Photo Journal & Trip Reports

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Starlight on Sneffels
Starlight on Sneffels
June 2019  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

The winter of 2018-2019 in the San Juan Mountains has been one for the records books, with about 600% of average snowpack at the start of June. With all this beautiful snow in the mountains this spring, lately I've been having some hairbrained photo mission ideas - one of which was to hike up Mt...

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Rainy Day Hike in the Needles District
Rainy Day Hike in the Needles District
May 2019  |  Canyonlands National Park, Utah

In mid May we met up with family from Germany in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park in Utah for a couple days of camping and hiking. Our timing wasn't great, as it rained more than I've ever seen in the desert! But we did get one somewhat dry-enough day for my brother-in-law and I to do the ultra-classic hike to Chesler Park and Druid Arch...

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A Snowy Sunrise in the San Juans
A Snowy Sunrise in the San Juans
May 2019  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

The exceptionally snowy winter in the San Juans keeps on going into May and our snowpack is currently 187% of average for this time of year! As I've been out splitboarding lately, I've been admiring all the peaks draped in thick snowpack, and thinking about how they'd look with colorful sunrise light...

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Explorations in the Mojave Desert
Explorations in the Mojave Desert
March 2019  |  Nevada, California, Arizona

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...

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Mount Hayden Backcountry Lodge
Mount Hayden Backcountry Lodge
February 2019  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

This weekend we had a wonderful stay at Eric Johnson's Mount Hayden Backcountry Lodge. Located in Richmond Basin in a remote corner of the San Juan Mountains between Ouray and Telluride, the lodge is surrounded by a powder playground of skiable terrain...

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Roaming Around Southeast Utah
Roaming Around Southeast Utah
October/November 2018  |  Utah

In late October and early November we spent a dozen days camping and backpacking around in the deserts and canyonlands of southern Utah, including the San Rafael Swell, Robbers Roost/Dirty Devil area, and Cedar Mesa...

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Snowy Ice Lakes
Snowy Ice Lakes
October 2018  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

With fresh snow in the San Juan Mountains and dreams of winter I couldn't resist heading up high for a quick early season winter camp at Ice Lakes Basin near Silverton. I got a little more than I bargained for with two feet of fresh powder and knee-deep postholing through a snowstorm up there! In the morning I was treated to some fiery light for a few moments at sunrise, for a different kind of autumn color...

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Hut Tour around Grindelwald
Hut Tour around Grindelwald
September 2018  |  Switzerland

In mid-September after our treks in the Bernina Range and Val Masino in southeast Switzerland and north Italy, Claudia and I traveled north to the famous Jungfrau region near Interlaken in Switzerland...

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Val Masino
Val Masino
September 2018  |  Bernina Range, Italy

Eight days into our trek around the Bernina Range, we took a little train and bus detour and visited Val Masino in Italy on the southern end of the same greater range. The mountains around here are sometimes referred to as the Val Masino Alps, or the backside of the Bergell or Bregaglia Range...

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Around the Bernina Range
Around the Bernina Range
September 2018  |  Switzerland/Italy

In early September we flew to Zurich, Switzerland, took a train to St. Moritz, then embarked on a 9-day trek around the Bernina Range in the Rhaetian Alps. Named after the tallest peak in the range, Piz Bernina, the Bernina Range is a rugged and heavily glaciated mountain range along the border of southeast Switzerland and Italy...

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8 Days in the Weminuche
8 Days in the Weminuche
August 2018  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

In mid-August Claudia and I backpacked for eight days into the Needle Mountains in the Weminuche Wilderness of the San Juan Mountains in Colorado. This was I think the sixth or seventh time I've done a week-long trek in this particular range, but I was still able to find some new routes to take and new places to camp and photograph along with some old favorites...

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Through the Grenadier Range
Through the Grenadier Range
July 2018  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

In late July we went on a 6-day backpack trek in and around the rugged Grenadier Range in the Weminuche Wilderness of the central San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Along the way we scrambled up several 13ers, hiked over numerous high passes, and visited some gorgeous remote alpine lakes...

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Trek Around Ausangate
Trek Around Ausangate
June 2018  |  Ausangate, Peru

In June after our Salkantay trek to Macchu Picchu, our next big Peruvian adventure was a 7-day trek around Nevado Ausangate, a giant 20945 ft (6384m) peak in the Cordillera Vilcanota south of Cusco...

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Salkantay Trek to Macchu Picchu
Salkantay Trek to Macchu Picchu
June 2018  |  Cordillera Vilcabamba, Peru

In early June we flew to Cusco, Peru for some mountain adventures south of the equator. Our first hike was the famous Salkantay to Macchu Picchu trek. Of course Macchu Picchu is the #1 tourist destination in all of Peru and perhaps all of South America for that matter...

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Hiking from Ouray to Telluride the Long Way
Hiking from Ouray to Telluride the Long Way
May 2018  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

The towns of Ouray and Telluride in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado are only 10 miles apart as the crow flies, but are separated by the rugged Sneffels Range. In the summertime it's possible to hike, run, bike, or even drive 17 miles over 13,114 ft...

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Candyland, Arizona
Candyland, Arizona
April 2018  |  Arizona

After our trek through nearby Buckskin Gulch and Paria Canyon, we made the long, sandy drive to Coyote Buttes South (also within the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) which we had permits to explore for a couple days...

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Buckskin Gulch/Paria River Backpack
Buckskin Gulch/Paria River Backpack
April 2018  |  Utah/Arizona

With 15 miles of continuous narrows, Buckskin Gulch in southern Utah is renowned as the longest slot canyon in the world. Buckskin flows into the even longer Paria Canyon and hiking through both these canyons forms a famous backpacking trip requiring permits reserved months in advance...

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Narrowing Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
Narrowing Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
April 2018

In mid April we hit the road again for more desert time, and spent a week camping and hiking through various narrows and slot canyons in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in central southern Utah...

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Saguaro National Park
Saguaro National Park
March 2018  |  Arizona

Our final destination for our desert road trip in late March was Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona. We spent two nights at the campground near there and enjoyed visiting the "forests" of saguaro cacti (pronounced like "sa-waro"), as well as a bit of touring through the city of Tucson...

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Backpacking in the Superstition Mountains
Backpacking in the Superstition Mountains
March 2018  |  Arizona

After our time in the Kofa Mountains in March, we drove east through Phoenix and immediately embarked on a two-night backpack trip through part of the Superstition Mountains. We hiked a clockwise loop from the Peralta Trailhead around the prominent Weavers Needle spire via the Peralta and Dutchman's Trails...

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Kofa Mountains
Kofa Mountains
March 2018  |  Arizona

In the remote Sonoran desert of southwest Arizona rises a rugged volcanic mountain range called the Kofa Mountains. The mountains are named after the King of Arizona mine located in the center of range, from which millions of dollars worth of gold and silver were extracted in the early 1900s...

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Colors of Southern Nevada
Colors of Southern Nevada
March 2018  |  Nevada

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...

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Backpacking through Salt Creek
Backpacking through Salt Creek
November 2017  |  Canyonlands National Park, Utah

In early November a friend and I backpacked about 30 miles through Salt Creek and the Peakaboo Trail in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, Utah. This canyon is renowned for its numerous Ancient Puebloan ruins and pictographs; in fact I've never seen so many ruins outside of the Cedar Mesa area!

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Autumn Aspens on Kebler Pass
Autumn Aspens on Kebler Pass
October 2017  |  Colorado

Kebler Pass is easily my favorite place to enjoy the aspens in Colorado, with the largest continuous mature aspen fields in the state and perhaps the world. This October was one of the stranger autumns transitions I've seen in Colorado; the aspens up on Kebler went from mostly green to peak gold in just a couple days, and a few days after that the color faded away...

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Highlights from 2 Months of Backpacking in Colorado
Highlights from 2 Months of Backpacking in Colorado
August/September 2017  |  Colorado

For all of August and September 2017, my wife and I lived out of our truck and tent while traveling around and backpacking in our great state of Colorado. We did over a dozen backpacking trips in various mountain ranges throughout the state, including the Flat Tops, Gore Range, Sawatch Range, San Juans, Sangre de Cristos, and Indian Peaks...

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Autumn Backpacking in Northern Colorado
Autumn Backpacking in Northern Colorado
September 2017  |  Colorado

In mid-to-late September we went on a bunch of short backpacking and camping trips in various central/north mountain ranges of Colorado, including the Sawatch Range, Gore Range, Indian Peaks, and Rocky Mountain National Park...

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Crestone Needle & Humboldt Peak
Crestone Needle & Humboldt Peak
September 2017  |  Sangre de Cristos, Colorado

In late August/early September, we spent five days camped at South Colony Lakes in the Sangre de Cristo range in Colorado. Surrounded by three 14ers, including the rugged Crestone Needle towering directly overhead, this basin is supremely awesome -- one of the classic gems of Colorado...

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Sunflowers in the Great Sand Dunes
Sunflowers in the Great Sand Dunes
August 2017  |  Colorado

While backpacking to South Zapata Lake for a night, we got a good view of the Great Sand Dunes and I could see vast fields of sunflowers all around and in the dunes. I took a mental note of where the largest sunflower fields were and the next day we hiked into the dunes towards these areas...

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Quick Tour through the San Juans
Quick Tour through the San Juans
August 2017  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

In mid August we found ourselves drawn back to the San Juans like moths to a flame. We spent a few nights car camping up above Red Mountain Pass, drove eastward over four old mining road passes, then did a backpack trip intp Cataract Gulch near the 14er Sunshine Peak...

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Hanging Around Huron Peak
Hanging Around Huron Peak
August 2017  |  Sawatch Range, Colorado

In mid-August we backpacked around the headwaters of the South Fork Clear Creek near Huron Peak in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness and Sawatch Range of Colorado. The last time I hiked in this area was back in 2008, but this time we hiked the long way in here from the south from Taylor Park and Texas Creek, via the Continental Divide Trail and a high pass above Lake Ann...

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