Welcome to my hiking gallery! I've been lucky enough to live and travel in some amazing places full of natural beauty, and I try to get out and explore as much as possible. Here's a little sampling; photos are taken by me unless otherwise noted.
2010 - 2017 // 2018 - 2021 // 2022 - 2024
2010 - 2017 // 2018 - 2021 // 2022 - 2024
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High Lonesome loop
August 2024 Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO 15.2 miles - 3,700' gain Our first backpacking adventure in Colorado took us along the Continental Divide just above Boulder. Lots of marmots and pika, plenty of wildflowers, and even some lingering snow! |
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Kamas, Scout, & Ruth Lakes Loop
July 2024 Uinta Mountains, UT 8.9 miles - 1,900' gain The Uinta Mountains offer scenery unique among the Rocky Mountain ranges, and the flowers were especially colorful this July. |
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Lake Blanche & Catherine's Pass
July 2024 Big Cottonwood Canyon, UT 12.1 miles - 4,200' gain Taking a break from summer fieldwork in scorching Salt Lake City for these cooler hikes up Big Cottonwood Canyon. |
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Bear Peak
June 2024 Boulder, CO 5.2 miles - 2,700' gain A Boulder classic, towering over the Southern edge of the town. The last approach to this peak is quite a scramble! |
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Point Bonita & Rodeo Beach
April 2024 Marin Headlands, CA 5.7 miles Despite years living in Sacramento and summers working in Monterey, I had never been to the Marin Headlands. Very windy, but beautiful! |
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Esperero Trail
December 2023 Tucson, AZ 8.8 miles - 2,100' gain For winter hiking, Tucson is hard to beat! This trail winds up a wash near Sabino Canyon, with expansive views back over the city. |
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Green Mountain & Meyers Homestead Trails
November 2023 Boulder, CO 9.1 miles - 1,600' gain Stayed a little closer to home with these quick hikes near Boulder on a sunny late-fall Sunday. |
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Snoqualmie Mountain
October 2023 Baker Snoqualmie Nat'l Forest, WA Elev. 6,260' - 3.6 miles - 3,100' gain This hike is absolutely brutal -- clocking in at over 3,000' of elevation gain in barely over 1.5 miles -- but the views of Mt. Rainier and the rest of the Cascades are worth it! |
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Mills Lake
October 2023 Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park, CO 5.2 miles - 900' gain Despite the colorful leaves and beautiful scenery, this hike somehow managed to avoid the worst of RMNP's crowds. |
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Silver Dollar Lake
September 2023 Arapaho Nat'l Forest, CO 4.2 miles - 1,200' gain The aspen are finally starting to turn -- one of my favorite Colorado sights! |
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Mt. Bierstadt
September 2023 Mount Evans Wilderness, CO Elev. 14,065' - 7.2 miles - 2,700' gain Wind and snow kept us from getting quite to the top, but even the approach afforded exquisite views of high alpine meadows and distant peaks. |
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St. Mary's Glacier & Lasagna Flats
Sept 2023 Clear Creek County, CO Elev. 12,000' - 4.8 miles - 1,500' gain Our first hike after officially making the move back to Colorado. |
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Tinker Knob
October 2022 Tahoe National Forest, CA Elev. 8,950' - 14 miles - 2,600' gain Just like last time (see July 2022) but now with a dusting of snow. |
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Twin Lakes
August 2022 Desolation Wilderness, CA 6.1 miles - 1,400' gain The exposed granite of the Desolation Wilderness in on full display in this relatively mild hike to four crystal-clear alpine lakes. |
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Mt. St. Helena
August 2022 Napa/Sonoma Counties, CA 9.9 miles - 1,900' gain The tallest peak in Napa County is a hot, exposed climb, but provides 360˚ views of Napa and Sonoma counties. There's a lot of visible wildfire damage, but luckily it seems the local redwoods survived. |
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The Zirkel Circle
July 2022 Routt County, CO Elev. 10,700' - 11 miles - 2,300' gain A beautiful loop hike over an alpine pass and skirting two lakes in the remote Park Range. The wildflowers were in full swing! |
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Tinker Knob
July 2022 Tahoe National Forest, CA Elev. 8,950' - 14 miles - 2,600' gain This ridgeline section of the PCT has views in all directions for practically its entire distance, all the way from Shasta in the north to the Desolation Wilderness in the south. |
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Canyon Creek Lakes
May 2022 Trinity Alps Wilderness, CA Elev. 6,100' - 19 miles - 3,100' gain We may have bitten off a little more than we could chew with this relentless climb, but it was more than worth the trek; the diversity of landscapes and plant species in the Trinity Alps makes it a unique destination on the West Coast. |
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Bootjack Loop
May 2022 Muir Woods National Monument, CA 6.5 miles - 1,200' gain All the landscapes of Mt. Tamalpais, Muir Woods, and the North Coast rolled into one hike! Walking through the redwoods never gets old. |
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Phantom Falls
April 2022 Oroville, CA 4.5 miles - 600' gain I had no idea the Central Valley had such ruggedly volcanic features until this hike across the table mountains of Oroville. The wildflowers were impressive too! |
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Ralston Peak
January 2022 Desolation Wilderness, CA Elev. 9,150' - 5.8 miles - 2,600' gain This trail is steep enough that it makes for an exhausting and slow snowshoe trek, but also makes it easy to just sled back down the way we came. |
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© Kelvin Bates, 2024