About

In 2020, our family faced a serious health battle. Aga went through something no one should have to, and it changed the way we both look at time. It was the kind of clarity you can't buy — a reminder that the things we kept putting off weren't going to wait forever. So we stopped waiting.

By the end of that year, Aga and I had a 2017 Jeep JKU and a reason to use it. We started chasing the places we'd only talked about. What began as weekend escapes quickly became something bigger — the red rock country of Moab, the legendary Rubicon Trail, the Hammer trails out in Johnson Valley. We even took on Sledgehammer and came out the other side in one piece. By 2022, we'd added a small teardrop trailer for the longer hauls.

Somewhere along the way, we picked up a third crew member. Nina — four legs, zero complaints, always ready to go. She's been riding shotgun through every desert wash and mountain pass since.

I'm drawn to the desert most of all. There's something about the winter light on open terrain — the quiet, the scale of it. That's where the camera comes out and doesn't go back in the bag. What started as documenting our trips turned into a craft I care deeply about: capturing rigs in real terrain, expeditions as they actually happen, and the landscapes that make it all worth the drive.

My name is Dariusz Smigiel. I serve as vice-president of the Santa Cruz 4 Wheel Drive Club and have been the event photographer for Last One Standing since 2023.

That's what Rocklanding Adventures is — adventure photography from inside the community, not outside it. If you see us on the trail, say hello.