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Weekend 1440 Project – Sunset Stories

REI Staff|

We all love golden hour, but sunsets can’t be beat.

There’s something special about ending the day with a front row seat to the sun’s daily retirement. Like many of our favorite memories, sunsets we remember are often full of story. The people, the place, the laughs, the food. All these come together to make a memorable evening outside and this weekend project was designed to celebrate that.

Focused on more than beautiful images, we asked our Instagram community to share what made their sunset experience so special. From Instameets in Yosemite to thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, we loved the variety of these “Sunset Stories”.

We rounded up some of our favorites from Instagram for you below. Take a look and, as always, remember to use #REI1440Project on all your outdoor photos. We might just feature you next time!

A few people have told me I should check out an #instameet sometime because it can be a good place to network with like minded individuals. When I saw that there happened to be one going down in Yosemite a couple of days ago I decided that, regardless of the instameet, a day in Yosemite with my friend who had never been before was going to be a win. So on Saturday, I dragged myself out of bed at 3:30 and headed out on the 5 and a half hour drive to get to El Capitan Meadow. It was a pretty incredible day to say the least made even more awesome by the fact that #tommycaldwell and #kevinjorgeson are currently living on the #dawnwall of #elcapitan attempting to be the first to free climb it. As we were heading out of the park just after sunset I caught a glimpse of the headlamps on the wall and decided to stop and try to capture it as best as I could. The light up higher is from the portaledges where the climbers get their R&R and the lower light I'm assuming is someone from the camera crew descending. That place has a draw on you, even when there isn't a historic climb happening, and it's especially hard to leave after only spending one day but I am incredibly glad I decided to go. I have many more images I want to share but I figured the last shot of the day was as good a starting point as any. #YNPinstameet

A photo posted by Ryan Cleary (@luminosityimaging) on

http://instagram.com/p/x51-m7o8C5/

After hours at the beach #malibu

A photo posted by ᗩᖇI ᖴᗩᖇᗩᖇOOY (@ari_fararooy) on

(Click through to @ari_fararooy’s image to read her story of a solo roadtrip from Boston to Los Angeles in the comments of this photo)

http://instagram.com/p/x5pC4MuVQt/

http://instagram.com/p/x5ia-4rjkL/

Goodbye, weekend. Can't believe I have only one of you left before Christmas.

A photo posted by Karina (@karinayandell) on

(Click through to @karinayandell‘s image to read about a weekend sunset hike in the comments of this photo)

#REI1440Project This is the sunset in Yosemite valley after 4 days of hiking Yosemite national park with my good college buddy @jeffam21. We started in NY and flew to San Francisco, stopping off in Marin county at our San Fran #airbnb hosts summer cottage. Then drove 8 hours to Eureka to stay at a hoarders airbnb who offered us hard boiled eggs and birthday cake. (weird) Getting up the next morning we drove to Portland stopped off at @rogueales brewery for some delicious beer and food pairings and dropped off our rental car to pick up a 30 foot RV to drive to the #Sasquatch #music festival in George, yes George, Washington to run into a childhood friend @mikekasnicki see a #rainbow while backstage during #vampireweekend and enjoy 4 days of #music, craziness, and sunshine…#epic #adventure #followthemusic #memories

A photo posted by Steve Ram (@stevo2200) on

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