San Juans Trips 9-09 - View When the Clouds Had Cleared
(San Juans - Part 3)Mt. Sneffels is third highest mountain in the San Juans, 14,150 ft. The hike up it is short, but steep and fun. The drive from Ouray to the trailhead was very scenic and part of it is a shelf road with amazing views.
Overhanging Rock
An Abandoned Mine
Cascades
We parked at the main trailhead and hiked up th...
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San Juans Trips 9-09 - 57 Cascade Falls
(San Juans - Part 2)We had pulled into camp after dark, so we didn't realize the view that our campsite had. When we got up the next morning, this is the view that awaited us.
This was our rest day, so we just did stuff around Ouray. We went to the Box Canyon Falls. Unfortunately, I was not able to get any good pictures because of how close the canyon walls are around it. You'll just have to go and check it out for yourself. It is only $3 to get into the city ...
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Redcloud Peak
(This is the first of several trip reports from my San Juans trip in September.)
We started at the Silver Creek Trailhead for the climb up Sunshine and Redcloud Peaks. The first part of the trail followed Silver Creek up through a scenic valley.
Trail Going Along Silver Creek
We turned off the Silver Creek Trail and headed up a unmarked trail towards Sunshine Peak. The trail was a gradual climb through tree line and to the end of...
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Blowhole
Here's some more pics from Blowing Rocks on Jupiter Island.
Waves Coming In
Man-O-War
Rock Blowhole
Bird Preparing for Takeoff
Rapids
A week ago Boulder Creek peaked over 800 cfs. These pics are from when it went up that high six years ago. Some high late May temperatures brought the water level on Boulder Creek up to 800 cfs. Normally it's above 400 cfs. The first three of these pictures are of the creek at 500 cfs in Boulder, a day or two before it went up to 800 cfs. The water was over the banks; covering sections of the trail along the whitewater course.
The Dam at the Top...
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The Peak Sticking Up Above a Ridge
The Mountain of the Holy Cross, with an elevation of 14,005 ft, is the third lowest 14er in Colorado. Colorado has 53 peaks higher than 14,000 ft called 14ers. They range in height from 14,001 ft up to 14,433 ft. The Holy Cross Wilderness is one of the most beautiful areas of Colorado. The Mountain of the Holy Cross is known for a snow cross on one of its sides. Unfortunately, we went in August and it had already melted. It is possible to hike it in one day, but we took our time and backpacke...
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Water Flowing on Glacier Creek
The area near the end of the road to Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park is the most scenic area in the park. This day, we snowshoed from the Glacier Junction trailhead up into Glacier Gorge. It was perfect weather for snowshoeing; clear skies and warm. The first quarter to half mile didn't have enough snow to snowshoe. At Alberta Falls we started following the creek and stayed on it all the way to the lake. Above Alberta Falls to the bridge for North Longs Peak Trail the creek was in a...
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Crusty Snow on Long Lake
A few weeks ago a couple of us went for a snowshoeing hike close to Boulder. The Brainard Lake area is about 35-45 minutes from Boulder. During the winter the road to the lake is closed. The road is open during the summer and you have to pay to get into the area. You can either take the road or one of the trails north or south of the lake. On the south side there are separate trails for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. The snow coverage on the road is spotty and you can walk it without s...
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Valley Loop Trail Hike 6-03 - Colorado River 1
On the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park are the headwaters of the mighty Colorado River. To get there from the front range, we drove across the park on the Trail Ridge Road which goes above 12,000 ft. In June, you can see how much snow the park crews had to clear from the road. In some spots, there were snow walls 10 feet high on the side of the road.
The road drops down to the Colorado several miles below its source. From this point to where it leaves the park,...
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Keystone 4-03 - Looking Down From Top About Noon
Weather can change fast in the mountains. This day, I was snowboarding at Keystone. In the morning the skies were blue and the snow conditions were not good. The snow was hard packed. This first picture is of the North Peak from the top of the front mountain.
Looking down a trail at the base area.
After lunch, we came outside and it was snowing hard. The sky had turned gray and the visibility had dropped. The skies began to ope...
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Blowing Rocks 1-09 - Big Splash Collage
On Jupiter Island, just north of Jupiter Florida, there's a nature preserve with a unique feature on the Florida coast. The coast is rocky and the waves have worn holes through the rocks so that when they hit, the water blows up through them. Here is a wide angle of a wave crashing into them.
This collage shows a wave splashing up through a hole.
The best time to go is high tide. At low tide the waves are not big enough to ...
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