A personal geography of landscape and place, art and geo-science.
Charleston Peak 11,918 ft (3633 m) – 5300 ft gain 2021.11.09 We have not been on a big hill for a few months. The smaller, hidden gems are a pleasure, but nothing beats some elevation gain and ultimate altitude. I had a work week in southern Nevada, so we decided
Rowland Mountain (‘Rocky’) 6911 ft (2107 m) – 650 ft gain 2021.09.24 The mornings have the feel of autumn, but the midday still holds the heat of summer; it is that time of year. Here, at the close of September, I had a landform mapping project in support of archaeological
Donnelly Peak 8533 ft (2588 m) – 2317 ft gain 2021.09.12 There is a problem with names in this part of the desert. And, as a geographer and some-time chronicler of Great Basin landforms, I strive to maintain a sense of where I am. It stands to reason that the
Peak 6507 6507 ft (1983 m) – 910 ft gain 2021.09.11 On Nevada Highway 34, a wonderful dirt road north of Gerlach, there is a steep right-hand turn just after the Lund Petrified Forest. The forest consists of a couple of upright trees trapped behind a fenced enclosure, but we
Powell Mountain 9530 ft (2905 m) – 1988 ft gain 2021.08.13 It took a long time to get going today. Smoke from Sierran wildfires has filled Carson Valley for weeks it seems – now the typical summer atmosphere, and the heat has been oppressive, forged one-to-one with the unending haze.
Arc Dome 11,788 ft (3593 m) – 4005 ft gain 2021.05.14 Sometimes life gets in the way. As Second Friday approached, it appeared the workaday world required more that its usual allocation. Although I am fortunate to have spent much of my career working outside and have been overlanding since
Mount Irish 8473 ft; 2665 m. 2200 ft gain. 2021.04.11 It is April’s Second Friday, so that means it is time for a backcountry recce, but first, I get vaccinated. It is my second shot. Although I had no side-effects other than a sore arm the first time around, I
Continue readingNevada High Points #82 – Mount Irish Mountains
Ok, this is not a bird photography website. It just happens that this was an interesting week. After our brief birding excursion along the East Walker River, Desna heard that a Red-headed Woodpecker had taken up brief residence in Six Mile Canyon in the Virginia Range, just below Virginia City,
Continue readingWildlife Photography: Getting Lost with the Red-headed Woodpecker
Here is a slightly different angle for the LightOpt Photography blog. My wife and I teamed up on a quick camp trip to the East Walker River to check out birds in the Walker River State Recreation Area, a relatively new component of the state park system. I had passed
Continue readingWildlife Photography: Birds of the East Walker River, Nevada
Cuprite Hills HP (Peak 6071) 6071 ft (1850 m) — 1503 ft gain 2021.03.10 When I first imagined a quest of climbing to the high point of each of Nevada’s named mountain ranges, as I studied my collection of topographic maps, it came as a solution to a problem. As