Ophir Pass Colorado

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Ophir Pass, San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Photo: Stormy skies over San Juan Mountains from near Ophir Pass, Colorado.  June 2012

After getting down from Mt. Sneffels we headed south, looking for a place to camp for the night.  We ended finding a nice little place on Ophir pass with some decent views only a short while away so my tired knees didn’t have to put in much effort, just letting nature do the work.

Next up: Ice Lake Basin.

Ophir Pass, San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Photo: Ophir Pass, San Juan Mountains, Colorado.  June 2012

 

Ophir Pass, San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Photo: Mountain views from Ophir Pass, San Juan Mountains, Colorado.  June 2012

 

Ophir Pass, San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Photo: Last light, Ophir Pass, San Juan Mountains, Colorado.  June 2012

 

Ophir Pass, San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Photo: Ophir Pass, San Juan Mountains, Colorado.  June 2012

Mount Sneffels – Colorado

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Panoramic view from summit of mt. Sneffels, Colorado

Photo: Panoramic view from summit of Mt. Sneffels, San Juan Mountains, Colorado.  June 2012

After Mt. Elbert we headed to Aspen to check things out and grab some lunch.  We had the rough idea or heading into the Maroon Bells area for maybe a two or three night trip out in the wilderness.  That plan more or less ended when we saw that you had to park at some hotel and take a bus.  So with that, and not being overly impressed with aspen – too many fake boobs and stretched faces wandering around for my tastes, we began the long drive back towards Ouray with our sights on a new mountain: Mt. Sneffels.

By this time the heatwave that had been baking most of Colorado had sort of broken and a bit of weather out of the west was rolling through the San Juans.  We spent an afternoon in Ouray doing our best to hide from the rain.  And Ouray is a cool little town, glad I got the chance to spend a bit of time there.  In late afternoon we headed up towards the trailhead at Yankee Boy Basin.

As night came I closed by eyes to the sound of distant thunder and the light patter of rain on the roof of my truck.  When my 5am alarm woke me in the darkness of the morning, the rain was still there.  Back to sleep I guess.  A few hours later the sky seemed to be thinking about clearing up, so we headed along the road and towards the mountain.  It was going to be a low milage day anyhow, so if the weather turned us back, so be it.

The sky held off until we were halfway up the loose scree/talus slopes of the south face of the mountain and we were wet again.  Nearing the summit the sun returned, making me glad I hadn’t turned around.  But I knew the weather wasn’t going to hold off for long so I didn’t want to waste much time hanging around the summit, especially since we got a fairly late start.  Once off the summit and heading back down, thunder rumbled the sky I we picked up the pace a bit.  Several late parties were slowly heading up, but smartly decided to turn around at that point.

Mt. Sneffels was probably my favorite mountain of the whole trip.  The views are simply spectacular and the weather was perfect for mountain photography.

Climbing mt sneffels colorado 14er

Photo: Endless scree and talus on the south slope of Mt. Sneffels, Colorado.  June 2012

 

Summer storm San Juan Mountain Colorado

Photo: The storm has passed, for now.  View from the slopes of Mt. Sneffels, Colorado.  June 2012

 

Climbing mt sneffels colorado 14er

Photo: Slopes steepen as the summit grows closer, Mt. Sneffels, Colorado.  June 2012

 

Summit of mt sneffels

Photo: Finally at the top, Mt. Sneffels, Colorado.  June 2012

 

Colorado mountain landscape san juan mountains

Photo: Dark skies over the San Juans, Colorado.  June 2012

 

Mt sneffels colorado view

Photo: View down the rocky slopes of Mt. Sneffels, San Juan Mountains, Colorado.  June 2012

Mount Elbert – Hightest Colorado Mountain

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Hiking mount elbert south ridge trail, Colorado 14ers

Photo: Heading up Mt. Elbert.  Still a couple hours away.  June 2012

 

Mt elbert summit, Colorado

Photo: On the 14, 433 ft summit of Mt. Elbert, the highest point in Colorado.  June 2012

After Handies Peak, we were a bit indecisive on where to head next.  We were thinking of the twin summits of Sunshine and Redcloud, just down the road from where we already were, but driving past the trailhead, the area looked like a zoo, and it still being early in the morning, the cooler running out of ice, and not wanting to sit in the back of my truck all afternoon, we hit the road.  Initially we had planned to hike Scarp ridge the next day, but the photos in the guide book proved to be somewhat more scenic that what we found, so motivation was mostly lost.  And there was a fair bit of smoke filling up the sky so the thought of carrying my camera gear all day when I knew I probably wouldn’t be taking any photos didn’t inspire me much.  So after spending the night up there, it was off to Mt. Elbert in the morning.

Being Colorado’s highest mountain at 14,433 feet, I was expecting it to be a bit more crowded, but as we pulled up to the trailhead it was mostly empty.  Another night camping in my truck and then at the crack of dawn we were headed up the mountain.  It was another day with a fair amount of smoke and haze from the wildfire’s so I didn’t take to many photos.  It was still nice to at least be the highest person in Colorado for a few minutes.  The hike down was hot and dusty. Passed a few groups of some sort of scouts with way too heavy packs and sweating away under the hot sun.  Hope they at least found some water to fill up their bottles.

Next up: a stormy day on Mt. Sneffels…

Mt elbert panoramic photo

Photo: Panoramic view from summit of Mt. Elbert, Colorado.  June 2012

Handies Peak – My First Colorado 14er

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Hiking Handies peak from American Basin, Colorado

Photo: Into the sunlight on the way to Handies Peak, Colorado.  June 2012

After a couple days acclimating we set our sights on Handies Peak (14,048 ft) as the target for our first Colorado fourteener.  This was partly because it would be a good easy hike for a warmup and partly because we were already somewhat in the area;  Though crossing Cinnamon pass isn’t the smoothest way to get to the trailhead.  It something that it still a bit odd for me:  in California we typically drive to the end of the pavement, park, then start hiking.  In Colorado the mountains are crisscrossed with roads, and depending on the abilities of your vehicle, it’s often possible to drive to around 12,000, making the approaches to many of the mountains a lot shorted than what I’m used to.  My knees probably wont complain about this though!

We hiked Handies from the American Basin trailhead on the west side of the mountain.  Even with a start just after dawn and being in the shade most of the way up until hitting the final ridge to the summit the temperatures were quite mild and I was glad to delay putting on sunblock for as long as possible.  It got a bit windy while up on the ridge, but nothing too bad.  We were the 2nd group up the mountain for the day, with one other guy approaching from Grizzly Gulch on the other side.  On the way down we passed lots of parties on the way, making me glad I we got an early start to beat the crowds.

Next up: Mt. Elbert…

Hiking Handies peak from American Basin, Colorado

Photo: Still a few flowers around high up on the mountain.  June 2012

 

Handies peak summit

Photo: On the summit under clear blue skies (well, a bit of haze from the wildfires).  June 2012

 

Hiking Handies peak from American Basin, Colorado

Photo: Descending the gentle ridge from Handies Peak, Colorado.  June 2012

 

American Basin landscape, Colorado

Photo: View from the American Basin trail head.  June 2012

Colorado Trip

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Ice Lake Basin Colorado tent camping

Photo: Night descends on camp at Ice Lake Basin, San Juan Mountains, Colorado.  June 2012

For the last couple weeks of June I was on a little road trip to Colorado.  Other than 1 afternoon about 15 years ago, this was my first time there.  It’s pretty far away from here in California and there is a lot of ‘nothing’ to pass through on the journey to get there, but I really wish I’d made a few journeys before this as it will probably be quite a few years before I ever get back there again.

For the most part we stayed in the southwest in the area of the San Juan mountains.  We managed hikes up 3 14ers (Handies, Elbert, and Sneffels) and a night camping at Ice Lake basin which is an absolutely amazing spot and reminds me of the Alps quite a bit.  All in all, the Colorado mountains are much more green and lush that what we have here in the Sierra Nevada in California where it is basically just rock once you get above the tree line.  Flipping through the guidebooks I picked up, I was a bit overwhelmed as to what to do.  There are just so many mountains and trails!  It seems the choice here in California is a bit easier as you either enter the mountains from the west, or more typically for me, from the east.  But Colorado has so many roads, so many peaks in every direction, and having no idea of what to actually do, it was a bit difficult to focus in and make a choice.  I probably wasted a few days here and there, but overall it was a fun trip.

Conditions wise we were a bit lucky and unlucky.  Due to an abnormally dry winter, ever local I ran into up in the mountains said the late June conditions looked more like early August in typical years.  The made access to the mountains quite easy and my feet hardly touched any snow.  Temperatures where hot!  I cursed the sun anytime I was below 10,000 feet.  Even in the early mornings on the way up the mountains I was often in a t-shirt, and sweating thoroughly in the hot sun on the way back down.  Though miraculously enough, I managed the whole trip without a sunburn.

The tragic fires were all the news while we where there.  On a few days the sky and valleys filled with smoke when the wind changed directions, but for the most part we wouldn’t have been aware there were any fires.

And Aspen in summer sucks, wasn’t even worth a few hours.  Not sure what all the rage is about.  But that’s generally my opinion of most ski towns.

I’ll make a few more post in the following days/week with more photos about each hike.  But this is pretty much the only road/photo trip I’ll be making stateside this year. For the past months I was too poor to get very far from the house, even resorted to selling off a bunch backpacking/camera gear on craigslist so I could at least eat some decent food and cover some bills.  Luckily I’ve now found a job that will keep me super busy for the next weeks and then hopefully I’ll be back on the Lofoten Islands by mid August.

San Juan mountains backpacking Colorado

Photo: Waiting for the rain, Ice Lake Basin, San Juan Mountains, Colorado.  June 2012

 

Summit of Handies Peak Colorado 14er

Photo: Summit of Handies Peak, Our first Colorado 14er.  June 2012

 

Colorado mountain storm San Juans

Photo: Dark skies and distant thunder on the way up Mt. Sneffels, Colorado.  June 2012

 

Colorado mountain landscape Ophir Pass

Photo: Last light from Ophir Pass, San Juan Mountains, Colorado.  June 2012

 

Travel map

Photo: Lots of miles on my truck, time for an oil change…

Summer Sun

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Summer sun shines over Kjerkfjord, Reine, Lofoten islands, Norway

Photo: Summer sun over Kjerkfjord, Lofoten Islands, Norway.  July 2010

Today is the beginning of nearly two months of the midnight sun on the Lofoten Islands.  While summer is still a few weeks away, starts wont shine in the sky again until August.

I’ve been a bit absent of late.  Partly because I haven’t done anything of interest in the past weeks and partly because I’m working on a big re-make of both this website and my Lofoten Islands gallery website: 68 North.  I’m starting with 68 North first, as it will be a simpler process.  I’ve written some 5,000 words of new content (a lot for me) and am in the final stages of working out some design bugs.  Hopefully I can get everything online and working by Monday, as I’ve put things off too long already. Probably won’t be perfect, but it will be a start and something I can build from.

I’ll probably get around to changing this website next month.  I’ll be incorporating the blog together with my website, which will probably result in the breaking of all my links here on the blog; another reason I’ve haven’t added much lately.  No point if it’s not going to work in another month.  If you read things by an RSS feed, you’ll probably need to re-subscribe.  I’ll make a final post a day or two before I change things over, sometime next month hopefully.

Mount Whitney

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Mount Whitney Sunrise

Photo: Sunrise on east face of Mount Whitney, Sierra Nevada mountains, California.  May 2010

If everything has gone alright, something similar to this should be my view this morning and I should be on the top in a few hours…

Channel Islands Sailing – Santa Cruz Painted Cave

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Channel Islands national park sailing

Photo: Sailing towards Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands national park, California.  April 2012

…Continuing from my last post –click here–

After leaving San Miguel Island we arrived at our first nights anchorage on the islands at Becher’s Bay on Santa Rosa Island.  The next day we departed in mid morning and sailed towards Santa Cruz Island.

We made a brief stop for some exploration of Painted cave, the worlds largest sea cave.  It’s quite eerie once inside and completely dark.  I had a large spotlight we me on the dinghy, but in the heavy, misty air inside the cave, it hardly did anything.

The wind had pretty much died here on the north side of the island so we motored our way to the anchorage at Pelican Bay.  Here the skies got dark and we were in for a raining night on the boat.

To be continued…

 

Channel Islands national park sailing

Photo: Leaving Bechers Bay at Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands national park, California.  April 2012

 

Channel Islands national park sailing

Photo: Sailing between the islands, Channel Islands national park, California.  April 2012

 

Painted cave santa cruz island

Photo: Kayaks at entrance of Painted Cave, the worlds largest sea cave, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands national park, California.  April 2012

 

Painted cave santa cruz island

Photo: Darkness inside Painted Cave, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands national park, California.  April 2012

 

Painted cave santa cruz island

Photo: Looking out of Painted Cave, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands national park, California.  April 2012

 

Santa Cruz Island channel islands national park

Photo: Calm waters on north side of Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands national park, California.  April 2012

San Miguel Island – Channel Islands National Park

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Cuyler harbor san miguel islands channel islandsPhoto: Panoramic view of anchorage at Cuyler Harbor, San Miguel Island, Channel Islands National Park, California.  April 2012

Last week was a double first for me: my first time on a sailboat and more importantly, my first time on the Channel Islands.  Despite looking at the islands nearly every days since I was born, it took me 31 years to finally get out there.  They where always some place that I’d wanted to go but plans never really worked out or I’d head up to the mountains instead.  Well now at least I can say I’ve had a ‘proper’ islands trip.

We left the Santa Barbara harbor on a Sunday at midnight with the compass set towards San Miguel Island and motored the 40 nautical miles by stars and moon.  My buddy Tim and I pulled the 4am to 7am shift.  Taking 20 minute turns at the wheel in the damp, cold night air we navigated by stars until Island fog crept in and then we had to use the moon as best we could to keep position.  Just before dawn, after a six and a half hour crossing, we pulled into Cuyler Harbor which would be anchorage for the day.  The fog cleared just enough for a fantastic sunrise over the Santa Barbara Channel and then I headed back below deck for a little bit more shut eye.

In the late morning we launched the dinghy and headed to shore.  We had an appointment to meet the island’s ranger up at the station and then she led our group on a 3 mile hike out to Harris point.  On the way we saw an Island fox hunting and catching something at a pretty close distance, most likely a mouse, which is a pretty rare sight.  On the way back we also came across two juvenile foxes standing right in the middle of the trail.

We were back aboard the boat by around 5pm and then set sail towards Santa Rosa Island and our nights anchorage at Becher Bay.  More on that and the rest of the trip in the next days…

Cuyler harbor dinghy landing

Photo: Heading to shore on the dinghy for a beach landing, Cuyler Harbor, Channel Islands National Park, California.  April 2012

 

Cuyler harbor beach dinghy landing

Photo: Landing the dinghy on the beach, Cuyler Harbor, Channel Islands National Park, California.  April 2012

 

Northern elephant seal san miguel island

Photo: Northern Elephant Seal pup, Cuyler Harbor, Channel Islands National Park, California.  April 2012

 

San miguel island cuyler harbor beach

Photo: Passing seals on the beach (they where everywhere!), Cuyler Harbor, Channel Islands National Park, California.  April 2012

 

San miguel island cuyler harbor beach

Photo: Looking back towards the beach as the trail begins to climb, Cuyler Harbor, Channel Islands National Park, California.  April 2012

 

Harris point san miguel island

Photo: Scenic view from Harris Point at the end of the hike, Channel Islands National Park, California.  April 2012

Montana De Oro – California

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Montana De Oro - California

Photo: Rugged coastal landscape of Montana De Oro State Park, California.  March 2012

From Thursday to Sunday I was up camping at Montana De Oro State Park.  It’s only 2 hours north from me here in Santa Barbara but this is only the second time I’ve been there; the first being only last year and just for a quick stop on the way to somewhere else.

I struggled with the weather on a few days.  Often it was a near impossible task to keep my lens dry while standing so close to the sea with heavy waves crashing all around me and I had a few wet feet moments where I pushed things a little too far.  By the second evening I almost run out of lens wipes as I hadn’t refreshed my supply yet since getting back from Europe and my February trip to Lofoten had already nearly cleared me out.  When photographing on the edge of the sea (and especially with saltwater) the disposable lens tissues are a much better option than using microfiber lens cloths as they tend to build up too much moisture and contamination from the salt and other crap in the water that they become rather infective after only a short while.  Dry lens tissues in combination with ones pre-moistened with cleaning solution are the best combination I’ve found for working situations with lots of sea spray.

The central California coast is a bit of a black hole for me that I’ve never spent much time exploring, even famous areas like Big Sur I’ve only ever spent a day or two photographing at.  I think it comes from memories as a kid that on the few times we would go up there it seemed like heading to the end of the world.  So for some reason in my mind now it feels like the 6 hour drive to Bishop and the Eastern Sierra, where I never went as a kid and have no recollection of the journey, is quicker than heading 2-3 hours up the coast.  Or maybe I think it’s too close to home and therefore less interesting than if it would be further away.  I don’t know.  But there is some absolutely amazing coastline up there and being so close, I hope to make it back on a more regular basis from now on.

The only negatives I feel about camping on the coast is that California State Parks are a complete and total ripoff at $25 (and up to $35) a night for a primitive camp site without even a shower, whereas on the Eastern Sierra I can largely camp for free.  When traveling alone, as I largely due, that adds up to a hefty bill quite quickly.  It’s actually cheaper to stay in hostels in Europe than to camp in California these days.

 

Montana De Oro - California

Photo: Coastal landscape of Montana De Oro State Park, California.  March 2012

 

Montana De Oro - California

Photo: Rugged coastal landscape of Montana De Oro State Park, California.  March 2012

 

Montana De Oro - CaliforniaPhoto: Panoramic coastal landscape of Montana De Oro State Park, California.  Nikon 24mm tilt/shift lens.  March 2012

 

Montana De Oro - California

Photo: Rugged coastal landscape of Montana De Oro State Park, California.  March 2012