The Sliding Sands trail is perhaps the most perfectly named hiking route I’ve ever come across. As I descended into the Haleakala crater I could feel my body fighting the slippery terrain, fighting to keep me upright.

But it’s the way back up that will really get you. At around 3000m above sea level the air is thin, the sun is relentless and the terrain is as frustrating as it is beautiful. On the sliding sands it’s easy to feel like you’re making absolutely no progress at all!

I only spent 90 minutes on the trail, but if you time it right you can spend a full day hiking all the way through the crater. Once I made it back out alive I turned to take a shot of the trail, hoping to capture the barren landscape and the human struggle to defeat it.

My apologies for the distinct lack of new posts over the last two weeks, but I’ve been busy exploring Thailand! I was so excited for my first trip to Asia and it didn’t disappoint. Bangkok really felt like a living, breathing city more than any place I’ve ever been. I can’t think of many times I’ve felt more alive! I also spent time in Chiang Mai and Phuket as many first time visitors seem to do, and I’ll be posting plenty of shots from across the country over the coming weeks.

This shot was taken in the Chinatown of Bangkok, which was definitely one of my favourite areas of the city. Wandering the streets there was just so much going on in every direction, it was a hive of activity. So I decided to try my hand at some “shooting from the hip” street photography which I’ve not really done…