Ross Cramer
@rosscramer

What do you do outdoors? To me the great outdoors encompasses all of it from the parkways and side lots of old buildings to stretches of mountains and plains across the American landscape. And while I dream of bush crafting it isn't a way of life that will support 8 billion or more people on the planet. And hiking has brought me much joy, I think it probably can't cure depression on it's own (live, laugh, love? Just go outside!). Still, people use open spaces to improve their lives every day. Recreation to research. Spiritual journeys to providing food for your family. We use space to achieve personal goals, learn about the natural world, and simply get away from the noise and structure of modern society.

I will share my passion for hiking in the Ventana Wilderness through video and time lapse over the course of a year and a half while following the changing of seasons and ecological succession. This region is special because it is a transition zone between wet and dry climates as well as between mountains and sea. As weather patterns change the Santa Lucias also will likely go through changes that demand new ways of land management, ultimately creating different ecosystems in Big Sur. With this project I will do my best to record the way the Ventana Wilderness is now so that we may look back upon it later as it was in this iteration. I also hope you will feel compelled to share this experience by having your own adventures.