Bolivia

erneill

Bolivia is all about altitude. The airport is just over 13,000 feet and the the city (La Paz) is sitting at a comfortable 11,942 feet. From La Paz the jungle is down and the desert and mountains are up. Up, is the direction we took. We headed through the desert to Condoriri base camp where we climbed Cerro Austria and Pequenyo Alpamayo then we were off to Huayna Potosi. During one of the “rest days” I biked the Bolivian Death Road down into the Jungle. I never felt like I was near death but it was tons of fun.

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Canyons and Peaks

erneill

This road trip was originally supposed to be a week of climbing 14ers in late winter. Wildfires and blizzards changed my plans. I headed to he dessert. After hiking in the Grand Canyon and Zion I was lucky enough to get to climb Quandary Peak in Colorado on the way home.

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Moment of Zen

erneill

My winter of discontent.

It was a long cold painful winter. And Spring. And Summer. Filled with injuries, aches, and pains. Serious enough that I tried to chill out and take care of myself.  With all this so called healing i didn’t get too far from home.  Definitely didnt shoot very many photos.  With the sad state of my portfolio I’ve decided to try an capture more every-day images.   Most of these will probably just be taken on my phone, it’s always around when I need to take a picture.

If you live mindfully you will experience many beautiful moments.

Here’s the first. I don’t have a penchant for poetic titles so I’m calling this one “Fluffy Clouds”.

 

 

Road Trip: Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier, Badlands

erneill

Who loves a road trip?  I do!  For years I’ve always said that I would love to see Yellowstone, The Grand Tetons, and Glacier Nation Park and for years I’ve never pulled it off.  This summer I realized that I have both a car and gas money so what was really stopping me at this point?  Nothing, that’s what.  So I called up my friend Jerry and and before we knew it we were driving across a lot (a heck of a lot) of plains heading toward Wyoming.

 

 

On the road in S. Wyoming
On the road in S. Wyoming
On the road in S. Wyoming
On the road in S. Wyoming
On the road in S. Wyoming
Tetons and Snake River
Teton Sky
Grand Teton and Snake River
Hiding in the grass
Fall Leaves
Fall Leaves
No one can really come up with good captions. Huh?
Grand Prismatic Spring
Grand Prismatic Spring
Grand Prismatic Spring Boardwalk
Grand Prismatic Spring Area
Grand Prismatic Spring
Grand Prismatic Spring
Grand Prismatic Spring
Grand Prismatic Spring Boardwalk
Grand Prismatic Spring Area
Shadows
Shadows and Sun
Ripples.
Mushroom!
Water and Stone
Avalanche Lake
Badlands NP
Garden Wall

 

Irish Sunrise

erneill

Being of Irish decent I can attest to waking up early in the morning feeling foggy and odd.  This is typically the result of another proud Irish tradition of strong beer and shenanigans.  I was backpacking in the Irish Wilderness when I awoke to this magnificent scene on the river.  This was a beautiful sight and probably one of my favorite backpacking moments of all time.

Irish Wilderness Sunrise