Yellowstone & Tetons Galleries Added

Been home for a week since our venture to Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks in Wyoming. Fantastic. Stunning. Amazing. Just a few words to describe the incredible scenery of both locations. Didn't do any heavy-duty hiking in either location. Since it was our first visit, we wanted to see as much as possible, so joined the masses of tourists at all the popular attractions, viewpoints, ranger walks and nature trails. We did get in one beautiful hike in Teton, along a string of stunning lakes; our hike around Jenny Lake to Hidden Falls wound up being very wet from rain. In Yellowstone, the Upper Geyser Basin - home of Old Faithful - was astounding, a plethora of unique and beautiful thermal features. And the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was simply breathtaking. And in both parks, critters everywhere! Bison, elk, moose, bear, wolves, deer, otters, antelope, and more! Truly unlike any other parks we've ever been to. And we've been to alot.

I've assembled a new Wyoming portfolio with a selection of smaller galleries, highlighting different parts of both parks. From Grand Teton, see galleries of various mountain views and other scenic locations around the park, including Cunningham Cabin and Jackson Lake; or a selection of images along our lake hike of String, Leigh, Bearpaw and Trapper Lakes. From Yellowstone, see images of Old Faithful and an assortment of thermal features found in Upper Geyser Basin and Mammoth Hot Springs; or images of the Grand Canyon, Lower Falls, and various valley scenes throughout the park. These are but sample galleries for now; they will likely be expanded as I continue to process thru the 1000's of photos taken on this trip...

Don't forget to check out the Ken Burns documentary this week, National Parks: America's Best Idea on your local PBS station.

Big New Gallery Added

I've finally found some time between the numerous travels this summer to get some new images up on the site. This time, I've added images from the hike around Lake Ann and Heather and Maple Passes in Washington's North Cascades National Park. This hike probably rates in my top-10 all-time faves. This fantastic loop trail visits two brilliant alpine lake cirques, crosses two high mountain passes offering extraordinary views of the Cascade High Country, and positively explodes in summer wildflowers. I hiked this trail late last season as well, in a couple feet of snow, and it was equally gorgeous, with the larch trees turning their brilliant autumn gold. Check out the photos, both summer and winter, and come back soon for a full trail report.

And there's even more. I've also added new images to a couple galleries from Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Check out the recent additions to Rocky Mountain Scenics, from a variety of locations all over the park, and Rocky Mountain Wildlife, with several new images of moose, elk, deer, and some super-cute little chipmunks that were hoping for a little handout. And from that same trip, check out the recently posted GPS track of the hike to St. Mary's Glacier, near Idaho Springs, on Backpacker.com.

At the end of the week, I'll be departing for the "big" end-of-summer trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks in Wyoming. I've got several hikes picked out in each park, and will be attempting to cram as much photography as my memory cards allow into the week I'll be out there. So come back soon for this, as well as images from our backpack in Garibaldi Provincial Park in B.C., and the 24-mile Sol Duc loop in Olympic National Park...

New Track Posted

New new issue of Backpacker magazine has two of my trail report/tracks featured on the New Trails Near You spread. One is the already mentioned Larch Mountain Crater trail in the Columbia River Gorge. The other is the newly-posted Wildcat Mountain trail, southwest of Mt. Hood. This trail is harder to find than to hike, as there are several confusing forest roads to navigate. Once on the trail, its an easy tromp up a hillside to a fork, where the left route leads to a beargrass and wildflower meadow with stunning views of Mt. Hood, and the right route takes you to the top of Wildcat Mountain and the site of an old fire lookout. From here, catch views of numerous NW Cascade volcanoes, and a little further on, to a ridgetop rock garden strewn with summer wildflowers and more mountain views. Check out the full report, photos, GPS track and directions here...

Wilderness Society - 3rd Place Winner!

Today the Wilderness Society posted the finalists and winners for their Wild 45 photo contest, celebrating the 45th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. I entered four photos into the contest and my photo of Ramona Falls on Oregon's Mt. Hood received the 3rd place winner. My photo of Sprite Lake in Washington's Alpine Lakes Wilderness also placed within the top 45 at #38. Check out the slideshow here...

In other news, we recently returned from backpacking in Garibaldi Provincial Park, B.C. We hiked in 11km to camp at the Elfin Lakes, a couple of small, subalpine lakes surrounded by heather and blueberry meadows, with fantastic views of Mt. Garibaldi, Opal Cone, and surrounding peaks. From there, we dayhiked to the rim of Opal Cone, the remains of a cinder volcano with stupendous views of Mt. Garibaldi's glaciers and overlooking the Garibaldi Icefield. A stunning location, just over an hour north of Vancouver. I'll be processing thru images in the next few days, and will have a gallery and more detailed report posted soon.

Another dining recommendation (since dining is one of our favorite parts of our travels), is CJ's Beachhouse in Birch Bay, WA. Stopping there for an extra day on our way home, we enjoyed dinner on their oceanfront patio, watching a gorgeous sunset. The food is fantastic! Quite possibly the best clam chowder in the NW. Combine that with generous portions of fresh Alaskan fish (halibut was the current special), all the accompaniments, and super-friendly service made for a truly memorable dining experience. Yum!