Teton Crest Trail, Day 2 – In the Clouds Atop Fox Creek Pass
After the storms finally subsided enough to get camp set up on Fox Creek Pass, just outside the national park boundary, they left an ethereal fog behind in their wake.
Exploring Dinosaur National Monument… Hold on to Your Butts!
But for me, it was more about the epic landscape. Straddling the Utah boarder in northwest Colorado , the Yampa and Green Rivers have carved incredible 2,500′ canyons through the red sandstone.
Visiting Bryce Canyon National Park in the Middle of Winter
There is something special about the desert when it’s blanketed with a fresh coat of snow – the brilliant white exhibiting an extreme contrast with the orange, reds, and yellows of the desert.
Visiting Zion National Park in the Middle of Winter
Fast-forward couple of years through the rise of over tourism being experienced world-wide, I hadn’t dared to go back. Right after that first trip, visitation numbers to the park began to increase significantly from 3.1 million in 2014 to 4.5 million visitors in 2017.
The Best Photography Spots Along the High Sierra Trail in Sequoia National Park
When I’m backpacking, I usually enjoy doing little-to-no work once I’ve reached and set up camp. Because of this, there were times during my once-in-a-lifetime High Sierra trip where I didn’t even go out and shoot during the golden hours, usually using the excuse of being too tired to wander around.
High Sierra Trail Day 7 – Guitar Lake, Summiting Mt Whitney, on to Whitney Portal
Hiking under the moonlight, I knew we had made quick work of the 3-miles of switchbacks traversing up the west side of Mount Whitney, but I was in serious disbelief as we topped out at Trail Crest well before sunrise.
Mt Whitney: the Tallest Peak in the Lower US
Standing only 84.6 miles from Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, which is the lowest point in North America (-282 feet), Mt Whitney is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States at 14,505 feet – a whopping 14,787 foot difference!
High Sierra Trail Day 6 – Crabtree Ranger Station to Guitar Lake
The High Sierra Trail continued for a bit through the same, dried up forest we encountered the previous day, but as we approached treeline, the landscape gave way to familiar soaring alpine habitats with trickling creeks, grassy tussocks, soggy meadows, and occasional tarns.
High Sierra Trail Day 5 – Junction Meadow to Crabtree Ranger Station
Waking up on our fifth morning, we were already a day ahead of schedule and still technically had that Guitar Lake rest day built-in, so we decided to break up that section with a night at Crabtree Ranger Station before continuing on the Guitar Lake.