Photo Journal & Trip Reports (Backpacking & trekking)

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Ski Hut Tour in the Gore Range
Ski Hut Tour in the Gore Range
March 2013  |  Gore Range, Colorado

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...

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3 Week Desert Road Trip
3 Week Desert Road Trip
October/November 2012  |  CA, AZ, UT, CO

In late October and early November, we spent 3 weeks on a road trip through the deserts and canyons between California and Colorado. Highlights included camping in Death Valley in California, a backpack trek into the Grand Canyon, hiking through a slot canyon in Page Arizona, visiting the cliff dwelling of Mesa Verde in Colorado, and more!

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Backpacking into the Grand Canyon
Backpacking into the Grand Canyon
November 2012  |  Grand Canyon, Arizona

At the beginning of November, Claudia and I were excited to go on a backpacking trip into the Grand Canyon, which neither of us has seen before. It was a great introduction to walk down all the way down into the heart of it, and WOW, we were impressed! Our loop route took us down from Monument Point on the North Rim, down the Bill Hall Trail, over the Esplanade, across Surprise Valley, down into Tapeats Creek, along the Colorado River, up the Deer Creek Trail, then back up to the top again...

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The Lime Loop
The Lime Loop
September 2012  |  San Juan Mountains, 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...

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The Wild Heart of the San Juans
The Wild Heart of the San Juans
August 2012  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

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!

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Belly/Mokowanis Backpack, Glacier National Park
Belly/Mokowanis Backpack, Glacier National Park
July 2012  |  Glacier National Park, Montana

Glacier National Park had an above-average winter snowpack this year, so unfortunately most of the high treks we wanted to do were still closed in mid July – but we managed to figure out a nice 5-day backpacking route anyways...

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Cracker Lake
Cracker Lake
July 2012  |  Glacier National Park, Montana

Our first backpack trip in Glacier National Park was a one-nighter to Cracker Lake, in the Many Glacier area. This is easily one of the most spectacular mountain cirques I’ve ever had the pleasure of camping in, with a 3-4,000 foot sheer vertical wall encircling the milky turquoise glacial lake and green grass meadow slopes...

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Dunes and Sangres
Dunes and Sangres
June 2012  |  Sangre de Cristos, Colorado

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...

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Coyote Gulch
Coyote Gulch
April 2012  |  Escalante, Utah

In early April, we headed to Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in southern Utah for another backpacking trip into one of my favorite canyons of all – Coyote Gulch. It’s been about 12 years or so since I’ve been here, but I still remembered how awesome it was...

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Dientes de Navarino
Dientes de Navarino
January 2012  |  Tierra del Fuego, Chile

Last week Claudia and I and took a zodiac boat ride from Ushuaia to Isla Navarino, an island that is actually in Chile even though it’s right across the Beagle Channel from Ushuaia and Argentina. So, coming and going, four more stamps in our passports, which are nearly full of Chile and Argentina stamps after three months of border crossings between the two countries...

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El Chaltén Dream
El Chaltén Dream
December 2011  |  Patagonia, Argentina

We’ve just returned to civilization after 8 days camped out in the mighty Fitz Roy range near El Chaltén in Argentine Patagonia. One of my main goals of this return trip to El Chaltén was to capture a photo that I have been dreaming about since my last trip to Patagonia four years ago...

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The W Trek - Torres del Paine
The W Trek - Torres del Paine
December 2011  |  Patagonia, Chile

Last week we spent 10 days hiking the popular “W” Circuit in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. These spectacular mountains rise abruptly 3000 vertical meters (almost 10,000 feet) above a series of huge turquoise lakes...

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Jungle Granite at Cochamó
Jungle Granite at Cochamó
November 2011  |  Chile

After waiting in the rain in Puerto Varas for a week, we finally got a better weather forecast and headed out for a six day backpacking trip to the impressive Cochamó valley in Chile. We might have jumped the gun by a day or two, since it rained the entire way up; the ten mile hike was totally wet and muddy, with countless bogs and knee deep creeks to cross...

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Valle de Aguas Calientes
Valle de Aguas Calientes
November 2011  |  Chile

After our long bus ride south from northern Chile and a quick pitstop in Santiago, we’ve spent the last several days in and around Las Trancas, a sleepy mountain town set in a gorgeous forested valley below two volcanoes...

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A View of Aconcagua
A View of Aconcagua
October 2011  |  Argentina

One of the reasons for heading through Mendoza on this trip was to photograph Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the western hemisphere. Though I have little desire to actually climb the peak, I was hoping to do some hikes in the valleys around the peak...

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Weminuche High Loop
Weminuche High Loop
August 2011  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

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...

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Trekking through the Sawtooths
Trekking through the Sawtooths
August 2011  |  Idaho

For many years I’ve been longing to visit the Sawtooth Range in Idaho, and last week I finally got the chance! We went on a 7-day backpacking trek through the range, starting from Pettit Lake and ending at Redfish Lake, taking a few detours along the way...

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Maroon Bells Four Pass Loop
Maroon Bells Four Pass Loop
July 2011  |  Elk Mountains, Colorado

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!

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Wetterhorn / Uncompahgre Loop Trek
Wetterhorn / Uncompahgre Loop Trek
July 2011  |  San Juan Mountains, 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...

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A Night in the Great Sand Dunes
A Night in the Great Sand Dunes
June 2011  |  Colorado

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...

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Bernese Oberland Ski Hut Tour
Bernese Oberland Ski Hut Tour
April 2011  |  Switzerland

In early April I went on a ski hut tour in the Bernese Oberland mountains of Switzerland. This is the heart of the Swiss Alps, and during the course of 6 days we skied a variety of routes across the largest glacier system in the Alps...

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Capitol Peak
Capitol Peak
September 2010  |  Elk Mountains, Colorado

In late September I spent four days doing various hikes around Capitol Peak, a rugged fourteener in the Elk Mountains of Colorado.

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Ouray/Uncompahgre Loop
Ouray/Uncompahgre Loop
August 2010  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

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...

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Weminuche Wilderness Trek
Weminuche Wilderness Trek
August 2010  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

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...

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Beautiful Blue Lakes
Beautiful Blue Lakes
August 2010  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Photos from three days of summer camping at Blue Lakes, in the Sneffels Range of the San Juan Mountains, Colorado.

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Sunrise on Wetterhorn Peak
Sunrise on Wetterhorn Peak
July 2010  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

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...

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Wandering in the Weminuche
Wandering in the Weminuche
July 2010  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

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...

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Quilcayhuanca/Cojup Loop, Cordillera Blanca
Quilcayhuanca/Cojup Loop, Cordillera Blanca
June 2010  |  Cordillera Blanca, Peru

After our big Cordillera Huayhuash trek, followed by a rest day in Huaraz, four of us headed out into the Cordillera Blanca near Huaraz for a three day hike up the Quilcayhuanca valley, over a high pass, and down the Cojup valley...

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Cordillera Huayhuash Circuit
Cordillera Huayhuash Circuit
June 2010  |  Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru

In June of 2010 I fulfilled one of my dreams – to trek around the remote and rugged Cordillera Huayhuash mountain range in Peru. In the city of Huaraz, the base for most of the expeditions in the Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash, I signed on to a 10 day trek with burros to carry all our camping gear, an arriero (burro driver), a guide, and a cook for all our meals! Deluxe! Not only that, but our random assortment of people turned out to be a good group and we all had a great time together...

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Winter Camping on Hurricane Pass
Winter Camping on Hurricane Pass
March 2010  |  Tetons, Wyoming

This last weekend of March I went winter camping again, this time for two nights up on Hurricane Pass, on the west side of the Tetons. Hurricane Pass is pretty close to Table Mountain where I went camping in January, but it has a very different perspective of the Tetons...

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