Joes Peak (Peak 5956′) 5956 feet (1815 meters) — 2300 ft gain 2022.12.09 We missed a month – the move is complete, finally – but are in the Great Basin outback for December. It is another small set of hills as we head to Clayton Valley, a good winter excursion,…
Nevada High Points #105 – Sinkavata Hills
Peak 6399 6399 ft (1950 m) — 1590 ft gain 2022.10.30 Sinkavata Image Collection Sometimes you must go to the desert. We are in the middle of a rather drastic change. Although we may have been leaning, at least occasionally, toward simplifying what and where we call home, we had…
Nevada Highpoints #104 – Bluewing Mountains
Black Mountain 6617 ft (2017 m) – 2205 gain 2022.08.12 Bluewing Photo Collection It’s hot. The sky is clear, and a parched blue horizon rests abruptly on the dusty brown of the Nevada desert. It is August, of course, when desert landscape photography is a challenge. It’s difficult to think…
Nevada High Points #103 — Montana Mountains
Mine VABM 7129 ft (2173 m) — 418 ft gain 2022.07.10 Motivation is hard to find in the long, repetitive days of summer. The Great Basin Desert seems to curl and fold within itself, even as hazy heatwaves dance across the expanse. The high-pressure domes that keep moisture at bay…
On the edge of wild — Atacama Desert, Chile
With the wilds of Patagonia still fresh in our minds, Bill and I spent a short night in Santiago and then climbed on another Latam flight. We were headed north, working our way up the latitudinal expanse of Chile, exploring the regional extremes from glaciers to desert dry lakes, from…
Nevada High Points #102 – Pinto Peak
Pinto Peak 6711 feet (2046 meters) — 630 feet gain 2022.05.25 Pinto Peak Collection The ancient Cottonwood Caldera, a massive volcano that erupted sometime around 17 million years ago, dominates the landscape west of High Rock Canyon and the Black Rock Desert. With basin-and-range faulting, several small ranges form the…
Nevada High Points #101 – Slumbering Hills
Unnamed 6531 ft — 1991 m (1593 ft gain) 2022.05.18 Slumbering Images Collection There is something in the Slumbering Hills. The unnamed high point is below 7000 feet in elevation and there are few riparian areas, only scattered springs, and absolutely no trees. Cheat grass and desiccated plants of sagebrush…
On the circuit in Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile
In January, I had the good fortune to travel to Chile with my good friend, Bill Bloomer. We planned this after the rise-and-fall of Covid’s delta variant thinking that, just maybe, the window would remain and, with due care, we could wander a few distant places once again. And then…
Winter’s Coming to the Eastern Sierra, CA
We were closing out the 2021 field season in Owens Valley, and I had been on a long circuitous road trip working on projects in San Diego, California, visiting with colleagues in Henderson, Nevada, and traversing Death Valley to return to our team working on the fans of the Owens…
Playa and Pottery – Black Rock Desert Region, NV
The playa passes quietly beneath the truck, a narrow path traced by the headlights in the predawn darkness. I had left Desna at Planet X to see what the sunrise might bring on the Black Rock Desert playa. A canopy of bright stars suggested that the desert sunrise would be…