Photo Journal & Trip Reports

Wildflower Wonderland
July 2014  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Earlier this week Claudia and I backpacked for 5 days in the mountains west of Silverton, Colorado, following an improvised route that took us through numerous high alpine basins filled with endless fields of wildflowers...

Mt. Lindsey & Lily Lake
June 2014  |  Sangre de Cristos, Colorado

With our San Juans still covered in quite a bit of snow up high, earlier this week we drove east for 3 nights of backpacking in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains where the snow is mostly gone and summer backpacking season is well underway...

Great Sand Dunes Trek
June 2014  |  Colorado

The Great Sand Dunes in southern Colorado are perhaps the most unique landscape in the Rockies, with 700-foot tall sand dunes nestled at the foot of 13,000-foot mountains. Winds that blow across the vast San Luis Valley carry sand grains which become trapped by the towering Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and the streams that flow out of the mountains keep the sand in one place, resulting in the tallest dunes of North America...

2013-14 Winter in the San Juans
Winter 2013-14  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

A collection of my favorite photos from the winter season of 2013-2014 in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

Death Hollow Canyon
April 2014  |  Escalante, Utah

The morning after returning from our previous Escalante backpack, we embarked on another even more adventurous trek – this time into the slickrock country just east of the town of Escalante, Utah...

Two Weeks in the Canyons of Utah
April 2014  |  Utah

Photos from two weeks of travel and hiking in the deserts and canyons of southern Utah, including the San Rafael Swell, Capitol Reef, Escalante, and Bryce Canyon.

Backpacking in the Needles District
March 2014  |  Canyonlands National Park, Utah

As winter drags on, there are times when no matter how good the snow is, all I can think about is getting out to the desert for some warm weather backpacking. Such was the case last week when Claudia and I drove over to Utah for four days of backpacking in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park south of Moab...

Winter Camping above Ouray
February 2014  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

I headed out yesterday for a night of winter camping up on the “lower” Bridge of Heaven overlooking the town of Ouray, Colorado. I've winter camped up here once before five years previously, but this time I found a ridiculous spot to pitch my tent, right on the point of a precipitous rock outcropping! This airy perch provided a spectacular scene for tent photos, as well as an island of dry rock amongst the snow to cook and relax in ease...

Powderfest at the Fowler/Hilliard Hut
January 2014  |  Gore Range, Colorado

It had been snowing for nearly three weeks straight in the northern mountains of Colorado. With the northwest storm flow forecasted to dump a few more heavy punches before finally clearing out, last week I checked the 10th Mtn...

Winter Camping at Blue Lakes
October 2013  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Hungry for an adventure, on Tuesday I hiked up to Blue Lakes in the Sneffels Range to camp out in the snow. Late autumn can be a good time for winter camping – kind of like “diet” winter camping since there’s less snow to deal with and usually less avalanche danger (*depending, of course)...

Tough Luck in the Pyrenees
September 2013  |  France/Spain

On the first day of September Claudia and I started walking into the Pyrenees, the great mountain range that forms a natural border between France and Spain. Our plan was to trek along the Pyrenean Haute Route as far eastward through the range as we could in the next three weeks, staying in mountain huts and occasional small towns along the way...

Climbing the Zugspitze
August 2013  |  Germany

At 2962m (9717 ft), Zugspitze is the tallest mountain in Germany. The white limestone massif of Wetterstein (of which Zugspitze is the summit) rockets out of the green hills below, towering above all surrounding peaks and dominating the landscape in this part of southern Bavaria near the towns of Garmish and Erwald...

Ferrata Trek through the Rosengarten
August 2013  |  Dolomites, Italy

The Rosengarten is a group of mountains in the Dolomites with a dense cluster of exceptionally jagged peaks. 10 years ago I did two hikes through this range, and since then I’ve longed to return for some better photography and more challenging via ferrata climbing...

Via Ferrate in the Dolomites
August 2013  |  Dolomites, Italy

Last week Claudia’s father and brother drove down from Dresden to join us in the Dolomites in northern Italy for a fun week of hiking and climbing via ferrata routes together. The via ferrate are climbing routes with fixed cables and ladders, and by using a climbing harness with two short ropes with locking carabiners, it’s possible to safely climb exposed routes without technical climbing skills...

Lechtal Alps
July 2013  |  Austria

Our latest adventure in the Alps was an 8-day trek through the Lechtal Alps in Austria, the neighboring range just south of the Allgäuer Alps of our previous trek. In fact on many days of our trek we could look across the valley and see the peaks and ridges which we had just hiked and climbed over the previous week...

Allgäuer Alps
July 2013  |  Germany

We are relaxing in the lovely Bavarian town of Oberstdorf in southern Germany after having trekked for the last 7 days through the Allgäuer Alps, a fantastic mountain range which runs along the border of Germany and Austria...

Wetterhorn Peak
June 2013  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Unlike other mountain ranges in Colorado, the San Juan Mountains have a volcanic history. Around 35 million years ago this region was home to several dozen stratovolcanoes, similar to those in the present day Pacific Northwest...

Hiking Whitehouse Mountain
June 2013  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

In mid-June we did a quick backpack trip and climbed up Whitehouse Mountain in the Sneffels Range of the San Juan Mountains in Colorado.

Summer is in full swing in the mountains! Except for a few lingering patches, most of the snow is gone and the tundra has come alive with its vibrant green grasses and early summer wildflowers like these Spreading Globeflowers (I think that’s what they are called)...

An Evening with Sneffels
June 2013  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

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...

8 Dayhikes in the Canyons of Utah - Escalante & Capitol Reef
April 2013  |  Utah

In mid-April we spent about 10 days car camping and doing some fantastic day hikes in the canyons of Utah - Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Capitol Reef National Park in particular...

Trans Catalina Trail
April 2013  |  Catalina Island, California

Earlier this April, Claudia and I trekked the Trans Catalina Trail – a 45 mile hike across the entire length of Catalina Island, off the coast of southern California.

2012-13 Winter in Ouray
Winter 2012-2013  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

A selection of skiing, landscape, and town photos in and around Ouray in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado during the 2012-2013 winter season.

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...

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!

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...

Colorado Fall Colors
September 2012  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

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.

Autumn on Stony Pass
September 2012  |  San Juan Mountains, Colorado

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...

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...

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!

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...