Ice Skating on Ice Lakes

Colorado, Ice Lakes, San Juan Mountains, ice skate, ice skating, November

Ann and Collett ice skating on Ice Lake, San Juan Mountains, Colorado – November.

Colorado, Ice Lakes, San Juan Mountains, ice skate, ice skating, November

Collette ice skates on Ice Lake.

Yesterday I joined my friend Ann Driggers and her friend Collette to head up to Ice Lakes for a high altitude alpine ice skating session! Though I don’t have ice skates myself (and was quite jealous of them flying around on the turquoise ice), it was still super fun to just shuffle around on the ice in my boots and take photos of them. Ice skating seems like a great silver lining for low snow early winters like it has been in the San Juans so far.

Autumn in the San Juans

Cimarrons, Colorado, San Juan Mountains, aspens, Courthouse Mountain, Chimney Rock, autumn
Cimarron Light Show : Prints Available

Fantastic sunset light illuminates golden aspens, Chimney Rock, and Courthouse Mountain in the Cimarron Range, San Juan Mountains, Colorado.

The fall colors in the San Juan Mountains have been beautiful this season, though the persistent clear blue skies have put somewhat of a damper on the photographic potential. But it’s always glorious to walk through colorful aspen groves regardless of the weather, and we did have a few short windows of more interesting skies and light to enjoy. See my favorite photos from this October in the northern San Juans near Ridgway and Ouray here: See the photos here >>

Smoky Reflections

Colorado, Needle Mountains, Pigeon Peak, San Juan Mountains, Turret Peak, Weminuche Wilderness, reflection
Smoky Needles Reflection : Prints Available

A smoky sunset on a warm August evening in the Weminuche Wilderness. The Needle Mountains show through the haze.

It’s been a beautiful summer in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado this year, with a long-melting snowpack, fantastic sunsets, lush greenery, and none of the wildfires and smoke that plagued us during last year’s super dry summer. So while we were camping near a remote lake in the Weminuche Wilderness last week, we were surprised when it got hazy and we started smelling wildfire smoke in the air. My fears of another devastating wildfire were relieved when I found out later on that it was just smoke from a large prescribed burn on the west side of the San Juans. Whew!

While the smoke robbed me of the typically crystal clear scenes, it did provide unique photographic conditions with the hazy light and soft pastel colors at sunset.

Colorado, Needle Mountains, Pigeon Peak, San Juan Mountains, Turret Peak, Weminuche Wilderness, reflection
Smoky Needles Dusk : Prints Available

Sunset light on Pigeon and Turret Peaks as seen from a remote lake in the Weminuche Wilderness.

By morning the haze had cleared and interesting cotton candy clouds motivated me to get out my cozy sleeping bag to go shoot sunrise too!

Colorado, Needle Mountains, Pigeon Peak, San Juan Mountains, Turret Peak, Weminuche Wilderness, reflection
Cotton Candy Sunrise Reflection : Prints Available

Cotton candy clouds at sunrise above the Needle Mountains.

Roaming the Uncompahgre

Colorado, San Juan Mountains, Uncompahgre Wilderness, Wetterhorn Basin, Wetterhorn Peak, wildflowers
Wetterhorn in Candyland : Prints Available

Rich sunset light on Wetterhorn Peak (14,015 ft.) amidst a glorious field of Indian Paintbrush wildflowers. San Juan Mountains, Colorado.

Colorado, Dragonsback, San Juan Mountains, Uncompahgre Wilderness
Dragon Dusk : Prints Available

A long 20-second exposure captured the dusk glow on a rugged volcanic spire in the Uncompahgre Wilderness. San Juan Mountains, Colorado.

During the first two weeks of August I revisited several of my favorite backpacking treks in the Uncompahgre Wilderness in the northern San Juan Mountains of Colorado, for a total of 8 days of hiking through a good portion of the wilderness. See all the photos here >>

High Above Ouray

Colorado, Ouray, San Juan Mountains, panorama, sunset
Ouray Sunset Panorama : Prints Available

A spectacular sunset over Ouray, Colorado. The ‘Amphitheater’ is prominent on the right side, with Highway 550 – the ‘Million Dollar Highway’ – below leading eventually to Silverton.

Last night I camped up on a high ridgeline in the San Juan Mountains about 4,000 feet above Ouray, Colorado, and enjoyed a fantastic sunset and sunrise from my airy perch. Continue reading >>

Summer Green in the San Juans

Colorado, Engineer Mountain, San Juan Mountains, sunrise
Sunrise on Engineer Mountain : Prints Available

Sunrise on Engineer Mountain (12,968 ft.).

After the enormous winter of 2018-2019 in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, by the end of July the snowpack has finally melted off enough to call it summertime in the alpine now. Last weekend we hiked a very pleasant three-day shuttle route through the vibrant green mountains west of Silverton. Continue reading >>

Classic Colorado

Colorado, Mears Peak, San Juan Mountains, Sneffels Range, aspens, lupine, rainbow, wildflowers
Mears Peak Rainbow : Prints Available

A rainbow shines in front of Mears Peak as rain showers pass over the Sneffels Range, Colorado.

Colorado, San Juan Mountains, Uncompahgre Wilderness, Wetterhorn Peak
Wetterhorn Breaking Storm : Prints Available

Clouds swirl off of Wetterhorn Peak after an intense thunderstorm.

Here are some photos from a few recent hiking and backpacking trips in the San Juan Mountains near Ridgway and Ouray. The snow is still melting up high but the lower elevations have been glorious this last month! See more recent photos here >>

Happy 4th of July from Ouray!

4th of July, Colorado, Ouray, San Juan Mountains, fireworks, Mount Abrams
Fireworks Over Ouray : Prints Available

4th of July fireworks over the town of Ouray with Mount Abrams behind. San Juan Mountains, Colorado.

4th of July, Colorado, Ouray, San Juan Mountains, fireworks, Milky Way
Ouray Cosmic Fireworks : Prints Available

4th of July fireworks in Ouray, Colorado, with the Milky Way galaxy above. To create this photo I first photographed the fireworks then left the camera in the same exact position for about an hour after dusk then photographed the stars, and combined the two photos.

For my fellow American readers, I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July! Here’s a few photos of the fireworks over Ouray last night.

One thing I’m feeling pretty patriotic about is our kick-ass U.S. women’s soccer team about to play the Netherlands team in the World Cup finals on Sunday! It’s been so fun watching the tournament so far.

Through and Around the Great Sand Dunes

Colorado, Great Sand Dunes, sunset, San Luis Valley
Peach Dunes Sunset : Prints Available

Sunset over the San Luis Valley as seen from the northern Great Sand Dunes, Colorado.

Colorado, Great Sand Dunes, ponderosa pine, sunset, Sangre de Cristos
Ponderosa Dunes Sunset : Prints Available

Ponderosa pine and sunset light on the Sangre de Cristo mountains above the Great Sand Dunes.

Eager to go backpacking while the mountains are still filled with snow, in early June we returned to the Great Sand Dunes in southern Colorado to trek for three days all the way through the dunefield then back around them. This was a variation of the same trek I’ve done twice before, but this time we went clockwise and camped in the dunes the first night and in the foothills above the dunes the second night. Continue reading >>