This was one of the most torturous climbs I had ever done, partly due to the fact that it was a fourteener and I hadn't really acclimatized, and partly because I was climbing up in snow which caused traction issues. I still remember reserving all my stamina for the final push to the summit just so that I could have this panoramic view of this amazing mountainscape. Snow-capped peaks towered above the undulating landscape in all directions on this blue-bird day, the last of a rare weeklong stint of sun in the Rockies
White River National Forest
OR USA
Framing a fourteener
Imagine sitting down inside a warm log cabin nestled a winter wonderland, with a window overlooking distant snow-capped peaks.
This cabin wasn't one of those. It was a decaying remnant of an old mining or hunting cabin: its roofs had long since gone, and one of its sides was already missing.
But the window framing the snow-capped peak was still around, waiting for this composition.
White River National Forest
CO USA
A National Parks Journey - Rocky Mountain National Park
It was late May, and yet I felt like I was visiting the my 27th National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, at the wrong time of the year: many of the trails that climbed to the backcountry lakes were still icy, and Trail Ridge Road was just beginning to be opened. And yet, crowds thronged the trails and roadways of this National Park, as well as the nearby town of Estes Park. I came to the park expecting a few moments of peace and solitude in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, and my early spring visit was anything but.
But then I waited until the sun went down, and I wandered down a remote trail far away from the main attractions. And it wasn't until then did the park quieten down enough for me to hear the gurgling brook, the rustling leaves and the soaring winds. Being so close to major urban centers and with such a short visiting season, this gem of the park system attracts dense crowds in the summer months, and can make it challenging to escape into the wilderness, but if you search for the right place, you can find your moment of zen too
Rocky Mountain National Park
CO USA
The Distant Rockies
One of the places I have certainly missed exploring over the last year has been the Canadian Rockies. Spread across the border between Alberta and British Columbia, two mountainous provinces of Canada, these rocky mountain ranges seem even more impressive than their cousins south of the border. Towering snow-capped peaks rise high above glaciated valleys, where a low treeline provides easy accessibility to stellar views. The expansive nature of its untouched wilderness more than makes up for the limited road access and short hiking season, and unexplored regions still await the determined outdoor hiker.
Spread across this extensive wilderness area are five spectacular National Parks: Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Yoho and Waterton Lakes, along with countless provincial parks, each holding their own unique attraction. It is certainly daunting to try and cover these gems of the Canadian Parks system in one single trip, and I would recommend sticking to one or two parks each visit, unless you have an entire summer to travel around.
Here is one alpine scene from Spray Lakes Provincial Park near the town of Canmore in Alberta. Far less crowded than its neighbor Jasper National Park, it is just as beautiful and definitely worth a visit.
Spray Lakes Provincial Park
AB Canada
Regrowth
The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. And up here, high in the alpine terrain of the Canadian Rockies, where large icefields give birth to glaciers, spring starts in July, and summer only lasts a month. Yet, plants thrive in this harsh environment, albeit barely. And reward us with beautiful pastel colors on a soft green carpet.
Canadian Rockies
AB Canada
Lost in the Rockies
The trail was long and hard. It wound its way through the dense coniferous forest, rising with slow certainty towards an as of yet unseen vista. I was laboring heaving with the weight of my camera gear, wondering how much further the destination was. And after more than an hour of uphill slow, the vegetation thinned out, and the views expanded. I turned around, and the entire vista of Maligne Lake expanded in front of me.
There is perhaps nothing more exhilerating that seeing the endless cascades of the snow-capped mountains rising up from a velvety green forest floor. And I have been fortunate in being able to visit and pay homage to the grandeur of the Canadian Rockies, perhaps the most beautiful of them all.
It was as though the stereotypical mountain landscapes that we drew as a kid came to life, except it was far more majestic and awe-inspiring. Bare sedimentary rock faces were alternately in light and shadow as the clouds cast dappled light on the rugged landscape, while towering peaks with glacial remnants shone in pearly white. Maligne Lake slowly tapered off in the distance towards its source, lost in the multitude of canyons.
As I watched this scene slowly transpiring, an old quote from John Muir popped in my head: "We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us."
Maligne Lake
AB Canada
You can find more of my photography in my 2018 calendar, available here: https://goo.gl/Nd7p9G. All proceeds go to NRDC and WildAid, two non-profits whose missions I wholly support.