Mountain photos and adventure journals from Colorado.
Aimee getting some fresh tracks on her birthday on Wednesday. Earlier this week two feet of snow fell on top of an extremely thin and unstable snowpack, creating super sketchy avalanche conditions and numerous avy accidents across Colorado. So we’ve been sticking to the tamest routes of all, avoiding any avalanche terrain whatsoever. In any case, it feels great to get high in the San Juans again! Stay safe!
After the most stressful and frustrating two days of flying that I’ve yet experienced, I’m finally back home in Colorado. In the grand scheme of things I suppose that two days, no matter how stressful, is a pretty quick time to travel from the tip of South America to the center of North America! But for a 21st century man it was just a pretty crappy series of delayed plane flights.
The nice thing, though, about living on Colorado’s western slope is the opportunity to fly directly over the Rockies whenever flying through the Denver hub. The half-hour flight yesterday from Denver to Montrose was one of the more scenic ones I’ve done, since we went right after the sun set, right after a snowstorm cleared. I was snapping away at the window with my camera most of the time, happy to have a nice consolation flight after such a long two sleepless days. See more shots below! Continue reading “Flight Over the Rockies”
Today we took advantage of the glorious blue sky weather by hiking up to Ice Lakes Basin to check out the autumn colors up on the tundra there. It was a nice mellow day in the mountains, and a fitting farewell hike to Colorado! (More on that in the next post!)
I had a chuckle when we spotted some ski tracks in the snowfield at upper left in the top photo. Hardcore!
Animas Sunset : Prints Available
Last week we did a 7-day loop trek in and around the Needle Mountains, the rugged heart of the Weminuche Wilderness in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. As usual, we had some crazy weather during our trip, including lots of lightning, thunder, and several stunning sunrises and sunsets. See lots more photos below! Continue reading “Weminuche High Loop”
Snowmass Lake Alpenglow Reflection : Prints Available
Last week we spent 6 days backpacking around the famous Maroon Bells in the Elk Mountains of Colorado. The photos pretty much tell the story so I won’t say too much else except that it was another great trek in Colorado!
See many more photos below! Continue reading “Maroon Bells Four Pass Loop”
Wetterhorn Sunrise Sunflowers : Prints Available
Last week Claudia and I went on a 5-day backpacking loop in the Uncompahgre Wilderness in the San Juan Mountains east of Ouray. Our route circumnavigated the fourteeners Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre Peaks and took us through a paradise of expansive green tundra, wildflowers, and peaks.
See a LOT more photos below! Continue reading “Wetterhorn/Uncompahgre Loop”
A summer monsoon storm rolls over the San Juan Mountains, as seen from Bridge of Heaven above Ouray, Colorado – July.
On Saturday we took advantage of the glorious July weather and hiked up Hayden Mountain. Here’s Claudia hiking up to the 12,578 ft. northern summit of Hayden. The town of Ouray is tucked in the valley far below.
Sneffels Range Tundra Sunset : Prints Available
Claudia and I spent Thursday night up at Blue Lakes in the Sneffels Range. We enjoyed an exciting thunderstorm, followed by a windy evening, a night with an unidentified animal stalking around our tent, and finally a gorgeous clear morning. But the highlight of all – Claudia said yes and we’re engaged!!!
Blue Lake Vertical Panorama : Prints Available
Blue and Green : Prints Available
Lower Blue Lake Wideangle : Prints Available
