2 Oct 2006 We had the first footsteps on Big Daddy that day, nothing but a edge of sand between us and that clear blue Namibian sky. We awoke before dawn and Leslie, our guide, drove our group in the the Namib-Naukluft National Park as the sun started rising...
Castle Peak & Conundrum Peak, Colorado
17 Sept 2016 From the town of Aspen we followed Castle Creek up the valley, past Ashcroft and bearing right onto Pearl Pass Road. We kept going beyond the bridge (not for the feint of heart) and set up camp where Pearl Pass Road takes a left and the...
Mount Bierstadt
From the trailhead at Guanella Pass the first direction you head is down. As disheartening as it is (and with Mount Bierstadt looming high) you descend into the marsh and willows of Scott Gomer Creek. Without the boardwalks preventing you from going even lower and wetter, this would be...
Mount Antero, Colorado
I get why hiking Mount Antero isn’t high up on folks’ 14er lists. It’s not a wilderness peak. In fact it’s almost the opposite of a wilderness peak because of aquamarine — one of the highest concentrations of it in the country along with other gem deposits. Gemstones mean...
Hiking to Phipps Arch, Utah
Phipps Arch is a large, beefy arch located within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southwestern Utah. It’s beside Phipps Wash, a tributary of the Escalante River, and roughly between the towns of Escalante and Boulder. A hike to Phipps Arch gave us our second destination arch of our spring...
The Amazing Colonnade Arch in Utah
Colonnade Arch, or Five Hole Arch, is a geological formation in the San Raphael desert of Utah. Its claim to fame is the five openings — three in front & two on top — in its Navajo Sandstone. Located about south of the town of Green River, the arch...
Mount Massive, Colorado
Looking from Leadville, there’s no doubt about Mount Elbert. Straight in front of you driving down US-24 is a proper Paramount Pictures peak of a mountain: a monumental triangular jab into the sky. To the right of that, however, lies the tremendous lumpy heap that comprises Mount Massive. Elbert’s...
