Flint, Michigan.
 

 
Angelo's Coney Island. Flint, MI.
 

 
Nickel's Arcade. Ann Arbor, MI.
 

 
Cafe Felix. Ann Arbor, MI. I designed their website - www.cafefelix.com
 

 
Sissy
 


 
Callie
 


 
Opus
 

 
Mills Lake is located at 10,000 ft. on the northern end of Glacier Gorge, which runs along the west face of Longs Peak.
 

The view from the bottom half of the Four O'clock run. The town of Breckenridge is visible below, and the Continental Divide crests the gentle peaks of the Ten Mile and Mosquito Ranges roughly 20 miles away in the background. The snow in Summit County hasn't been this good so early in the season since the 60's. The slopes have roughly 50 inches of packed-powder at mid-mountain and I didn't see any ice.
 

 

The hike to Emerald Lake is one of the most popular hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park. The relatively short trail passes four alpine lakes - Bear Lake, Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, and Emerald Lake - before stopping at the giant wall that is Hallet Peak's false summit. In this photo, taken in September, Hallet's real summit can be seen from Flattop Mountain (with Longs Peak in the background). The hike provides great views of Longs Peak (perhaps the most well-known of Colorado's 14,000 ft. peaks) when approaching Dream Lake.
 
In the US, Canada and Mexico combined, there are 105 peaks that reach over 14,000 feet in elevation. Colorado has 53 of them. Alaska has 18. Of course, many of those 18 mountains in Alaska are much, much taller than any of the mountains in Colorado. 

Boulder from the middle of the 3rd Flatiron.
 
 

The 3rd Flatiron is the third south from Boulder (third from right in this photo). We climbed up the front of it. Eric Su took Sarah and I climbing on what turned out to be a very cold day (40's). Here's a view toward Denver.

 
Note the beer in mid-air.
 

 

The sunset near Lake Isabelle in the Indian Peaks.
 
 

 
The view east (taken around the same time) with clouds in the valley below Lake Isabelle.
 

The bottom five photos: (1) another view of the sunset near Lake Isabelle, (2) Lake Isabelle with Navajo, Apache and Shashoni Peaks in the background, taken slightly before the sky caught on fire, (3) Sarah descending Pawnee Pass (a 12,500 ft. high path across the Continental Divide), (4) Sarah and I enjoying the sunset, and (5) me climbing Pawnee Pass.

 

The road leading to the plaza in downtown Santa Fe, where a little stone slab marks the end of the Santa Fe Trail. The cathedral at the end of the street is St. Francis Cathedral, which was never adorned with spires as originally intended.
 
 

 

St. Francis of Assisi - a Catholic basilica south of Taos, New Mexico. Missionaries founded the church in 1610 - 10 years before the pilgrims established themselves at Plymouth Rock. The oldest church in the US is in Santa Fe, New Mexico, right next to the oldest house in the US.
 
 

 
Another view of the adobe cathedral.
 
 

 

An alley across from the public plaza in Taos, New Mexico.
 
 

 

The Rio Grande Gorge from the Rio Grande Bridge.
 
 

 
The Rio Grande Bridge with the Sangre De Christo mountains and Taos Ski Resort in the background. Wheeler Peak, the tallest mountain in New Mexico (at 13,161 ft.), can barely be seen in this photo behind Vallecito Mountain (center).
 
 

 

Aspen in Golden Gate Canyon State Park.
 
 

 
Same.
 

 
A view of Longs Peak through yellow aspen while climbing Flattop Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park.

 

 
Longs Peak, Hallett Peak, and Tyndall Glacier from Flattop Mountain.

 

This 13-14 mile trail starts in Telluride and ascends into the Sneffels Wilderness, carving its way along Pack Basin in the rugged San Juan mountains. We followed these instructions but traversed the loop clockwise. The trail is one of the most beautiful and strenuous I've ever hiked. The trail tops out at 12,200 feet — roughly 3,500 feet higher than Telluride.
 

 

Here's another photo of Lake Isabelle, with Shoshoni, Apache and Navajo Peaks in the background, and a photo of my Dad and Rose, my stepmother, climbing towards the summit of Pawnee Pass (over 12,000 feet in elevation).

 
This first group of photos are from climbing up Caribou Pass, one of the four passes over the Continental Divide in the Indian Peaks, from the Fourth of July trailhead. None of the passes are suitable for cars, ATV's, SUV's, ORV's, or anything else besides tired feet in heavy-duty boots (the 3rd photo in the 1st row is a good one of the very rocky trail). This particular pass reaches 12,000 feet (2.3 miles) above sea level.
 

 
 
In these pics we're on the top of the pass, crossing the Continental Divide. Our destination, Caribou Lake, can be seen roughly 800 feet below the pass in some of these photos. Sarah and I camped on the northern side of the lake (the side farthest away in these photos). Look for tiny hikers in the second photo to get an idea of the scale of the landscape.
 

 
 
Here are some photos taken in and around our campsite. Several of these photos turned out well. In particular, I like the colorized photo of Mount George (12,876 ft), Apache and Navajo Peaks (13,441 ft & 13,409 ft) (top left), the photo taken while looking out the door of the tent (top row, 2nd photo), a view of Apache and Navajo Peaks through the trees (top row, 4th photo), and the view of the same peaks from the shore of Caribou Lake (2nd row, 1st photo).
 

The first time I went hiking in the Indian Peaks was a day hike to Lake Isabelle, just east of the Continental Divide. In this photo (taken in late June) Apache and Navajo Peaks can be seen from the east, instead of the west. They're in the very back and the big slab of rock that covers them (front and center) is Shoshoni Peak (12,967 ft.).

 
 
Climbing back over the pass to head home. The first photo in this sequence shows part of the switchbacks we climbed for 45 minutes on Sunday morning to go from Caribou Lake back to the top of the pass (you can see a guy and his dog following us up). Climbing at high elevation with a pack on is a good test of endurance. A few dozen pounds on your back makes a huge difference sometimes.
 

 

Backpacker magazine: "Bag three peaks and bird's-eye views of Boulder on this tour of the Flatirons. Bring a few extra energy bars: This strenuous out-and-back gains over 5,000 feet in 11 miles."
 

1 (Mile 0): Start half-way up Flagstaff Rd where there's a road branching off to the right and left, a parking area on the left, and a gate blocking part of the road to the left. Head south down the dirt road, going right through the gate.
 

2 (Mile .2): R @ 3-way junction with Long Canyon Trail.
 

3 (Mile .4): L @ Y on Ranger Trail; old stone cabin with picnic benches.
 

4 (Mile .8): R @ Y on Ranger Trail at junction with Greenman Trail.
 

5 (Mile 1.4): First views of Boulder from open ridge.
 

6 (Mile 1.7): L @ 4-way; climb sharply to Green Mtn. summit.
 

7 (Mile 1.9): Views of Longs Peak and 20 other giants from Green Mtn. (8,053 ft.); check out peak finder atop summit log cairn; return to 4-way, go L onto Green Bear Trail.
 

8 (Mile 3): R @ 3-way onto Bear Peak West Ridge Trail; only water on route.
 

9 (Mile 4.9): L @ T for short, steep climb to Bear Peak.
 

10 (Mile 5): Summit of Bear Peak (8,461 ft.); views of Denver and Rocky Mtn. NP; return to waypoint 9, go L.
 

11 (Mile 5.5): Straight @ 3-way junction with Shadow Canyon Trail.
 

12 (Mile 5.8): South Boulder Peak (8,549 ft.); most dramatic and quietest summit; lots of raspberries; retrace route to car.
 

 

Sarah and I spent another weekend backpacking in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. It's only 30 minutes west of Boulder, but because we started on the west side of the wilderness area we had to drive two and a half hours (on the highest continuous road in the US) to get there. We started in Arapaho Bay, along the Continental Divide Trail, and hiked towards Stone Lake, an isolated lake close to the southern boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park. We didn't see anyone else for over a day.

 

We were going to go backpacking this weekend but Sarah's brother's dog swallowed a tennis ball. She had to watch her nephew while the dog underwent surgery, and two of her friends from Michigan ended up visiting, so we took them up to Chasm Lake on the east face of Long's Peak.

 

The Booth Company's softball team — the Flying Monkeys — finished up the summer season (in the lowest possible league) 9 to 3. Err... maybe 10 to 3.

 

 
Josh Sheets, a co-worker and good friend, left today for a 6 month trip through Europe with his wife Martina, who's from the Czech Republic. They've purchased a Volvo over there already and plan to drive all around. Happy trails Sr. Sheets.
 

 

Sarah:

 

The Sangre De Christos:

 

Other pics:

 
Lake Champlain
 

Hanging out on Church Street
 

Jason and I backpacked on the Long Trail for two days. We climbed Mt. Abraham and then slept in an unlocked ski lift cabin on the top of Mt. Lincoln. The Long Trail is one of the most amazing backpacking trails in the country. It overlays the Appalachian Trail near the southern border of Vermont and runs all the way up to Canada. It would take about one month to hike the entire thing. It isn't huge in length but it's rugged, beautiful, old and well-kept. The low elevation was very welcoming to my lungs — a week before climbing Mt. Abraham (4,006 ft) I climbed Mt. Yale (14,196 ft) in Colorado. Abraham is the fifth tallest mountain in Vermont. The first is Mt. Mansfield, which my Dad, Jason and I climbed a few years ago.
 

 
The summit (14,196 ft) looking at Mount Princeton (14,197 ft).
 

 
The view of Buena Vista from the summit of Yale.
 

 
Sarah climbing.
 

 
The Indian Peaks over 4th of July weekend.
 

 
A panoramic shot from Trail Ridge Road.
 

 
The view from Many Parks Curve.
 

 
An elk I met while hiking.
 

 
Boulder Falls. A few miles west in Boulder Canyon from Boulder, Colorado.
 

 
Mt. Sneffels (14,150 ft) is on the left.