a nice little arête there! Great shots again..when's your book coming out? I'd buy it.

amazing.
this is your gift.

Thanks Dan! Since it was the first big mountains of the year, I was definitely loosing my breath. There's a lot less O2 over 13,000 feet, especially in the beginning of the season.Thanks Mike! It was so great to have Doug along. He's so photogenic!Thanks so much Kathy! I'm really psyched about the article, such an honor.You should Becka! A nice mountain get away is always good for the soul.Thanks Kim!Thanks so much Rebecca! That means a lot to me that as soon as you saw my images in the mag you knew who's they were. I think thats something we all strive for, to have our signature recognizable style.We had such huge smiles all day long!! A bunch of giddy kids enjoying our favorite playground.

Dude these rock, literally! I wouldnt be up there at all. More power to you dude.

Thanks Shane! Luckily for us the mountain never got to the point where we were scared. It was right at that perfect level where all of us felt comfortable without ropes so we could move freely. But yeah, most people would be using ropes for sure.Thanks Nate! It was such an honor for me to spend a day in the mountains with Doug, a true climbing legend. But it was just as big an honor when he offered to write a guest blog. He's one of the most revered writers in the outdoor world with many books and countless feature articles through the years to his name.

The book is still a few years away as there's still a few projects that Sean and I have in the works. But we've been talking about doing an inspirational climbing book for years, and after now doing 3 feature articles with Doug, he also wants to contribute some writing. Sean and I have always talked about having a book with lots of pictures that also has short inspirational stories and quotes, plus behind the scenes insights into how we got some of the amazing images we have. With Doug wanting to write stories as well the book idea continues to evolve into something we think is going to be amazing!! So hopefully in a few years. I also want to do my own personal book that will have everything from landscapes, to climbing, to mountain adventures, yoga, and just general outdoor lifestyle. So exciting!Thanks so much Robin.Thanks Graeme.Thanks Chris!

Holy Smack! Wow! Plus your living legend is a hunk! Very photogenic, especially on top of the world. There must be lots of ways to publish those images.

Woah Shawn, your stuff always blows me away -- not only your photography, but how amazing God's creation is too!

Leann

Fab as always, Shawn! The second is my fave with the second from last coming in a close second. (wow, that's a lot of seconds.... ) Thanks for sharing!

wow! those are incredible!!