Great Western Scenery in America

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This picture of Deadhorse Point in Utah is one of the pictures I took on my recent Southwest Photography trip.	Photoshoot of the Southwest including many new pictures.	I just got back from a three week shooting trip in the Southwest. I was in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. I visited twelve National Parks and areas that should have been National Parks and I shot over 7000 images. Here is an article about that shoot that contains 21 pictures of the best scenery of the southwest from Petrified Forest National Park, to Grand Canyon, Zion, Capital Reef, Arches, Bryce, Canyonlands and a lot more. The artical also contains a link to a slideshow with 60 more new pictures of the Southwest. Read the entire article.
The Gila Wilderness is one of the more lonely wilderness areas in the US	Gila Wilderness Backpack	Last week, near the end of March, eight of us set out from the Visitor Center near the Gila Cliff Dwellings in Southen New Mexico for a five day backpack in the canyons and mesas on the east side of Middle Fork of the Gila River. I was a little worried about keeping up with a bunch of nineteen year old kids who all looked like lean and fit high school athletes. So, when we hit the trail I tried hard to keep from falling behind. As it turned out, I did struggle a bit, but I quickly saw that I had a big advantage over the kids (as I soon began to call them) even though I was three times as old as most of them. The kids all showed up with huge packs full of all kinds of luxury food, fresh vegetables, tubs of butter, bags of fresh meat and heavy cooking utensils. Clearly they had never heard of Ultra Light Backpacking, or maybe they had heard of it, but were tough enough and young enough to care less about lightweight anything. Read the entire article to see how all of this worked out..... Read the entire article about the Gila Wilderness and see the pictures I took there.
The Maroon Bells is one of the most beautiful spots in the world	The Maroon Bells	The Maroon Bells are definitely one of the premier scenic locations not only in Colorado but in the whole world. The mountains are not only huge but extremely scenic since they lie at the far end of a classic U shaped mountain valley. In the fall they reach the peak of their beauty when the aspens that cover the high mountains on both the right and left sides of the valley turn yellow and gold and red. To top it off, the whole scene is perfectly reflected in the waters of Maroon Lake. Read the entire article.
The alpine vistas of Wyoming's Grand Tetons are some of the most subline scenery in North America.	Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming: Part I	Teton National Park is my favorite of all the National Parks. I have made annual trips to this park almost every one of the last sixty years. This is a great place for alpine mountain splendor, wildlife, as well as a multitude of scenic mountain lakes and rivers. Read the entire article.
Glacier Lilies carpet much of Colorado's Gothic Valley in mid to late June.	Gothic Valley near Crested Butte Colorado	Gothic Valley is located north of Crested Butte, Colorado. Just take the road to the little ghost town of Gothic where the University of Colorado Science camp is located and keep going until you reach the beautiful flower filled valley. Read the entire article.
On a good day, in a good year, Shine Pass, near Vail Pass in Colorado has one of the best wildflower displays in the country.	The Wildflowers of Shrine Pass	One of the best wildflower displays in Colorado is located on Shrine Pass just a few miles off of I 70 near Vail, not far from Denver. Here is an article on how to get there and what to do when you arrive. Read the entire article
Yankee Boy Basin near Ouray, Colorado has huge fields of wildflowers as well as majestic alpine scenery.	The Wildflowers of Yankee Boy Basin, 2005	Yankee Boy Basin is probably the number one wildflower location in Colorado. Here are some directions for visiting this beautiful alpine area. Read the entire article
Last Dollar Road is one of the most beautiful roads in Colorado, especially in the fall.	Driving Last Dollar Road	This is one of the best roads on which to view the majestic fall aspens of Colorado. This article contains directions for getting there and how to best enjoy this great road. Read the entire article
In the fall, aspen leaves pile up on the western shore of McDonald Lake.	Glacier National Park: Part I	Glacier National Park is probably our most majestic and beautiful national park. This article is the first part of a three part series on the park. Read about the best spots to visit, the best hikes, and the most photogenic locations for taking pictures in the western part of the park. Read the entire article
Wild Goose Island in St. Mary's Lake is one of the most beautiful and most photographed locations in America.	Glacier National Park: Part II	This article is about the Eastern part of Glacier National Park. St. Mary's Lake and Many Glacier on this side of the park are two of my favorite parts of Glacier. Read the entire article.
Bear Lake Lies at the center of the most scenic part of Rocky Mountain National Park.	Rocky Mountain National Park: Part I	Rocky Mountain National Park is the gem of the Colorado Rockies. The Park spreads out on both sides of the continental divide and its mountainous terrain can be seen from the eastern plains of Colorado to the deserts of Utah. In the winter it's massive summits are covered with up to 20 feet of snow, in the summer it is one of the best wildflower viewing areas in the Rockies, and in the fall there are tremendous displays of quaking aspen. As a result, Rocky Mountain National Park offers some of the best hiking, climbing and scenery in the American West This part of the article concentrates on Bear Lake Road, one of the most scenic sections of the Park. Read the entire article.
The hike up to Dream and Emerald Lakes above Bear Lake is one of the most popular hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park	Rocky Mountain National Park, Part II	In this section of the article, Part II, I discuss the best places to take pictures and hike in the area right around Bear Lake itself as well as a couple more great areas on the eastern slope of the park. Read the entire article
Pronghorn peak in the southern Wind Rivers. Note the tiny silhouette of my son Mike at the bottom	The Wind River Range of Wyoming, Part I	The Wind Rivers are one of my all-time favorite places in the world. I've been hiking and backpacking in the Winds for the last forty years and they have been been the scene of some of the best times in my life. Here are some ways to discover the best of the Wind Rivers for yourself. This is article one of two. Read the entire article.
In July the Wind Rivers are full of georgeous wildflowers like these Indian Paintbrush near Bonnyville Peak in the southern winds.	The Wind River Range of Wyoming, Part II	This part of the Wind River article focuses on the Green River Lakes area of the Wind River Mountains. Included are several of my all-time favorite hikes in the unsurpassed alpine beauty of this region: wildflowers, jagged peaks, water falls and crystal clear rivers. Read the entire article.
A high tarn deep in the heart of the Southen Wind Rivers. It was full of 8" Brook Trout.	Wind River Odyssey Part I	This is the first part of a multipart article on my recent (August 2008) eight day photographic backpack into the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. It is a story of the trip plus numerous digressions into what I hope are interesting aspects of what it takes to do such a trip: equipment, lightweight backpacking, the lost art of topographic map reading and off-trail route finding, wilderness fishing, what does and doesn’t work with lightweight wilderness photography, and the joys and tribulations of extended wilderness foot travel. Read the entire article.