Red Mountain Moonrise

November 29, 2012May 19, 2013

Red Mountain, San Juan Mountains, Colorado — Dusk light atop Red Mountain 3, between Ouray and Silverton.

On Wednesday evening we hiked up to the 12,890 ft. summit of Red Mountain No. 3 to watch the sunset and the full moon rise.

Red Mountain, Brown Mountain, moonrise, november, San Juan Mountains, Colorado — A full moon rises over Brown Mountain, as seen from the summit of Red 3, November.

As you can see we’re hurting for snow out here in the San Juans. But, the lack of snow made for a fairly easy hike up there in just our regular hiking boots and gaiters. No snowshoes necessary!

McMillan Peak, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, moonlight, november — Moonlight illuminates McMillan Peak above Red Mountain Pass, November.

It felt good to pull the camera out again and scratch that photo itch!

Mesa Verde

November 14, 2012

Our last stop of our desert road trip was to visit the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, in southwest Colorado. We toured the Cliff Palace – the largest cliff dwelling there, with more than 150 rooms. The cliff dwellings were built around the year 1200 A.D. by the Ancestral Puebloans, who farmed on the mesa above the dwellings.

What a fascinating place!

Cliff Palace, ruins, Mesa Verde, Colorado

A Taste of Winter at Ice Lakes

October 15, 2012November 21, 2013

Ice Lakes, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, October, icy, ice, dawn — Dawn light in Ice Lakes Basin on a chilly October morning after the second snowfall of the season.

Excited by forecasts of a brief but intense snowstorm, on Friday I headed up into Ice Lakes Basin for a couple nights of camping with hopes of catching some photos of the fresh snowfall around the not-yet-frozen lakes once the storm broke. I set up camp amongst the trees in the lower basin, since I could see that the weather was hellish up in the upper basin, with big plumes of snow swirling around the tundra. Turns out the first night of camping was fairly pointless, since the storm was howling all night Friday and all day Saturday. I spent most of my time those days either reading in the tent, or wandering around aimlessly in the windy weather, bundled up in all my down clothes.

Ice Lakes, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, October, icy, ice, sunrise, Golden Horn, Pilot Knob — Orange sunrise light on Golden Horn and Pilot Knob (13,738 ft.)

On Sunday morning I awoke to calm wind and starry skies, and eagerly hiked in the dark up to the lakes in the upper basin, where I watched the dawn grow brighter and brighter, finally painting the peaks in brilliant orange sunlight. After two cold, dreary, stormy days in the mountains, the storm had vanished completely and the crystal clear bluebird skies had me feeling ecstatic!

Ice Lakes, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, bluebird, October, snow, lake, blue, Golden Horn — Golden Horn (13,769 ft.) reflection in Ice Lake on a gorgeous calm bluebird October morning after a two-day storm.

This was the second time I’ve camped up there in early winter conditions; see photos from Ice Lakes in November 2009 here.

Columbine Lake

October 11, 2012May 19, 2013

Yesterday we hiked up to Columbine Lake, a relatively seldom visited lake north of the famous Ice Lakes. I’ve gotta say, of any lake I’ve ever seen, this one has the most incredible colors! There are so many luminescent shades of blue and turquoise… and no, the color is not photoshopped!

I’ve camped up here a couple times before; you can see previous photos from Columbine Lake here and here.

Fireworks Above Ouray

October 8, 2012May 19, 2013

On Saturday I was feeling antsy for an adventure, so we went out camping up on the “Bridge of Hayden”, a high ridgeline overlooking Ouray and the Sneffels Range. Early in the night we were laying in the tent when we heard some booming sounds echoing in the valley below. Was it mining operations up valley? No. A plane crash? No, it’s fireworks!!! We quickly scrambled out of the tent and ran to the overlook.

Stupid me, I had no idea of the Octoberfest party happening down in Ouray! I felt like the Grinch up on the mountain, looking down on Whoville. Apparently Ouray still had fireworks left over from 4th of July show, which was cancelled due to the drought conditions, and so they set them off for Octoberfest instead. It’s so funny that we just happened to be camping on one of the highest Ouray overlooks on the night of a fireworks show below!

I love watching fireworks in Ouray more than anywhere else – the booms echoing through the deep mountain valleys are as impressive as the fireworks themselves! And it was pretty cool to see them from almost 4,000 feet above!

Bright Lights of Ouray

October 7, 2012May 19, 2013

Here’s a photo of Ouray, as seen from our new favorite “wine and cheese” spot. “Wine and cheese” you ask? Yes, one of Claudia and I’s favorite ways to unwind is to haul a bottle of wine and our plastic wine glasses up to a viewpoint and relax for the evening. Especially after a day stuck inside in front of the computer, fresh air and a fresh perspective works wonders to clear the head. Not to mention that wine is good for you, and so is hiking… a win-win situation!

Claudia and I have gone on wine hikes in Peru, Argentina, Chile, Germany, and Switzerland. Someday we will co-author a guidebook to the world’s best wine and cheese spots. The only problem with that plan is that I know next to nothing about wine, and definitely nothing about writing about it! So maybe it will be a picture book instead, with scratch-and-sniff stickers. Lest you think I’m just joking around about all this, I officially own the domain name WineHiking.com. Yes, that was a spontaneous purchase, but hey… you never know!

Here’s my first attempt at the photos I’ll need to be taking for our wine hiking encyclopedia. Here we have a tasty Malbec from Mendoza, along with some kind of Swiss cheese. It was good. I liked it a lot.

Yeah, I guess I need to work on my writing skills…

A Cimarron Sunset

September 29, 2012May 19, 2013

Chimney Rock, Courthouse Mountain, Cimarrons, Ridgway, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, sunset — Sunset light on Chimney Rock and Courthouse Mountain in the Cimarron Range near Ridgway, Colorado - September.

Yesterday I witnessed a spectacular sunset from a high perch in the Cimarrons, the rugged mountain range east of the town of Ridgway. This range gets fantastic sunset light, since there are no peaks to the west to block the last rays of the setting sun.

During a previous hike up Precipice Peak earlier this summer (visible on the left side of the photo above), I had scoped out this possible overlook point, and I finally took the opportunity yesterday to bushwhack up there. Well, the view was even better than I expected, and the sunset was too!

Cimarrons, Ridgway, Pleasant Valley, Sneffels Range, Chimney Rock, Courthouse Mountain, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, sunset, panorama — The Cimarrons lit up by a spectacular sunset over Ridgway and Pleasant Valley, with the Sneffels Range in the background. Chimney Rock and Courthouse Mountain are the prominent peaks near the center. The West Fork Cimarron valley is at left.

>> SEE LARGER VERSION HERE <<

This is one of those photos that just has to be viewed large; I would love to make an enormous print of this… and huge prints are certainly a possibility with this multi-shot stitched panorama.

Leaf Lookin Around Telluride

September 27, 2012May 19, 2013

Dolores Peak, Telluride, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, aspens, September, Fall Creek — A stormy sunrise above Dolores Peak and the vast aspen groves of the Fall Creek valley near Telluride, Colorado - September.

With the autumn colors at their peak and fresh snow dusting the mountains, we spent the last two days driving around and camping out in the Telluride area. This is a great autumn for the aspens this year – the colors are brilliant and there are lots of oranges and reds mixed in. The cloudy/stormy/misty skies provided the perfect atmosphere and light for geeking out with the camera all day long, from dawn till dusk!

Aspen, San Juan Mountains, Colorado — An aspen with a view of many more aspens.

Aspens, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, red, september — A rare grove of brilliant red aspens in the San Juans - September.

aspen leaf, red, raindrops — A close up shot of raindrops on a red and yellow aspen leaf.

Wilson Peak, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, fourteener, autumn, aspens, Telluride — Brilliant aspens and view of Wilson Peak, the famous fourteener near Telluride, after the first snows of autumn.

Aspens, fog, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, september — Aspen forest in the fog - September.

Aspens, leaves, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, September, fog — Aspen leaves in the rain and fog - September.

Wilson Mesa, Wilson Peak, autumn, Last Dollar Road, September, San Juan Mountains, Colorado — Clouds lift off of Wilson Mesa and Wilson Peak after an afternoon autumn storm, as seen from Last Dollar Road - September.

Wilson Peak, Wilson Mesa, aspens, Last Dollar Mountain, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, September, autumn — A sweeping view of Wilson Peak and Wilson Mesa and its many aspen groves, as seen from Last Dollar Mountain - September.

Gold & Snow

September 17, 2012May 19, 2013

The aspens up on Red Mountain Pass are going off right now! Today we went on a fantastic loop hike almost entirely through these golden cathedral forests.

Aspens, Red Mountain Pass, Ouray, San Juan Mountains, Colorado, September

We were surprised when it started snowing – the first snow of the year! Claudia was a bit dismayed… I was delighted! We sat under a pine tree for a while, mesmerized by the fat flakes drifting down.

The snowstorm passed quickly and the sun came out, melting the new snow within about 15 minutes. We continued on our way and eventually after a bit of easy bushwhacking found an old overgrown mining trail that offered a nice loop down through a different aspen-filled ridge.

Weekend in Marble

September 17, 2012May 19, 2013

McClure Pass, Colorado, Marble, aspens, sunset, September — Rich sunset light filters through the aspens on McClure Pass, near Marble, Colorado - September

This last weekend we did a little road trip up to Marble to spend the weekend with my friends in their cabin there. On the way over McClure Pass on Friday evening, I had to slam on the brakes and pull over to shoot this awesome sunset light shining through the aspen forest.

On Saturday Ann led us on a wonderful hike up a lesser known basin on Treasure Mountain, with ever-present views of Snowmass Mountain towering across the valley.

We were planning on doing some other kind of car-camping/backpacking adventure in the West Elk Mountains after that, but with the aspens on Kebler Pass still mostly green, along with a sudden bout of indecisiveness and lack of motivation to go backpacking, we ended up just driving back home to the San Juans! Not a bad option either.