On Saturday we ventured into the Sneffels Range in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado for a quick overnighter backpack trip. Taking advantage of a clear weather forecast, we camped all the way up at 12,900 feet on a high sub-peak of Sneffels...
Last week we spent four days and three nights on a 10th Mountain Division ski hut tour in the southern Gore Range of Colorado! The first leg of our trip took us to the Jackal Hut, which is perched on a high ridge with expansive views towards Leadville and the highest peaks of Colorado in the Sawatch Range...
Photos of aspens and autumn color, mostly in the San Juan Mountains. This fall was a very colorful one, with the aspens showing off much oranger and redder colors than usual.
Desiring a leisurely change of pace after our recent tiring backpacking treks, Claudia and I decided to go car camping this weekend up on Stony Pass in the San Juan Mountains east of Silverton, Colorado...
Over Labor Day weekend some friends joined us for a strenuous 3-day loop trek in the Weminuche Wilderness, south of the area we hiked through last week. Our route took us over a high ridgeline with spectacular views of the Needle Mountains on the other side of the valley...
Last week we went on another 7-day trek through the high peaks of the Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. During our backpacking trip we were treated not only to spectacular mountain vistas, but to some pretty cool wildlife encounters too!
This last weekend we went on a little road trip to the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado, followed by a couple nights of camping and hiking in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. We arrived at the dunes in the afternoon on Friday and started the hike into the dunes under a sky full of wild ominous clouds, along with sandblasting winds...
I’ve been itching for an adventure lately, so early this morning I hiked up Mt. Sneffels in the moonlight again! I left Ouray at 1:30am (ouch!) and started hiking into Yankee Boy Basin at 2:30am. The “supermoon” – aka, the full moon at its closest orbit to Earth – was incredibly bright, and I had no troubles finding my way without headlamp...
In late August we did a 7-day loop trek in and around the Needle Mountains, the rugged heart of the Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. This was the fourth time I've done a week-long backpack trip in these mountains, and as usual we had some crazy weather during our trip, including lots of lightning, thunder, and several stunning sunrises and sunsets...
In late July 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!
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...
On Monday I headed to the Great Sand Dunes for a quick overnighter. I hiked in at about 10pm, slept on a dune for about 4 hours, then woke up around 3:30am to shoot the setting (nearly full) moon, followed by sunrise...
With record-breaking snowfalls in April, continuing well in May, the spring ski season in the San Juans was a memorable one. May surprised us with several long snow storms that brought mid-winter-esque powder days and smiles all around! Here is a collection of my favorite ski photos from May and June...
This last weekend we repeated one of my favorite backpacking loop routes in the San Juan Mountains - a big circle starting from near the town of Ouray, Colorado, hiking up 5,000 vertical feet to the expansive high rolling tundra of the Uncompahgre Wilderness, then back down into the town of Ouray via the Bridge of Heaven...
After climbing the southwest ridge route of Mt. Sneffels on an afternoon when the clouds weren't too threatening, we stayed up on the summit to watch and photograph the sunset. We then descended the normal route in the dark with headlamps and walked back to my truck where cold beers awaited...
During the second of week of this August 2010, Claudia and I went backpacking for 7 days in the Weminuche Wilderness, duplicating the same route that I did solo back in September 2007.
We had all kinds of crazy weather during the trek, ranging from torrential monsoons to perfect bluebird days...
On Sunday I hiked into Wetterhorn Basin, in the Uncompahgre Wilderness east of Ridgway, Colorado. With all the stormy monsoon weather and fantastic sunsets we’ve been having in the San Juans lately, I had hopes of catching another great sunset in the mountains...
After another fun 4th of July in Ouray, I went on a 5-day backpacking loop in the Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. I left from the Beartown trailhead, hiked south along the Continental Divide Trail for a couple days until reaching the area of Flint Lakes and Rock Lake...
The light snowfalls amounts in the San Juan Mountains this November provided a good opportunity for me to do a quick overnight backpacking trip to Ice Lakes Basin, near Silverton, Colorado. This spectacular basin is a popular location for summertime hiking, but not many people visit in the snow...
On Saturday I hiked up to Blue Lakes for a quick overnight backpacking trip in the Sneffels Range of southwest Colorado's San Juan Mountains. The alpine tundra has turned a beautiful array of autumn colors, and even a few aspens are starting to change...
Over the last few days, a late season storm has come through the San Juans in Colorado, dumping almost 2 feet of snow. On Sunday, while still snowing hard outside the weather forecast called for a sunny clear Monday, so I headed out for a spur-of-the-moment winter backpacking trip, hoping to get a photo of the fresh snow smothering Ouray and the Uncompahgre Gorge...
My favorite shots from our backcountry skiing and snowboarding adventures during the 2009 winter and spring, in the San Juan Mountains, near Ouray, Colorado.
In mid-March I was desperate for some wilderness action, so I headed out on a backpacking trip in the Great Sand Dunes in southern Colorado. My initial plan was to do a simple three day hike up and back the Sand Ramp Trail along the eastern side of the dunes...
This weekend I joined some friends for a three day weekend up at their backcountry cabin in the San Juan Mountains south of Telluride, Colorado. The cabin’s a real gem, situated in a rugged San Juan setting surrounded by prime ski terrain...
For 7 days in August, I hiked a high loop route through the high and rugged Needle Mountains in the Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juans south of Silverton, Colorado. This trip
had a couple unexpected events in store for me, but fortunately, Lady Luck was really by my side this time...
This last week I hiked the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) through the South San Juan Wilderness with two of my friends. It’s a 60+ mile trek from Cumbres Pass near Chama, New Mexico to Wolf Creek Pass near Pagosa Springs, Colorado...