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...
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...
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...
In May my friend Scott and I did a road trip out to Washington to ski/snowboard some volcanos. We ended up scoring two phenomenal descents down Mount Saint Helens and Mount Adams.
In April I spent two weeks hiking, camping, and photographing in and around the canyons of southern Utah. I visited a lot of new places I haven't seen before, including Goblin Valley State Park, San Rafael Swell, Robbers Roost area, Capitol Reef National Park, Bryce Canyon, and Zion National Park...
I moved up to Jackson Hole, Wyoming during the winter of 2009-2010 to snowboard as much as possible. Now that my season is wrapping up here, I have compiled this gallery of my favorite skiing and snowboarding photos from the winter, including a few shots of me snowboarding, taken by my friends...
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...
On Thursday morning last week in mid March I flew out of Jackson airport and was treated to some incredible aerial views of the Tetons! I reserved a window seat (as always) and had my camera ready, but was disappointed when I realized that I was on the wrong side of the plane to see the mountains during takeoff...
With a full moon and a partly sunny weather forecast, I decided this last Thursday to do a winter camping trip up on Table Mountain, on the west side of the Teton Range. The hike in was grueling, having to put in a skin track all by myself up 4,000 vertical feet through deep heavy powder, with a heavy backpack...
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...
Over three days and two nights this October I went on a ~25 mile loop hike from Cedar Mesa in southeastern Utah. I hiked down Todie Canyon, to Grand Gulch, then out Bullet Canyon. Most of the way the hike passes through dramatic canyon scenery with vertical cliffs and dramatic rock formations...
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...
During the summer of 2009, I devoted six weeks to photographing the amazing mountains and fjords of Norway. During that time I traveled more than 8500 km (5300 miles), from the capital city of Oslo in the south, as far north as Tromsø, far above the Arctic Circle...
This weekend I went on a little road trip to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Westcliffe, Colorado, to meet up with a friend for some camping and hiking around South Colony Lakes. The lakes are situated at the foot of three 14ers, making them a perfect basecamp for several days worth of hiking...
This May 2009, I headed up to Jackson, Wyoming to snowboard some big spring lines in the Tetons with a buddy of mine who lives up there. My timing could not have been better, with solid snow conditions from top to bottom of the peaks, and perfect sunny spring weather...
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...
Over the last four days in late November/early December I’ve been hiking the Milford Track, perhaps the most famous of New Zealand’s Great Walks. This walk belongs in its own class of Awesome, and all the other “Great Walks” I’ve been on should be renamed merely “Good Walks” in comparison...
In late November I spent 3 days in the high mountains of Fiordland, based out of a roadside hut and hiking up to some high saddles around there. These mountains here in Fiordland are amazing and probably my favorite that I’ve seen here in New Zealand...
Te Anau is at first glance similar to a small version of Wanaka – both on the eastern side of large lakes with mountains to the west. However, while Wanaka is known for its proximity to several famous ski fields, Te Anau is the access point to three of the famous Great Walks – the Routeburn, Milford, and Kepler Tracks...
The Routeburn is one of New Zealand’s renowned “Great Walks”, and as such it has wide trails, huge huts, lots of people, and lots of signs telling the people where to go.
Since it is a one way hike with vast distances between the start and end points, I turned in my rental car, shipped one bag to Te Anau from Queenstown, and got a shuttle to the start...