Photos by pico23

Dog enjoying the view from camp at sunset high above the valley.

My first trip back to the Daks since my spill on the Trap Dike. We did the Gothics via Orebed Brook trail. Had intentions of returning over the Wolfjaws but the snow depth in early May on the Gothics summit and into the cols was truly amazing considering this was a low snow year. I was waste deep and called it a day. We returned via the Orebed. Couldn't have been nicer.

Doesn't get better then this for man or dog. Caney is no stranger to the Northern Presidentials in any season. This shot is taken on the class 2 talus field just below the summit in early May 2005.

Interesting day. Beautiful conditions found throughout.

Fred using piolet traction to climb the ice summit slabs.

Snowshoe bouldering in Avalanche Pass before the real climbing.

We just took the crampons off and were too lazy to put them back on for this little ice flow. Out came the static rope and the old school body raps.

Great early morning hike (2am) to the summit of Algonquin for sunrise and breakfast.

Some people don't like to see dogs climbing mountains. My dog never has let me down. His pack weighs the same 30% of his body weight as mine so he was working just as hard. Here he is taking in the view of Lake Isabel and the cirque of Navajo, Apache, and Shoshoni Mountains on the South side of Pawnee Pass. A few hours later we'd be 2000 feet above the lake on the Continental Divide. We intended an ambitious trip that got cut down by intense heat, thunderstorms, and unstable snow with slab avalanches. Nevertheless, Caney, enjoyed the beauty of the Indian Peaks as much as i did. Ultimately we only summited two peaks in Pawnee Pass, Pawnee and Toll. We abandoned any thoughts of attempting the Fair Glacier and Apache Peak. We'll be back to the IPW but either in summer or mid winter, not late spring ever again. The conditions are too unpredictable in mid to late May. The photo was edited to include a larger version thanks to the RC.com moderators and users.

A cold memorial day weekend of climbing on Katahdin. Still icy with some snow on the mountain. Falling blocks of ice, iced cracks and loose rock. Temps were in the mid 30's to low 40's with high winds. Good climbing and an excellent alpine experience, even got to cut some steps on some hard snow.

This was a landscape shot taken of Katahdin and the Basin the day before we climbed Katahdin. Actually, attempted to climb Katahdin. The Chimney route was ice choked and harder than expected (or we were off route), we ended up on Pamola IV as well as just making our own route up easier terrain. We got spit off in the cold and wind just a few hundred feet from Pamola Peak. It was a good weekend, and a good experience. Katahdin is a beautiful mountain and a true alpine challenge with ice and snow still present in late May. I liked the mood of the light when I took the photo and the contrast of the foreground and surroundings. It's a shame there was so much haze in the air.

This is a photo from our failed but sucessful and enjoyable attempt at the Great Range in late February. Instead of the Range I got Marcy, Little Haystack and Haystack in a day on a 2 night trip. Aside from the Gothics and Pyramid those are the 3 best peaks on the Range. The snow up the Marcy cutoff to Haystack was deep and unbroken. I broke trail the whole way with my partner (and human tripod) not far behind. It was steep enough to shorten the poles to almost 60cm for support. The initial few hundred feet of vertical gain was challenging and fun. I was having a blast breaking trail in 4 feet of fresh windblown powder. My partner seemed to be less excited at the deep snow. This was a contrast to the slog up Marcy. This photo was taken on the nub about 1/8 mile in front of little haystack. Marcy and Panther Gorge are in the background. Little Haystack is a beatiful little ascent in it's own right (if you break trail) and should not be missed. I highly recommend it's ascent and the deep snow made it a tough climb. I continued to Haystack in the twilight and stood on the summit in the last remanants of daylight. I was back at Slant Rock a little over 1 hour later thanks to the help of the same deep snow and steep descents, I basically skated the whole way back on my snow shoes. Attached to the front of me is the entirety of my photo gear. All self contained in a single LowePro Trekker AW chest pouch. This held everything I took (2 lenses, body, flash, filters, ex batteries, cable release, lens cleaning kit) and it counter balances the weight plus it keeps it all mounted in reach. It was the topic of discussion with at least one hiker on the trip. The only thing I don't like about the big pouch vs. my smaller pouch is that I cannot see my feet.

This was foolhearted attempt at an alternate route around the Chimney chockstone and the supposedly moderate 5.5ish crux of the Chimney route. After he took a hard fall close to the ground on the Chimney and couldn't nail it in a few more attempts he decided to try alternate routes. Normally I'd jump in and probably cruise the pitch (as we usually would do for each other) but I wasn't in shape to lead anything that he couldn't lead this time. The rock was still wet and quite icy in late may/early June and there was still enough snow to require cutting a few steps. We ended up attempting to summit Pamola IV via a route we believed was Pamola IV but got knocked off just 400 feet below the summit do to high winds, continued ice fall and increased ice, and the setting sun. It was a great experience.

We were just out for a short fast day hike/run up the carriage road to Overlook Mountain on one of those warm November days. This is one of those easy yet satifying mountains. The type that they could easily pave a road with a parking area to the top of if we weren't living in NY State. The fire tower is a nice touch but the views are exceptional without it. Basically, you can get a good fast workout and to the top of something with a great panoramic at any point in the day (or night). It's moderately steep but sustained and, well, it's a carriage road so I can't really say much else. But Overlook is also a gateway or exit point to the Indian Head Wilderness which includes the Devils Path and crosses most of the great Catskill ice climbing areas which include: Devils Kitchen, Hell Hole, and Stoney Clove. In anycase, I'd wished I'd packed a tripod because this shot could have been better with better framing and more composition. But then I also wish I'd taken some extra layers for the trip down because after sunset it got damn chilly.

Just a beautiful day in the Daks. This was the first opportunity for an unobstructed viewpoint and the start of fairly open hiking. WIth the lack of snow on the ascent, it was slightly more technical then usual. Exposing a great deal of ice throughout the ascent on what is considered the easiest 4000ft peak in the Daks in any season. Even in early January snowshoes were left in the car and crampons were worn point to point, which generally is an oddity at this time of the year.

The weather forecast called for early morning snow and clearing by mid day and a clear night. I was intending to hike to Big Slide to photograph the Great Range with late afternoon/post sunset light rather than the contrasty mid afternoon light it is often photographed in from the ridge (such as this shot). Unfortunately the weather was wrong and these imprompto quasi-snapshots were the best shots of the day despite the snow in the distance. I only set up my tripod for these shots because I needed a snack and drink and the beams of light shone on the JB Valley were spectacular (far more impressive than film can record without more filtration). I took a series of shots using a 28mm and a 50mm prime and a 1 stop grad ND filter on a ultralight tripod -that I carry while hiking. But in fairly high winds I was suprised anything was sharp. I managed to get a few frames off between gust. This was the best of the bunch with the god beams in the background. By the summit of Big Slide it was pure whiteout with no oportunities to remove the camera from the chest pouch. Photo: 28mm Pentax @ f/16 @ hyperfocal distance on Kodak 400UC. Scanned using Minolta Scan Dual III and converted to B&W using channel conversion from the the original 2840dpi, 16bit scan.

A typically easy hike up the easiest 4000 footer in the Daks in any season. Conditions were great below treeline with nice clear weather. BUt we needed more snow. The ground was either barely snow covered rock or a few inches of ice covered by a coating of snow. In either case we needed crampons the entire hike from the trailhead to the summit but it was rough on the knees. The summit of Cascade is one of the best in the Daks with great views. Unfortunately, there were a few problems. 1) It was crazy windy, about 40mph+, with a below zero wind chill. 2) I stripped the roll of film out of it's sprockets while taking some summit shots. Not sure if it was the cold or not but when I got it home there was still about 4 frames left on the roll. This was a first. My wife is the hiker and while she's done most of the Catskill 3500 in the winter, this was only her second winter 4000 footer in the Daks. 28mm @ hyperfocal, f/16, ~1/30, fuji 100.

This is a macro shot of a butterfly taken at the Buffalo National River. Scanned original shot using a Minolta Scan Dual III on Kodak Kodachrome 64, 70-210 macro lens, Pentax Pz-1, Bogen 3221 Tripod.

Kings River falls Arkansas. Pentax PZ-1, 50mm, 1/2s, Bogen 3221, scanned from original on Kodachrome 64 using Dimage Scan Dual III.

Diana on Herdie Gerdie (5.8 PG) Gunks, NY. As you can tell by her expression that hold is just a little beyond the reach of her out stretched finger tips. The climb is a one move wonder but it's perplexed many climbers, especially those under 6 feet tall. As it gets climbed more often the key intermediate nubs and edges for the feet get more polished and make the climb harder. Shot on: Pentax PZ-1, SMC Pentax 28-80 with fill flash at 1/250 sec at F4 on Kodak T400CN B&W. Scanned from print on Microtek 3700, no correction needed.

crevasse jumping