Bishop

November 8, 2012September 19, 2013

Next up, we headed to the town of Bishop, in the shadow of the mighty Eastern Sierra, to visit some friends who recently moved there from Colorado. We spent the better part of a week there, relaxing and checking out the area, and enjoying our friends’ generous hospitality.

When I was a kid growing up in San Diego, my dad used to take me on fishing trips around Bishop, but I don’t remember much about the mountains from then, except for the memories of the things we did. Back then, mountains were just mountains to me; I didn’t have the appreciation of different ranges that I do now, and I cared more about shooting my BB gun and throwing rocks into the lakes (which pissed off the fishermen to be sure!). Anyhow, when I see the Sierras now, I can’t help but be impressed, especially with fresh early season snows dusting the rugged peaks!

The mountains were calling my name loudly and I was dying to do some “serious” mountain photography while we were there, but we didn’t have winter hiking or camping gear with us, and besides it was windy as hell in the mountains and would have been admittedly miserable camping up there. So we just took it easy, went on a snowy day hike up the Rock Creek valley, and soaked in one of the wild hot springs near Mammoth.

We’ll be back for sure in another season for some summer trekking through the range. The Sierras are not only calling my name, but Claudia’s now too!

Little Wildhorse

November 8, 2012April 16, 2014

If you’re wondering why I haven’t posted here in a while, it’s because we just got back from a 3-week desert road trip! Our main reason for the trip was to visit my grandma in California on her 100th birthday! And the late October timing was perfect for extending the journey into a long road trip to some desert locations between here and there. Over the next days I will post a bunch of photos from each adventure.

Our first little adventure was a quick hike through the popular Little Wildhorse Canyon in the San Rafael Swell in Utah just off I-70 on our way towards California. This is a great little canyon hike with some really interesting, fairly sustained narrows and slot sections.

I thought this hike was kind of popular when I first did it a couple years ago. But that was nothing compared to the crowds we encountered this time! I’ve never ever seen this many people on one hike in the desert, except maybe in Zion NP. We happened to time our hike the same as seemingly every boy scout group in the state of Utah, and there were hundreds of boys running up and down the narrow canyon. Kind of annoying at first, but also pretty neat to see all the kids enjoying the awesome canyon.

Because we still had to hit the road for another long drive that day, we turned around after the most interesting narrows and backtracked to the trailhead, instead of doing the usual longer loop hike. We soon realized that this was probably a bad idea, since we were then going against the flow of the mobs of hikers through the narrow slots! This meant lots of waiting while we let group after group pass us by.

Anyhow, despite the crowds, this canyon is always a fun one for a quick dayhike. And, thank you Claudia for your patience posing for all my pictures!

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.

What Do You Want to Do?

October 11, 2012September 12, 2014

(Thanks to Will Gadd on Facebook for pointing out the video).

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…

Originality in the Grand Landscape

October 7, 2012

Photography Life, a popular Colorado-based photography website, just published a guest blog post by yours truly, titled “Originality in the Grand Landscape”. In the article I attempt to explain how creativity with grand scenic photography goes beyond just framing and taking the photos; it involves the entire process including researching unique locations, coming up with original ideas to shoot, and the adventures to get to the right place at the right time. To date this is my most comprehensive attempt to illustrate my own photographic strategies, motivations, and tips, and I hope that it will provide inspiration for aspiring landscape photographers.

Read the article here: http://photographylife.com/guest-post-by-jack-brauer-on-landscape-photography

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!