Mountain photos and adventure journals from Colorado.
Over Labor Day weekend some friends joined us for a strenuous 3-day loop trek in the Weminuche Wilderness, south of the area we hiked through last week.
Emerald Cloud Reflection : Prints Available
The weather was a bit wacky during this trek – ominous clouds threatened rain and thunder during the days, but the rain only came during the night.
More photos below! Continue reading “The Lime Loop”
Misty Mountain Morning : Prints Available
Storm clouds break up and lift off of the Needle Mountains, in the high Weminuche Wilderness - August.
Father Goat #1 : Prints Available
Mountain goat in the Weminuche Wilderness.
Grenadier Sunrise Reflection #2 : Prints Available
Reflection of the Grenadier Range during a fiery sunrise.
Last week we went on another 7-day trek through the high peaks of the Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. During our backpacking trip we were treated not only to spectacular mountain vistas, but to some pretty cool wildlife encounters too! See LOTS more photos from our trek below! Continue reading “The Wild Heart of the San Juans”
Hiking the Hayden Trail, with Potosi Peak and Weehawken valley of the Sneffels Range in the background.
We started my birthday off right this morning with a hike up Hayden Mountain, high above Ouray. We found a new ridge-route to an awesome overlook point that I never realized was there, despite having hiked up past here numerous times before. This is definitely now one of my favorite Ouray hikes, along with the Bridge of Heaven on the opposite side of Ouray.
We are excited to finally go backpacking again in a couple days – for a week long trek in the Weminuche – woohoo!
..we’ve been going on a lot of day hikes around Ouray with Claudia’s mom and sisters. It’s been fun to show them around! Here we are on the Weehawken Trail.
We even went for a quick road trip to Moab, despite the inferno heat! Her family has never seen the desert before, so Arches and Canyonlands National Parks were are good way to start!
Here’s a summit cairn complete with Tibetan prayer flag on the top of Red Mountain #3.
Cotton Candy Sunset : Prints Available
A colorful sunset over Mt. Abrams and the Ouray valley, San Juan Mountains - August.
After six months of working and dreaming, it’s finally time to shut down the computer and hit the road! Where we’re going, I do not know. With much of the western US up in smoke, so are my original backpacking plans and most of my other ideas. All I know is that I need to unplug, to get away, to completely obliterate my daily routine. This will surely involve some long backpacking treks in some mountains someplace. Someplace that’s not on fire or smothered with smoke or dried to a crisp. Somewhere blue.
Updates below… Continue reading “Time to Boogie!”
Stars Over Ouray : Prints Available
Starry new-moon night over the town of Ouray, in southwest Colorado - June.
Taken last night at about 1:30am. So, today I posted this photo on Google+, and another photographer pointed out something cool that I totally missed – that there is actually a faint aurora visible in the image! Apparently there have been a couple strong solar wind streams the last few days, causing auroras at lower-than-usual latitudes. The high-ISO exposure here reveals an aurora that was undetectable to the naked eye, but noticeable in the photo as faint green bands of color in the sky above the cliffs. Certainly not a polar-worthy display, but pretty cool nonetheless!
Hiking up Redcliff, with Wetterhorn Peak in the background - June.
With clear blue skies and dry weather, we spent the weekend car camping and peak bagging in and around the West Fork of the Cimarrons, on the northern end of the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado. Towering over the West Fork valley are a number of rugged mountains, including the thirteeners Redcliff and Precipice Peak. I’ve passed these two peaks many times during backpacking treks in the Uncompahgre Wilderness and always wondered what it would be like to hike up them. This weekend would be a good opportunity to find out!
Here’s a snapshot pano from an utterly relaxing hike on a gorgeous June Sunday on my favorite trail of all around here – the Bridge of Heaven, high above Ouray, Colorado, with the Sneffels Range in the background.
While I’m in the snapshot posting mood, here’s another one from a couple weeks ago, atop Twin Peaks, a rocky pinnacle on the opposite side of the Ouray valley from the first photo above. I gaze at the rocky pinnacle of Twin Peaks from my office window every day, often wishing I was up there looking down rather than down here looking up!
Stormy Dunes : Prints Available
Ominous clouds brew over the dunes - June.
This last weekend we went on a little road trip to the Great Sand Dunes, followed by a couple nights of camping and hiking in the Sangre de Cristos. We arrived at the dunes in the afternoon on Friday and started the hike into the dunes under a sky full of wild ominous clouds, along with sandblasting winds.
Fiery Dunes Sunset : Prints Available
A fiery sunset over the Great Sand Dunes with the Sangre de Cristo mountains behind - June.
With the heavy clouds above and a clear horizon to the west, I knew that we were in store for a special sunset. I was not disappointed! We found a high west facing dune with a nice vista over the ocean of sand, and waited in the wind until the sun dipped below the clouds and illuminated the scene with intense sunset light. Pretty freaking amazing…
After sunset the clouds cleared and the wind calmed down enough for us to stroll around under the moonlight and enjoy our bottle of wine! Not the best night of sleep, though, with sand blowing in our sleeping bags for most of the night. But it’s hard to beat waking up in the middle of the dunes on a glorious bluebird morning!
Hiking out in the morning. I was excited to show Claudia the Great Sand Dunes, one of my favorite places on the planet. She was impressed, and is already looking forward to our next visit.
More photos below! Continue reading “Dunes and Sangres”
