We loaded up the camping gear and the film equipment in Portland. It was dumping rain as we drove out of town.

We stopped in for last supplies, mainly beer and dry firewood, at the grocery store in Estacada. I have a thing for small town grocery stores—the vibe they have, the cramped aisles, the bad country music, and the random stuff on the walls. Plus whenever I'm in one, it means I'm headed out to the woods with friends.

An hour later as we climbed the mountain it started to snow. 

We parked near the lake. We'd been up there just a month earlier, it was warm then and we swam the days away.

Now in late September, everything was getting whiter by the hour. We pitched camp, built a raging fire, and listened to Merle Haggard's ‘Misery and Gin’ on repeat. We had the place to ourselves.

The next morning we got up before dawn and began shooting the video for ‘Mountain Highway Line.’ In practically all of those scenes, we were freezing our asses off. But watching the video now, I love that we got the snow. It says something, maybe, that the sunlight couldn’t have.

“Kopp truly impresses with his debut outing.”

—Jason Scott, Editor, B-Sides & Badlands

Found is out May 1st.