Mobius arch, Alabama Hills, Owen’s Valley, California
I think one of the coolest things about the Alabama Hills is that no matter how many times one has been there, there is always something new to photograph. Be it exploring some new area, different weather, or different time of year. The hills and mountains are always changing. One of the reasons it is one of my favorite places to go.
Lofoten islands winter photo gallery: click here.
In early January I traveled north into the Norwegian arctic in search of the polar night. At 68 degrees north, I was unfortunately too low and too late for a true polar night, finding only the ‘polar twilight.’ Twilight would begin around 9:30 AM and last until around 3:00, all other hours of the day I would consider to be night and stars were visible. It was actually far brighter than I was expecting when the sky was clear, the day being essentially a 4 hour long sunrise/sunset all merged into one before the night’s darkness arrived again. Needless to say, I got a lot of reading done.
Since there are no tourists to the islands at this time of year and no hostels are open I was left to sleep in my (tiny) rental car as best as I could. Which wasn’t very good. Only having a 0˚ C sleeping bag and temps down to -7-8˚ C ensured for some cold nights. I felt like some contortionist trying to fit inside the car to sleep. I could fold the back seats down, but there was no possible way for me to get even somewhat comfortable. Better than an airplane seat, yes, but the cold and my lack of a proper sleeping bag would mean that if I didn’t maintain good blood flow to my feet, they would become super cold. On one of the nights it snowed so much that I could hardly get out of my parking area in the morning. Only twice did I get the car stuck in the snow. Once having to track down some dude in a tractor and ask him for a tow. His comment, “You’re not the first one today.” Second time a car full of the young guys came along after about an hour and helped push the car out. I tried to be more cautious after that but still managed a few close calls.
I was fortunate enough for one day of good weather. The remaining days I would classify a somewhere between bad and ‘I wish I had a warm house to sit in and some decent food to eat and not be stuck in this freezing car being rocked about by the wind and buried under snow.’
Brecon Beacons December 2009 photo gallery
I’ve uploaded about 40 new photos so far from the mountains after the snow in December. I made a few trips up Corn Du and Pen Y Fan and once up Fan Fawr. Recently added photos appear at the top of the gallery, which I’ll still be adding to during the next weeks as I get more photos processed. There’s also a few old photos from 2006, you can tell which ones they are as there’s no snow.
Black Cuillin Hills as viewed from Glenbrittle, Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Mount Shasta is one of my favorite mountains in California. Unlike the chain of rugged granite peaks of the Sierra, Shasta is simply a giant volcano rising 10,000 (3,000m) above the surrounding landscape to a height of 14,179 ft (4,322 m). The mountain is at the southern end of the Cascade range, a series of (mostly) volcanic peaks surrounded by endless Bigfoot-roamed forests starting in northern California, through Oregon and Washington and up into British Columbia.
Panoramic photo Hoher Göll massif as seen from Jenner from the other week while down in the mountains of Berchtesgaden. Stitch of 4 photos at 35mm.
Tilt-shift panoramic of Schneibsteinhaus in Berchtesgaden national park as seen from Jenner.
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…
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.
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.
View of our way, keeping mostly along the ridge and making our way to Cairn Gorm, rising in the left of the photo.
View again towards Loch Morlich and the Town of Aviemore (‘adventure capital of Scotland’) off in the distance.
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!
Finally, the top of Cairn Gorm.
(all panos can be viewed larger by clicking on ’em)
Wetterstein group in winter from near Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
9 vertical images at 200mm.
Kungsleden Trail Hiking Guide