Winter Twilight over Ouray : Prints Available
Skies clear at twilight after several days of snow storms in Ouray, Colorado in the San Juan Mountains – December.
This evening Claudia and I tromped through the fresh powder up to our favorite “wine” spot above Ouray – but being winter, this time we brought a thermos of glühwein instead! Yum… Oh, and on the way up we passed a family of bighorn sheep… pretty cool!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Jack & Claudia here in Ouray, Colorado!
A wild sunset over Ouray on Tuesday evening, signaling the approaching storm that barreled through the San Juan Mountains and most of Colorado the last few days. This last series of storms dumped something like 5 feet of snow at Wolf Creek Pass on the south side of the San Juans, and we made sure to be there in the midst of it to score our first powder day of the season! And what a day it was on Wednesday, with bottomless powder and nuking snow all day long! Sorry, no pictures… I was too busy choking on snow! I’m glad that winter finally showed up around here.
Red Mountain Dusk : Prints Available
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 Moonrise : Prints Available
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 Moonlight : Prints Available
Moonlight illuminates McMillan Peak above Red Mountain Pass, November.
It felt good to pull the camera out again and scratch that photo itch!
Ice Lakes Icy Dawn : Prints Available
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 Icy Sunrise : Prints Available
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!
Bluebird at Ice Lakes : Prints Available
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.
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.
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!
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…
Chimney Rock Sunset : Prints Available
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!
Cimarron Sunset Panorama : Prints Available
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.
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.
Fall Creek Sunrise : Prints Available
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!
An aspen with a view of many more aspens.
Neon Red Aspens : Prints Available
A rare grove of brilliant red aspens in the San Juans - September.
Red Aspen Raindrop : Prints Available
A close up shot of raindrops on a red and yellow aspen leaf.
Wilson Peak Autumn : Prints Available
Brilliant aspens and view of Wilson Peak, the famous fourteener near Telluride, after the first snows of autumn.
Aspen in the Fog : Prints Available
Aspen forest in the fog - September.
Foggy Aspen Closeup : Prints Available
Aspen leaves in the rain and fog - September.
Wilson Peak Breaking Storm : Prints Available
Clouds lift off of Wilson Mesa and Wilson Peak after an afternoon autumn storm, as seen from Last Dollar Road - September.
Wilson Mesa Autumn Morning : Prints Available
A sweeping view of Wilson Peak and Wilson Mesa and its many aspen groves, as seen from Last Dollar Mountain - September.
