“Rob Raker and I hadn’t seen each other for over a year when the e-mail landed in the inbox from Colorado: he was psyched to get back to his SB roots and back to the ocean and Channel Islands.   The Rake had been in the mountains for well over a decade, filming documentaries from Madagascar to Antarctica…”

So begins a feature story and photo essay that is in this month’s DEEP Magazine from a trip out to Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands last August. Clicking the images below will open larger and readable spreads.

“Last year the Rake had been in Nepal climbing ice routes on Lhosar with Erik Weihenmayer.  The trip was timed so that Erik could also catch up on the now 2-year adoption process for a young Nepali boy; a process that began before political upheaval halted adoptions as the Maoist party came to power in Nepal.   After the ice routes were sent, what was expected to be a brief visit bound with red tape was instead bound with joy as the adoption was suddenly cleared and Erik could bring young Arjun back to the states.

The email I received from Rake eventually led to a plan. The idea was a family outing to Santa Cruz Island for days to include my family of four, Raker and Weihenmayer and wife Ellie, daughter Emma (9) and now seven-year-old Arjun. Little Arjun would be introduced to the ocean.

For Weihenmayer this would be a relaxing break from his day job(s): paraglider, skier, adventure racer, paddler, cyclist, author, speaker and mountain climber.

Weihenmayer has climbed Mt. Everest. Last year he finished the last of the Seven Summits in Austral-Asia, climbing to the highest point on each of the seven continents.  Fewer than 100 people on the planet have accomplished this feat; and Weihenmayer is blind.”