To this day, I maintain the best family vacation we took was to Yosemite National Park. It was the summer of 1994, and my dad had a conference at a hotel in the park. While he was in meetings, my brother and I and our dad's coworkers' kids went exploring.
It was on this trip, I learned how to climb, I learned to appreciate plants in an entirely new way, and honestly, I learned how to talk to girls. My brother will tell you, I fell hard for one of them. She and I loved to sneak off on our daily walks with the park guides.
In between that education of another kind, I did manage to learn about the southeast face of El Capitan called "The North America Wall", a classic first ascended in 1964 by a team of climbing world legends: Royal Robbins, Tom Frost, Chuck Pratt, and Yvon Chouinard, someone for whom I'd work later in life.
It was while working for Uncle Yvon's sporting goods company, Patagonia, I first learned of a luscious chamois cloth milled in Portugual and used in some of their products. When we tapped another California company, San Francisco's Taylor Stitch to collaborate with us on some shirts, I knew exactly where to go for our fabric. And
inspired by that initial ascent of The North America Wall, we decided to call this shirt the Yosemite Shirt, naming each of the four colors after the route's pioneers:
- Tom Frost's Blue
- Royal Robbins' Red
- Chuck Pratt's Forest Green
- Uncle Yvon's Classic Navy
- Night Sky Black
These shirts were designed to be worn tucked or untucked, although you'll never see me tuck it in. I wear it more like a sweater or a jacket than a shirt.
Made from an organic cotton chamois cloth woven in a century-old, family-owned Portuguese mill and cut and sewn in California, where the granola flows like water. Rest assured there are crunchier shirts, but no shirt this crunchy has ever been this soft. This fabric will arrive to you soft as a cloud and get even softer over time. It will pill, and it will shed. With corozo nut buttons, a bar-tacked pen pocket, two flaps, and all the California Love one shirt can take, this shirt will become a guaranteed overnight favorite, that is unless your summer love steals it.
[Taylor Stitch's Copy]
Max's favorite vacation of all time was the trip his family took to Yosemite National Park, Summer 1994.
Though it was a business trip for his dad, with his mom and his little brother Ben, he'd take off every morning exploring the park's many natural wonders. He learned how to climb, he learned a lot about plants and rocks, and he learned a little about girls. A first love blossomed on the way up a trail to the base of Vernal Fall. It was made complete by a late night kiss around the campfire.
In between that education of another kind, he did manage to learn a bit about those who helped to make Yosemite the United States' first National Park. From the writings of John Muir to the efforts of President Theodore Roosevelt. From then on, Max has emulated the great early climbers Warren Harding and Yvon Chouinard, and he's become a wilderness guide himself, certifying in Wilderness First Responder training and taking classes from the Leave No Trace organization.
And so, it's appropriate that this season, Buckshot Sonny's and Taylor Stitch expand their offering of the chamois shirts. While Max worked Patagonia, he learned of a luscious chamois cloth milled in Portugual and used in some of their products. Patagonia's a great California company, Taylor Stitch is a great California company, and Yosemite, is -- thanks to a killer childhood memory -- one of Max's favorite places.
Inspired by California. The Yosemite Shirt.
Made from an organic cotton chamois cloth in California, where the granola flows like water. Rest assured there are crunchier shirts, but no shirt this crunchy has ever been this soft. This fabric will arrive to you soft as a cloud and get even softer over time. It will pill, and it will shed. With corozo nut buttons, a bar-tacked pen pocket, two flaps, and all the California Love one shirt can take, this shirt will become a guaranteed overnight favorite, that is unless your summer love steals it.
