*Photo* Somewhere Deep in Oregon | Shot during a heat-hazed wander through the pines

Camera: Nikon D7500 | Lens: AF-S DX Nikkor 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR

Journal Entry:

The road stretched out like a fever dream, gravel crackling under tired boots, the air thick with pine and unfinished thoughts. I was halfway between clarity and collapse, chasing ghosts with a camera and a half-warm bottle of water. This wasn’t a hike. It was an exorcism.

God knows what I was looking for out there. Legacy? Peace? A damn sign from the universe that any of this means something?

The shadows were long. The trees too still. Like they knew something I didn’t. Like they’d seen too many fools walk this road pretending they were just out for the view. But I wasn’t pretending.

I was searching.

And maybe that’s what this photo is. A confession. A crooked snapshot of the space between who I was and who I’m trying to become. No answers. Just dirt, silence, and the hum of something ancient whispering, “Keep going.”

Hunter once said, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.” And here I am, still on the damn ride. Dust in my beard, sun in my eyes, and too many questions bouncing around my skull like marbles in a tin can.

Legacy isn’t polished. It’s not some grand statement chiseled in stone. It’s the miles you walk when no one’s watching. The ones that beat the hell out of yo, but somehow, leave you feeling more alive.

So yeah. This is what I’m leaving behind: roads like this. Dusty truths. Photographs full of ache and defiance. The wild, stumbling honesty of a man who refused to walk the path quietly.