Author: Jack Brauer

Lechtal Alps

Lechtal Alps, Austria, hiking, Gutelsee
Hiking above Gutelsee in the Lechtal Alps, Austria.

Our latest adventure in the Alps was an 8-day trek through the Lechtal Alps in Austria, the neighboring range just south of the Allgäuer Alps of our previous trek. In fact on many days of our trek we could look across the valley and see the peaks and ridges which we had just hiked and climbed over the previous week.

The Lechtal Alps are characterized by mountain ridges soaring steeply out of deeply cut valleys, topped with green basins ringed by countless jagged peaks. While the Allgäuer Alps seemed to offer mostly broad sweeping vistas, the Lechtal Alps have more immediate views of towering pyramidal peaks right in your face. The close and rugged peaks, combined with the clear air after some rains cleaned the haze away, made for some stunning photography! Continue reading “Lechtal Alps” →

Strolling Around Prague

Charles Bridge in Prague
Portal from the Charles Bridge in Prague. The Vltava River flows underneath while rivers of tourists flow over it.

Here’s a mostly-random, not-at-all-comprehensive collection of pictures taken while wandering around the old city of Prague in the Czech Republic this week with Claudia, her sister, and her sister’s boyfriend. Good times! Continue reading “Strolling Around Prague” →

A Summer in Europe!

Frankfurt Train Station
Frankfurt Train Station

Earlier this week Claudia and I arrived in Germany! We are spending a few weeks in her hometown of Dresden visiting her family and friends and soaking in the ambience of this beautiful city.

But this is just the beginning of our journeys here; we have all summer long to spend trekking around in the Alps! Our plan is to not have a plan – which is the best way to travel. But we do have lots of ideas. The rough outline will be to head south to Bavaria and spend some time in the German Alps. From there we’ll continue into Austria, then possibly down into the Dolomites in Italy. We’ll be back in Dresden at the end of August, then back to the Alps again for September, maybe to the Mt. Blanc area?

Basically, we’re just going to wing it and travel as fast or slow as we feel like. Of course whatever we do will surely involve a lot of hut trekking and photography, with some fun via ferrata climbing here and there to spice things up. For the next three months we’ll be living out of two backpacks and a roller duffel bag, mostly utilizing the efficient train network here to get around.

In an effort to minimize my “eLife” during our travels I won’t be posting blow-by-blow photo trip reports of every trek, nor fully-processed landscape photos, but I will be posting snapshots and short journals from each adventure. So check back often to see what we’re up to!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Wetterhorn Peak

Wetterhorn Peak, San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Unlike other mountain ranges in Colorado, the San Juans have a volcanic history. Around 35 million years ago this region was home to several dozen stratovolcanoes, similar to those in the present day Pacific Northwest. Then, starting about 30 million years ago the volcanism here was characterized more by massive circular calderas. Many of the mountains in the San Juans owe their uniquely rugged shapes to the eroded volcanic ash (tuft) that was deposited by all of this volcanism.

In the Uncompahgre Wilderness, with its craggy peaks rising out of vast tundra-filled basins, one can visualize this volcanic history more than in any other part of the range. While the specific geology is certainly more complicated, it’s easy to imagine Wetterhorn Peak and Uncompahgre Peak as the eroded lava plugs from ancient volcanoes.

Wetterhorn Peak, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, climbing

14,015 foot tall Wetterhorn Peak feels kind of like a volcano when you’re hiking up it – it towers over the surrounding landscape. Here Claudia ponders geology during the spicy exposed scrambling section towards the summit. Continue reading “Wetterhorn Peak” →

Whitehouse Mountain

wildflowers, spreading globeflower, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, June
Globeflowers : Prints Available

On Friday Claudia and I went backpacking to a lesser-known basin in the Sneffels Range.

wildflowers, spreading globeflower, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, June
Globeflowers #2 : Prints Available

Summer is in full swing in the mountains! Except for a few lingering patches, most of the snow is gone and the tundra has come alive with its vibrant green grasses and early summer wildflowers like these Spreading Globeflowers (I think that’s what they are called).

Potosi Peak, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, June, sunrise
Potosi Peak Sunrise : Prints Available

Sunrise light on Potosi Peak (13,786 ft.) – June.

We woke up at 3:30am to hike up to a high saddle from where I shot the sunrise light on Potosi Peak, one of the giants of the range. (For reference on how little snow we have this year, check out the photos from skiing/snowboarding down Potosi’s north couloir in June a couple years ago).

Potosi Peak, Whitehouse Mountain, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, June, hiking
Hiking on Whitehouse Mountain with a view of Potosi Peak (13,786 ft.) – June.

Our goal for Saturday was to hike up Whitehouse Mountain, a seldom-climbed mountain on the northern end of the Sneffels Range. Continue reading “Whitehouse Mountain” →

An Evening with Sneffels

Mt. Sneffels, San Juan Mountains, spring, June, green, CR7

On Saturday we ventured into the Sneffels Range for a quick overnighter backpack trip. Summer is in gear, and the aspens have their freshly sprung brilliant green color. We were surprised at how much snow has already melted away up high, and how green the tundra has already become! Though we brought crampons and gaiters with us, we never even needed to use them.

camping, Mt. Sneffels, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, June, sunset

Taking advantage of a clear weather forecast, we camped all the way up at 12,900 feet on a high sub-peak of Sneffels. It’s a rare treat in Colorado to be able to camp up high like this without fear of thunderstorms! We brought the winter tent in case it was windy, and hauled up extra water in a dromedary bag.

Mt. Sneffels, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, sunset, alpenglow
Alpenglow on Mt. Sneffels : Prints Available

Sunset light illuminates the 14,150 ft. summit of Mt. Sneffels, as seen from a high ridgeline in June.

Of course, the main reason I wanted to camp up so high was for the killer view of Mt. Sneffels! I’ve shot sunset from this high point once before, five years back, but I was excited to come back and actually spend a night up here.

Continue reading “An Evening with Sneffels” →

Updated Colorado Screensaver

Mountains of Colorado Screensaver

I have just released an updated version of my popular Mountains of Colorado Screensaver, a downloadable screensaver application featuring 130 of my favorite photos from the Colorado Rockies.

The new version provides added support for newer operating systems like OSX Mountain Lion and Windows 8. While I was at it I also added about 20 of my newer Colorado photos!

You can purchase and download the screensaver here. If you are already a customer and would like to get the newest version, please email me with the email address you originally used to purchase the screensaver, and I’ll send you fresh download links.