Explorations in the Mojave Desert

March 29, 2019

Nevada, Pinto Valley Wilderness, rainbow, Mojave Desert, Lake Mead National Recreation Area — Rainbow Over Pinto Valley : Prints Available

A spectacular double rainbow over the Pinto Valley in the Pinto Valley Wilderness of Nevada.

As is usual in late winter, Claudia and I have been itching for some desert hiking and backpacking time, so this March we spent three weeks camping and backpacking in various mountain ranges and wilderness areas in the Mojave Desert in Nevada, California, and Arizona.

There are many wild, rugged, and seldom-visited mountain ranges in the Mojave, making it a prime area for exploratory missions. I appreciate that there are still places like this out there where we can explore on our own with little to no guiding information, and find little or no evidence of previous human visitation when we’re there. Continue reading >>

Colors of Southern Nevada

March 31, 2018

Nevada, Red Rock Canyon, sunrise — Red Rock Canyon Sunrise : Prints Available

Awesome sunrise light on the sandstone mountains at Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas.

While the vast majority of visitors to southern Nevada only see the bright lights of Las Vegas, there is actually an abundance of wonderful wild desert lands surrounding the city which will please any nature lover. In mid-March we escaped the cold winter and spent a week camping around in the much warmer weather of southern Nevada, enjoying locations including Valley of Fire State Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Muddy Mountains Wilderness, and Red Rocks Canyon National Conservation Area. Continue reading >>

90 Days Of Camping

November 7, 2016

Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Mount Daniel, Spade Lake, Washington, tent, Cascades — One of many awesome campsites this summer!

Our 12,000 mile route from Colorado to Alaska and back. Red is the way up; blue the way back.

In June 2016 my wife Claudia and I took off on a summer-long road trip. Over the next 3 months or so we drove over 12,000 miles (19,000+ km), from Colorado to Nevada, northern California, Oregon, Washington, the Canadian Rockies, Yukon, Alaska, and back. In order to keep costs down – and just for the fun of it – we camped as much as possible along the way; in fact, over the course of the three months on the road we rented hotel rooms only four times, and stayed with relatives twice. So, we ended up camping about 90 days in total, either in the back of our Toyota Tundra or in a tent while backpacking.

I made a point of taking a camping picture [almost] every day, and here are all these photos. Some of them are creative and some are purely documentary, but as a whole I think they give a good impression of how we lived over the summer, and how much outdoor time we enjoyed!

>> SEE ALL THE PHOTOS HERE! <<

Across the Great Basin

June 26, 2016June 26, 2016

Notch Peak, Utah — Notch Peak Storm : Prints Available

Ominous thunderclouds over Notch Peak in the House Range of eastern Utah.

In mid-June during the first week of our road trip we took a zigzagging route through the Great Basin of western Utah and Nevada. The Great Basin gets its name from the fact that no rivers flow out of the region; there are few rivers or streams, and any flowing water collects in broad lakebeds or salt flats where it eventually evaporates. Encompassing most of the state of Nevada and the western portion of Utah, the Great Basin is characterized by a seemingly endless series of rugged north/south ranges with broad, empty desert valleys in between. Our first stop was the remote House Range near the western border of Utah, where Notch Peak soars dramatically over the desert with a sheer 3,000 foot vertical north face.

Notch Peak, Utah, lizard — Collared Lizard in House Range : Prints Available

A collared lizard in the House Range, Utah.

We had hoped to hike a ridge route up to the top of Notch Peak, but a forecast of high winds and thunderstorms quashed that plan, so we moved on to nearby Great Basin National Park just over the border in Nevada. Here the same relentless high winds also convinced us to abandon our plans to hike up Wheeler Peak, opting to not spend a day getting blasted by chilly gusts on the high ridgeline. But we did enjoy a tour through the famous Lehman Cave, a beautiful cave system under the base of the mountain.

Great Basin National Park, Lehman Caves, Nevada — Lehman Cave 1 : Prints Available

A path through Lehman Cave in Great Basin National Park, Nevada.

Lamoille Canyon, Nevada, Ruby Mountains — Island Lake Hike : Prints Available

Hiking the Island Lake trail at the head of Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada.

Next we drove north to the Ruby Mountains, the most “alpine” of Nevada’s numerous mountain ranges. We drove up Lamoille Canyon on the west side of the range, and were immediately awed by the super rugged peaks soaring precipitously above the valley on all sides. What awesome mountains!

Lamoille Canyon, Nevada, Ruby Mountains, wildflowers — Lamoille Canyon Sunset : Prints Available

Early summer flowers in Lamoille Canyon, Ruby Mountains, Nevada.

We’d been hoping to do a backpacking trip in the high Ruby peaks but were also expecting that there would probably be too much snow still. Indeed, the high peaks still had a substantial snowpack and the high lakes still frozen, so we camped a few nights in Lamoille Canyon and did smaller day hikes instead. We will have to return another year for some backpacking in this incredible mountain range!