On March 11th, after years of talking about it and months of planning and scheduling, I finally got my first tattoo at Hidden Hand Tattoo in Fremont. I met with Jeff Cornell in early February for a consultation and got an appointment for the 11th to get it done.
I'd considered various designs and sayings, but what I settled on is a design lifted from a photo I took on my hike through The Enchantments: A cairn with mountains on either side of the background.
The design Jeff came up with - based on our discussion - included a mountain in the background, but my intent is to (possibly) add this after I summit Mount Rainier this summer.
 |
| Jeff's original sketch |
 |
| Stencil placed and good to go. |
For me, the cairn is an elegant reminder of my love of hikes, solitude within nature and of simplicity. It has the added benefit - if I am to apply any deeper meaning to it - of being a navigational aid on the trail: when you don't know where to go, cairns are non-destructive signage guiding your way. There's a metaphor for you.
The outlines took perhaps a half hour (I wasn't keeping time), and when Jeff had to plug the meter for his car, I had Andrea snap this picture.
 |
| Outlines done. |
After a thirty minute setup, my sitting took around two hours total, with this final result:
 |
| Final version immediately after completion. |
With this, I've scored one new adventure.
Edit: Here's a shot of the tattoo after almost two weeks of healing:
