Mountains

American Basin Falls

Sloan Lake Morning

Sloan Lake, in American Basin of the San Juan Mountains, is one of the highest (12,920′) alpine lakes in Colorado. Starting at 3:00 am, we began the long ascent up to this lake by headlamp, hoping to watch the headwall mountains reflect in the lake at sunrise. I found these beautiful alpine sunflowers along the rocky shore shortly after sunrise and quickly composed this image. I real love the blues and yellows in the photo. In my mind's eye, the image conveys the peace of a mountain morning. Shortly after making this image, we ascended to the top of Handies Peak (14,048'), the first 14er we ever climbed. At that time in my life, it was a very important achievement, as I had a serious health scare the year before I was overcoming. In light of overcoming that obstacle, this image has always been one of my personal favorites and it has adorned my office wall ever since. This image was also featured in the Salon de Luz gallery show that included ten of my images.

Dunes and Snow

I took this image during the same week of September back in 2006. Like this year, in 2006 we got an early snow storm across the Rocky Mountains. On my way up to Aspen for fall color, I stopped to watch the afternoon and sunset light at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. The clouds cleared off the peaks to reveal a blanket of fresh snow. I loved the sky, the fresh white mountains, and the strong light and shadows on the dunes, so I quickly made this image.

Capitol Storm

This remains one of my all-time favorite mountain images. This was taken on September 16, 2006. A late afternoon snowstorm cleared off of 14,137-foot Capitol Peak near Snowmass, Colorado just as the sun started to set. The light and clouds created the maelstrom of purple, blue, and magenta that drives the drama of the shot.

Maroon Bells Reflection

Fall in 2006, Colorado was graced with an early snowstorm in the middle of September. In that storm’s aftermath, I was fortunate to spend a quiet morning at Maroon Lake, capturing this scene of the iconic, snowy Maroon Bells reflecting in Maroon Lake, as the snow clouds began to lift off the peaks. Today, it would be nearly impossible to experience this place without being overwhelmed by 100s of other photographers, but this morning in 2006, there were no more than a half a dozen of us at the Lake. When I returned in 2014, the place was like an amusement park with verbal fights breaking out along the lake shore as people pushed their way forward. I'm unlikely to ever return to this location in the fall, but I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to experience this place on that quiet morning in 2006.

Truchas Butte

A pastel winter sunset of buttes underneath the famous New Mexican Truchas Peaks.

Pikes Peak Sunrise

Classiv view of Pikes Peak from the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs area.

Dawn, Mt. Whitney

The first morning sun illuminates the eastern face of Mt. Whitney in California. 14,505-foot Mt. Whitney is the tallest peak in the lower 48-states. I made this image in the Alabama Hills area near Lone Pine, CA. Lone Pine, CA sits in the Owens Valley. Although I've seen large mountains before, Mt. Whitney is stunningly large, sitting 10,778 feet above the Owens Valley floor. The entire High Sierra wall towering above the Ownes Valley floor feel like a castle wall blocking the gates of heaven.

Mt. Owen Sunrise

Dramatic Mr. Owen lights up at sunrise, standing guard above the Alabama Hills in the Sierra.

Yosemite-Reno Trip

Mt. Whitney, Alabama Hills

Winter Afternoon, Taos

Dream Lake Alpenglow

Sunbeams, Death Valley

In the late afternoon, sunbeams illuminate dust in Cottonball Basin at Death Valley National Park

Mirrorview, Paradise Divide

Mt. Baldy reflects in Paradise Lake at sunset in the West Elk Mountains high above Crested Butte, Colorado. Paradise Divide is a high mountain shelf between three mountain basins. On a calm day, like this one, the lake acts a mirror of the surrounding mountains.

The rising sun lights red rock cliffs ablaze underneath the watchful eye of Henry Mountains near Hite, Utah. After a blissful night of camping in our own private campground next to White Canyon, my friends Adam Schallau, Sally Sally Stacks Smithies, and I raced to find a sunrise location where we could see the fresh snow on the Henry Mountains contrasted with the red rock cliffs below. With slightly different visions, we ended up about a quarter mile apart at sunrise, but we were all treated to a fabulous light show that none of us will soon forget.

"Lavender Fields, Los Poblanos"

Lavender begins to bloom at Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm under a stormy late-June sunset in Albuquerque.

"Riot of Fog & Color"

After a day of rain, there was a brief respite in the late afternoon on Friday at American Basin. Hoping for a show, Liz Godfrey VanDenzen and I sat in field surrounded by a riot of color (her term-she named this picture): indian paintbrush, alpine bistort, sneezeweed and alpine buttercup. Indeed, we got our show, as fog descended into American Basin about an hour before sunset. Within 10-minutes of this shot, the entire upper basin was lost in fog for the remainder of the day.

"Reflection in Ice"

On Saturday morning, we woke up really early and hiked to to Sloan Lake at 13,000', at the very top of American Basin. We found the lake still partially covered in ice. Liz made some oatmeal, which was a welcome warm breakfast on a cold alpine morning. This is one of our favorite places on earth to watch the sunrise and even with the lack of clouds, it did not disappoint. We had been worried that we might get skunked given the heavy fog that had descended the night before, but it turned out to be a perfectly clear morning.

Ever since I read the fabulous "Ghost Grizzlies" by Doug Pederson, Beartown has been a place of wonder for me. Getting to Beartown (one of the most isolated trailheads into the Weminuche Wilderness) played a large motivating factor in trading in the efficient Subaru for the gas-guzzling but off-road capable 4Runner. Even with the 4Runner, the Road to Beartown's reputation had intimidated me. Finally, this year we took the plunge and forced ourselves to Beartown/Kite Lake. The 4Runner was certainly pushed hard, but it came through! On our final morning at Kite Lake, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and hiked up a steep ridge towards the continental divide above Kite Lake. Reviewing some maps the night before, I found a small, off-trail ridge along the divide that would in theory allow me to spy sunrise over Storm King Mountain, Mt. Silex, and the Guardian, aka the Storm Factory in the wild heart of the Weminuche Wilderness. I dream of a bigger trip one day focused on the lakes around these mountains. It had been a stormy evening, and I was a bit nervous about heading well above tree line, partially off trail, and by myself (Liz slept in). But the effort was worth it, as I had one of those almost spiritual mornings deep in the mountains. I just barely reached my destination up the ridge, across alpine tundra, to the western flank of Hunchback Mountain at 12,800" in time for the light show above the Storm Factory. I quickly found the best composition I could find among the scree of the continental divide. The wind whipped the flowers as I shot them. No matter though, because the sunrise provided one of the absolute best displays of pink sky I've ever seen. And like its name suggests, the clouds above the storm factory quickly coalesced within 30-minutes of sunrise into a threatening looking storm that eventually dropped some rain on me as I high-tailed across high tundra and eventually back down to Kite Lake. Thankfully, there was no signs of lightening. It was a magical experience that will linger with me a long time.

Fireweed, Grand Turk Mountain (Liz's View)

On a foggy morning near Molas Pass, the morning sun illuminates the tip of Grand Turk Mountain with fireweed and other abundant wildflowers below. My wife saw this composition the day before, and I returned to watch sunrise there the next morning. I'm thankful to her, and to the fog that rolled through the scene around sunrise.

Sunrise, Pecos Baldy Lake

East Pecos Baldy (12,529') reflects in Pecos Baldy Lake at sunrise on August 1, 2020. I made this image on day two of my three day walk across the Pecos Wilderness from Jack's Creek on the south to Santa Barbara to the north. I ate my breakfast and had a cup of tea as I watched this sunrise and mirror image unfold before me. It was a wonderful morning to be alive!

Reflections, Truchas Lake

Winter Sunset, Santa Fe Baldy

One recent New Year's Day, I snowshoed into the Pecos Wilderness to an open spot just short of the top of 11,109' Aspen Peak in the late afternoon. My family accompanied me on this adventure. Starting at the ski basin, it was calm with little clouds and I worried it would be a pretty boring, blue bird sunset. But by the time we reached the other side of the ridge, the wind was whipping and to my happy surprise there were lenticular clouds over the northern mountains of the Pecos Wilderness. The 12,622' peak of Santa Fe Baldy was shrouded by a thin cloud, like a winter cap covering a bald head. I composed this image and waited for the lenticular wall to glow fiery red, in contrast to the deep blue of winter's snow captured in the foreground.

Handies Reflection

Steppes and the Golden High Sierra

Late in the afternoon, the long low setting sun casts shadows on the high steppes of the White Mountains near the ancient bristlecone pineforest. The wall of the High Sierra stand across the Owens Valley from the White Mountains. The Owens Valley at around 4,000 feet has some of the starkest elevation relief in North America, ringed by 14,000-foot mountains of the High Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east and the White Mountains to the west. Numerous 14,000-feet and other prominent 13,000-feet peaks are visible in the far wall of the Sierra in this image: Middle Palisade (14er), Mt. Sill (14er), North Palisade Peak (14er), Thunderbolt, Mt. Winchell, Mt. Agassiz, and Cloudripper.

Reflecting, Wheeler Peak

New Mexico's tallest mountain, 13,161' Wheeler Peak, reflects in a small alpine tarn in the Wheeler Peak Wilderness near Taos. Wheeler Peak is a difficult moutain to photgraph because it is on a long ridge of mountains surrounded by other long ridges of mountains. Here, the fascinating foreground rocks in the tarn mimicking the peak help define Wheeler Peak in the mind's eye. I made this photo late in the afternoon, shortly before sunset, after a long day of hiking with Liz, Diego, and my good friend Adam Schallau. It was a great day full of fun and memorable images.

Lupine, Blue Lakes Basin

Lupine and other alpine flowers burst in a meadow along the steep trail between Lower Blue Lake and Middle Blue Lake. The stunning Blue Lakes Basin is in the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness near Ouray, Colorado. I departed from the trailhead at 2:00 a.m. to hike the 3.9 miles and 2,519

Storms Over Corkscrew Pass

Nebo Lake Dawn

Golden Horn Mirage

The sun breaks through late morning fog high in Ice Lakes Basin, revealing the Golden Horn towering above. After watching sunrise at Upper Ice Lake, we climbed up and around to Island Lake, where we spent an hour taking in the beauty of the area. Fog started to fill the basins midmorning, as we began our return hike down to Upper Ice Lake. As we rounded the corner back into Ice Lakes Basin, the sun broke through the fog, revealing this image of the magnificant Golden Horn. Within minutes of this image, the sun burnt off all of the fog. The Golden Horn is one of the San Juan Mountain's most majestic mountains in both name and shape. Nearby Clear Lake Road provides numerous good views of the Golden Horn. And the unique shape of the Golden Horn is visible from many high peaks in the Silverton, Colorado area.