Photo Journal & Trip Reports (San juan mountains)

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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Aurora over the Sneffels Range — Aurora over the Sneffels Range

October 2024 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Leading up to October 10, 2024 a severe geomagnetic storm was forecasted after a strong solar flare erupted from the sun the previous day. The news was full of reports forecasting a KP8-level aurora that should be visible even as far south as the southern United States! With such an optimistic aurora forecast and good weather I decided spontaneously to hike and camp up high in the San Juan Mountains for a chance to view this incredibly rare event.

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Indian Summer in the San Juans — Indian Summer in the San Juans

October 10, 2024 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

The aspen colors have been brilliant again this autumn season here in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. But so have the skies! For most of late September and early October the weather has been warm and dry, with relentless blue skies and no snow on the peaks...

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3 Days In the Grenadiers — 3 Days In the Grenadiers

August 2024 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

With a brief window of decent weather between monsoon storms, last week I ventured back into the Weminuche Wilderness for a quick but strenuous solo 3-day backpack trip through the rugged Grenadier Range via a series of high passes and lots of off-trail rock hopping...

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Threading the Needles — Threading the Needles

July 2024 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

At the end of July I ventured out for a 6-day solo backpack trek through the Needle Mountains, a remote and rugged sub-range of the greater San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado. This was the seventh trek I've done in this specific range (not counting other nearby trips within the Weminuche Wilderness), though it has actually been six years since my last visit...

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Wandering in Wildflowers — Wandering in Wildflowers

July 2024 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

This week my wife and I ventured into the mountains near Silverton, Colorado for a wonderful 3-day trek through the wildflowers! We shuttled cars and did a one-way trailhead to trailhead walk - another variation of a trek that we've done two previous variations of, and we also included two exploratory side hikes each evening...

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Waiting for Winter — Waiting for Winter

December 2023 | Ridgway, Colorado

Winter is off to a slow start here in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. We've gotten a few snow storms here and there, and the snowpack is gradually growing inch by inch in the mountains, but winter is taking its sweet time so far...

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Fall Colors in the San Juan Mountains — Fall Colors in the San Juan Mountains

October 2023 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

This October we had yet another glorious season of autumn colors here in the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado. Having just returned home from a long road trip to Idaho and California, I was content to hang around close to home so I mostly just visited some of my favorite aspen forests around the Sneffels Range area near Ridgway and Telluride...

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Paintbrush and Columbine — Paintbrush and Columbine

August 2023 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, what was shaping up to be an epic wildflower season in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado was a bit stunted by a month of hot sunny weather in July. Nevertheless, the residual moisture from the big winter snows and wet spring storms seem to have won out in many areas where glorious fields of wildflowers have sprung up in late July and early August...

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Above the Uncompahgre Gorge — Above the Uncompahgre Gorge

July 2023 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Last week in mid-July I did a pleasant 3-day solo backpack loop through the Uncompahgre Wilderness above and east of the town of Ouray, Colorado. This is a favorite trek I've done numerous times before but this time I varied my camping destinations and did a bit of exploring along the way, and I also had a notable encounter with the local wildlife!

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Sneffels Summertime — Sneffels Summertime

July 2023 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

At the beginning of July I spent a pleasant evening and morning on a high ridge in the Sneffels Range with a wonderful view facing my favorite mountain: Mount Sneffels.

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Sunrise on Wilson Peak — Sunrise on Wilson Peak

May 2023 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

In late May during this spring of unusually stormy weather here in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, I finally had a clear weather window to go for a more ambitious high-altitude photo mission. I've had a particular photo idea of Wilson Peak in mind for several years and now would be a good time to go for that!

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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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Winter Scenes around Ridgway — Winter Scenes around Ridgway

March 2023 | Ridgway, Colorado

The 2022/23 winter has been one to remember, with numerous "atmospheric river" events bringing record breaking or near-record snowfall throughout the West (particularly in California and Utah, which both shattered their all-time snowfall records with over 800-900" inches of snow in some places!)...

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Aspen Immersion — Aspen Immersion

October 2022 | Colorado

Autumn really put on a show this year in Colorado, with snowy peaks and brilliant aspen colors. Most notably, the golden aspen colors were nearly two weeks late and lasted for longer into October than I ever remember happening before...

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Sultan Sunset — Sultan Sunset

September 2022 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

In late September my wife Claudia and I spent a chilly but pleasant evening watching the sunset from the 13,368 ft. (4074 m) summit of Sultan Mountain, high above the town of Silverton in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado...

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High Hanging Fruit — High Hanging Fruit

August 2022 | Sneffels Range, Colorado

When I first moved to southwest Colorado in 2006 I had a good 5-10 year stretch when the San Juan Mountains were pretty much a blank canvas for me for planning grand backpack treks and discovering loads of unique scenes to photograph...

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Light in La Platas — Light in La Platas

July 2022 | La Plata Mountains, Colorado

La Plata Mountains are located just northwest of the town of Durango, Colorado, in the southwest corner of the greater San Juan Mountains. I guess it shows how vast the San Juans are that it's taken me 16 years to finally go visit La Platas! I've spied their rugged ridges off in the distance many times from the Weminuche Wilderness or the western San Juans, but for some reason I just never got around to driving down there...

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Chasing Sunsets in the Weminuche — Chasing Sunsets in the Weminuche

June/July 2022 | Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado

After a dry and extremely windy spring, this summer so far a strong monsoon weather pattern has settled in over the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, bringing much needed rain along with plenty of lightning and thunder...

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Winter in the San Juans — Winter in the San Juans

Winter 2022 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

The 2021-22 winter season was extremely busy for me - but not with photography or snowboarding... my wife and I finished building our new house and finally moved in at the end of winter! With life settling back down I finally have a chance to post some photos from the few times I did manage to get out to photograph the mountains this winter...

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Autumn Overload — Autumn Overload

October 2021 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

As I write this in mid-October, snow is falling outside my window and only a few yellow leaves cling to the aspen forests above town. It has been a phenomenal fall season here in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, with vibrant aspen colors, lots of amazing light and clouds, and fresh snowfall frosting the mountaintops...

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Summer Stories from the San Juans — Summer Stories from the San Juans

July/August/September 2021 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

As summer fades to autumn, I thought I'd share some new photos and stories from the last three months of backpacking in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Including and continuing from my last blog post ("Monsoon Explorations in the Weminuche"), my backpacking adventures this summer have been mainly focused on exploring hidden nooks and crannies of these mountains and finding unique perspectives to photograph...

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Monsoon Explorations in the Weminuche — Monsoon Explorations in the Weminuche

June/July 2021 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

In late June a record-breaking heat wave settled in over the southwestern United States. With a week of 95º heat in Ridgway and smoky skies from a huge wildfire in the nearby La Sal Mountains in southeast Utah, it was shaping up to be another dry and smoky summer here in the San Juan Mountains...

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Springtime in the San Juans — Springtime in the San Juans

May/June 2021 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Spring is quite possibly the most beautiful time of year around the lower elevations of the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, with snow capped peaks rising above brilliant green aspens and wildflower-filled meadows...

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Journey Around the San Miguel Range — Journey Around the San Miguel Range

June 2021 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Recently I've had an itch to do an adventurous high-mileage trek - something with long hiking days to whip my winter beer belly into shape. With snow still clinging to the alpine basins in early June here in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, I knew the best place to trek would be something in the lower-elevation subalpine zone where the aspens are green as can be and the meadows are filled with flowers...

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Winter in the San Juans — Winter in the San Juans

Winter 2021 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

The 2020-21 winter season in southwest Colorado got off to a slow start, with around 60% of average snowfall at the beginning of January. But in late January a potent southwest storm cycle dumped over 3 feet of much-needed powder in the San Juans, bringing us closer to average...

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A Sunset and a Lion — A Sunset and a Lion

October 2020 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

By mid-October all the aspen leaves have fallen and the color is gone from the mountains. Nevertheless, on Thursday afternoon last week, with clear air and a sky full of high clouds I decided spontaneously to go for a big hike to watch the sunset from the top of a 13,500 foot peak high above the town of Telluride...

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Autumn Gold Rush in the San Juans — Autumn Gold Rush in the San Juans

September-October 2020 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Walking through a grove of autumn aspens must be one of the most beautiful experiences that nature has to offer. Sunlight illuminates the golden leaves like a brilliant stained glass window in a cathedral of nature, like stepping into a colorful pointillist painting of Vincent van Gogh or Gustav Klimt...

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At Home in the San Juans — At Home in the San Juans

September 2020 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

In mid-September just a few days after getting back home to Ridgway, Colorado after my big trek around Glacier Peak in the Washington Cascades, I packed my backpack once more and headed up into the Sneffels Range for a quick overnight backpack trip...

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Columbines and Comets — Columbines and Comets

July 2020 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

In mid July I ventured up to a 13,000-foot ridge to photograph Comet NEOWISE above the Sneffels Range, in the San Juan Mountains above Ouray, Colorado. Here are some photos from that evening, along with some additional photos from later in July...

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Across the San Miguel Range — Across the San Miguel Range

July 2020 | San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Over the 4th of July weekend, Claudia and I headed out into the Lizard Head Wilderness near Telluride, Colorado, for an adventurous 3-day backpack trek across the San Miguel Range. A week ago I did a solo backpack trip there near Lizard Head Peak, which got me thinking about a longer one-way shuttle trek route directly across and over the bulk of the range, starting from Lizard Head Pass on the southeast end of the range and ending at Woods Lake on the northeast side...

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