Photo Journal & Trip Reports (April)

Please enjoy these photo journals and trip reports from some of my outdoor photography adventures, starting with the most recent. You can subscribe to follow my latest blog posts (and any other blogs as well) by using a feed reader such as Inoreader or Feedly.

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Sliding into Spring — Sliding into Spring

April/May 2023 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

I'm a month late with this post, but I thought I'd share some snapshots from a few spring skiing days in late April/early May here in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. I didn't get out as much as I expected this spring, due in large part to unusually thunderstormy weather in May but also just generally being too busy on the computer (something I'm trying consciously to change in my life)...

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Exploring in the Needles District — Exploring in the Needles District

April 2023 | Canyonlands National Park, Utah

With its fantastic red and pink spires, the Needles District is a spectacular and popular part of the Canyonlands National Park in Utah. In the busy spring and fall seasons, most backcountry campsites are completely reserved months in advance...

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Southern Utah Getaway — Southern Utah Getaway

April 2021 | Southern Utah

Usually in the wintertime my driving force is to ride my snowboard/splitboard as much as possible whenever I'm not riding my office chair. But every year by about March or April cabin fever sets in and my powder lust wanes as I start to dream about warm weather and dry ground backpacking...

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Canyons Close to Home — Canyons Close to Home

April 2020 | Southwest Colorado

Yearning for some closer-to-home adventure this spring, we ventured out for a few quick overnight backpack trips to explore some canyon and desert areas along the Dolores and Gunnison Rivers, both major river drainages of the San Juan Mountains where we live in southwest Colorado...

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Spring Skiing in the San Juans — Spring Skiing in the San Juans

April-June 2019 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

If you've followed my blog for a while, you may wonder if I've given up on snowboarding since I haven't posted hardly any ski/snowboard photos this winter. Well, while I haven't been posting much, I have been out on the snow a lot this season, especially this spring!

2018-2019 was a winter to remember in Colorado, with roughly 160% of average snowpack by late winter...

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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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In, On, and Around the San Rafael Reef — In, On, and Around the San Rafael Reef

April 2017 | Utah

The San Rafael Reef is the jagged uplifted eastern edge of the greater San Rafael Swell, a giant dome-shaped anticline rising to the west of the Green River in central Utah. People who have driven Interstate 70 west of Green River will likely remember the incredible highway route that cuts right through the vertical red walls of the San Rafael Reef...

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Tapeats/Deer Creek Loop, Grand Canyon — Tapeats/Deer Creek Loop, Grand Canyon

April 2015 | Grand Canyon, Arizona

Last week we repeated a backpacking trip down into the Grand Canyon which we had done several years ago — a “lollipop” loop from the north rim down to Thunder River and Tapeats Creek, along the Colorado River, and up Deer Creek...

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Wetterhorn Ski Mission — Wetterhorn Ski Mission

April 2015 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Wetterhorn Peak stands above its surrounding basins like an ancient crumbling volcano. Rising to 14,015 feet, the pyramidal fourteener is not only one of the most photogenic mountains in Colorado, but its steep eastern face holds a classic ski descent that I’ve been wanting to snowboard for years...

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Death Hollow Canyon — 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...

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Two Weeks in the Canyons of 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.

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8 Dayhikes in the Canyons of Utah - Escalante & Capitol Reef — 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...

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Trans Catalina Trail — 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.

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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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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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Two Weeks in the Canyons of Utah — Two Weeks in the Canyons of Utah

April 2010 | Utah

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...

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Bridge of Heaven Winter Camp — Bridge of Heaven Winter Camp

April 2009 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

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...

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Skiing La Sals, Utah — Skiing La Sals, Utah

April 2008 | La Sal Mountains, Utah

This weekend I met up with Ann Driggers and Seth Anderson, some new ski buddies I met through SummitPost.org, to ski some lines in La Sal Mountains, the prominent range that rises a whopping 8,700 vertical feet above the town of Moab and the surrounding canyonlands of southeast Utah...

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Spring Riding in the San Juans — Spring Riding in the San Juans

April/May 2007 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Instead of making separate trip reports for each spring backcountry hike and ski/snowboard trip that my friends and I do, I thought I'd just make a page with some of my favorite pictures from various hikes this spring in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado...

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