Windloch Sackdilling

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Was in Windloch Sackdilling cave again last night. Weather wasn’t so good, so the best thing to do is go underground. The ice-stalagmites have grown quite a bit and are pretty cool looking. I only had 1 SB-800 flash with me and no tripod as I wanted to keep things light while down in the cave, so I couldn’t do too much. But hopefully I can head back sometime this week with all my lighting gear (it’s pitch black, no natural light) and see what I can come up with. The ice is only in the first part of the cave, so no rappelling required to get there.

Windloch Sackdilling cave, Oberpfalz, Germany: photo of Ice stalagmites

Windloch Sackdilling cave, Oberpfalz, Germany: photo of Ice stalagmites

Crawling out from one of the small passages in the back of the cave.

Caving photography: caver crawling through narrow passage in limestone cave, Windloch Sackdilling cave, Oberpfalz, Germany:

A Day in the Cairngorms

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Monday May 5th was our third full day in Scotland. The weather of the preceding two days was typically “Scottish,” so as the morning fog cleared cleared into a brilliant blue sky we headed straight into the Cairngorms to take advantage of such a day. Despite the amount of time I’ve previously spent in Scotland, I’ve never hiked in the Cairngorms before. I had planned on a 6 day through hike on my first trip, but a broken camera forced me back to Glasgow to get it repaired, and I never made it.

We didn’t have any particular plan, other than to avoid hiking near the hideous funicular railway that takes tourists and skiers near to the summit of Cairn Gorm. So off we headed on some trail or another.  A stream crossings here, a muddy peat bog there, then we finally started gaining a bit of elevation along some gentle ridge. One things I love about the highlands is the ease of cross country travel. Sometimes you’ll get a bit more muddy than planned, worst I’ve managed was up to my waste in some bog in the Cuillins and then had to “bathe” in a creek before hitching back to Portree, but generally the rugged tundra like terrain means you can just choose a direction and go. So after we got a bit higher up, I pulled out the map to check things out. Hmm, looks like heading up to Cairn Lochan go be a good idea, so off we went…

travel lifestyle stock image: Female hiker in alpine terrain of Cairngorm mountains, Scotland

Travel stock photography: Female backpacker hikes near running river in cairngorm mountains, Scotland

Once we reached the summit plateau we took a short break for some chocolate and lunch, or is that lunch and some chocolate. Well, Sabine ate lunch while I was running around taking pictures. No time to worry about an empty stomach in such nice conditions.

Panoramic stock photography: Female hiker takes in view of Cairngorm mountains from near summit of Cairn Lochan, Scotland

Back on the way again. Below is the summit of Cairn Lochan with Loch Morlich below in the distance. At 1215 meters it’s nothing especially high, well, nothing in Scotland is especially high for that matter.

Travel stock photography: Person stands in distance on summit of Cairn Lochan in the Cairngorms, Scotland

Adventure stock photography: Female hiker crosses snowfield near summit of Cairn Lochan in the Cairngorm mountains, Scotland

Adventure stock photography: Female hiker crosses snowfield near summit of Cairn Lochan in the Cairngorm mountains, Scotland

View of our way, keeping mostly along the ridge and making our way to Cairn Gorm, rising in the left of the photo.

Scotland stock landscape photo: cairngorm mountains in spring. Cody Duncan photography

View again towards Loch Morlich and the Town of Aviemore (‘adventure capital of Scotland’) off in the distance.

lifestyle stock travel photography: Female hiker stands on cliff near Cairn Gorm in the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland

Starting to ascend the gentle slope of Cairn Gorm. This photo is looking back from where we had come. Cairn Lochan is the peak in he center of the photo. What a day and what a view!

Scotland stock landscape photo: cairngorm mountains in spring. Cody Duncan photography

Panoramic landscape stock photography: Cairngorm mountains with spring snow, Cairngorms, Scotland

Panoramic landscape stock photography: Cairngorm mountains with spring snow, Cairngorms, Scotland

Finally, the top of Cairn Gorm.

Cairngorms, Scotland: Summit cairn on Cairn Gorm. Cody Duncan photoCairngorms, Scotland: Summit cairn on Cairn Gorm. Cody Duncan photo

(all panos can be viewed larger by clicking on ’em)

Wettersteingebirge

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Panoramic photo: Wetterstein range in winter. Cody Duncan Photography

Wetterstein group in winter from near Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

9 vertical images at 200mm.

Burg Hohenstein

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Burg Hohenstein castle, Mittelfranken - franconia, Germany

Warm winter light on a cold winter day at Hohenstein a few weeks back.

San Felipe Morning

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Travel stock photo: fishing boat on beach at sunrise, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

Travel stock photo: fishing boat on beach at sunrise, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

A couple more photos of San Felipe from back in March 2008 while I was there for the Baja 250. The beach is covered with fishing boats, which often take out tourists on ‘sport fishing’ trips, but the locals seem to use them for their own fishing needs as well. By day the beach is alive with activity but in the first hours of morning all is quite as the sun rises across the Gulf of California.

San Felipe

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Panoramic stock photo: San Felipe and sea of Cortez, Baja California, Mexico

Somewhere along highway a bit south of San Felipe is some abandoned development of some sort. It looked like it would have been some nice place at some point in it’s history but now it sits abandoned; the old paint fading under the harsh Baja sun and the remaining roads ever more covered by the encroaching dunes. I parked the truck just inside the old rusty gate and cautiously wandered around, not sure if anyone still cared about this place or not. I walked down the ‘main street’ which led towards the sea and came across a couple sets of Mexican fishermen drinking beer out of the back of their old rusty pickup trucks. The beach was thoroughly covered in trash, so it looks like this was a common hang out place which helped fade any thoughts I had of trying to bribe the police as they come to arrest me for trespassing. At the beach was a nice view across the small bay and back towards San Felipe so I decided to come back a few hours later at sunset for a few photo.

Abandoned coastal development, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

Across the Minch

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Some twenty or so miles across the Little Minch rise the mountains of Harris. I was there once, on some journey years ago. For some reason the Hebridean isles have been on my mind lately. Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen any ocean since last July, the longest period in my life, so the idea of wandering along an empty beach with a cold north wind on some wild and rugged island on the edge of the world is like a dream.

Isle of Skye stock photo: view across the Little Minch to Isle of Harris, Scotland

Ice Cave

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Was doing some cruising around the Fränkische Schweiz (franconian Switzerland) the other week and came across this. Not anything super interesting, but for someone who spent the first 24 years of his life in Southern California, it’s kinda cool. Almost stood up too quickly and impaled myself on one of the icicles.

German landscape stock photo: Icicles in limestone cave, Franconian Switzerland, Bavaria, Germany

A Walk in the Forest

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A light dusting of snow fell this afternoon so I decided to head down the road and into the Veldensteiner Forst, of which I’m on the eastern border of. Normally the forests around here don’t interest me much, as they aren’t really ‘wild’ and are often plantations from the last century or so. But when a light snow falls it only reaches the ground in openings in the canopy, creating cool patterns of snow and green.

I remembered a road I had driven down some months back that had some cool looking areas with moss on the forest floor, opposed to blue berry bushes which seem to be more common but not as nice looking in the snow. The road is only about 5 miles away but it doesn’t really go anywhere so I never use it.

Germany landscape stock photo: Naturpark Fränkische Schweiz-Veldensteiner Forst in winter, Bavaria, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

Germany landscape stock photo: Naturpark Fränkische Schweiz-Veldensteiner Forst in winter, Bavaria, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

Germany landscape stock photo: Naturpark Fränkische Schweiz-Veldensteiner Forst in winter, Bavaria, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

Germany landscape stock photo: Naturpark Fränkische Schweiz-Veldensteiner Forst in winter, Bavaria, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

Germany landscape stock photo: Naturpark Fränkische Schweiz-Veldensteiner Forst in winter, Bavaria, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

Germany landscape stock photo: Naturpark Fränkische Schweiz-Veldensteiner Forst in winter, Bavaria, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

Germany landscape stock photo: Naturpark Fränkische Schweiz-Veldensteiner Forst in winter, Bavaria, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

Austria Ski Weekend

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Learning how to ski has been my goal for several years now (I’m normally a snowboarder). I gave it a shot over the weekend down in Austria in the Brixen in Thale area. Wasn’t too pretty to watch, but I managed to get down a red run (American blue) by the middle of my second day. Only had one crash where I lost both skis. There’s a couple small hills in the area here where one can ski, so hopefully I’ll get out a few more times before the winter ends.

Only took a couple photos as my skiing wasn’t too safe for the camera.

austria_brixeninthale2_codyduncanphoto

Panoramic photo: Brixen in Thale in winter, Tyrol, Austria

austria_brixeninthale2_codyduncanphoto