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Mountain Field Guide
Author's posts
Nov 21 2023
Licancabur
Licancabur Rising almost perfectly above the high desert on the border of Chile and Bolivia, Licancabur is one of the most recognizable volcanoes of the Central Andes. Its steep, symmetrical cone towers above salt flats, turquoise lagoons, barren volcanic plateaus, and the extraordinarily dry landscapes surrounding the Atacama Desert. Licancabur is remarkable for far more …
Nov 21 2023
Cerro Torre
Cerro Torre Cerro Torre is one of the most extraordinary mountain spires on Earth. Rising from the glaciers and forests of southern Patagonia, its nearly vertical granite walls culminate in a summit frequently crowned by a strange overhanging mushroom of wind-sculpted rime ice. Powerful storms sweep across the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, clouds can engulf …
Nov 21 2023
Mount Roraima
Mount Roraima (Monte Roraima, Tepuy Roraima, Cerro Roraima) Mount Roraima looks less like a conventional mountain than an enormous stone fortress rising from the tropical landscape of northern South America. Vertical cliffs surround a broad, cloud-covered plateau where blackened sandstone formations, crystal-filled valleys, waterfalls, pools, carnivorous plants, and tiny endemic amphibians create one of the …
Nov 20 2023
Alpamayo
Alpamayo (Shuyturaju) Alpamayo rises from Peru’s Cordillera Blanca as an almost impossibly elegant pyramid of snow and ice. Its southwest face is etched with deep vertical flutings that converge toward a narrow summit ridge, creating a mountain so geometrically striking that it has been celebrated for decades as one of the most beautiful peaks on …
Nov 20 2023
Tungurahua
Tungurahua Rising steeply above the lush valleys of central Ecuador, Tungurahua is one of the country’s most recognizable volcanoes. Its symmetrical cone towers more than three vertical kilometers above the valleys around Baños de Agua Santa, creating a dramatic transition from subtropical vegetation and cloud forest to páramo, barren volcanic slopes, and the summit crater. …
Nov 20 2023
Aoraki / Mount Cook
Aoraki / Mount Cook Aoraki / Mount Cook rises above the glaciers of New Zealand’s South Island as the highest mountain in the country and the defining summit of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. Surrounded by immense icefields, knife-edged ridges, unstable rock faces, and some of New Zealand’s largest glaciers, the …
Nov 19 2023
Haupu Mountain
Haupu Mountain Rising abruptly above southeastern Kauaʻi, Haupu Mountain, more accurately written Hā‘upu, is one of the island’s most distinctive volcanic landmarks. Its rugged green walls separate the Līhuʻe Basin from the drier landscapes around Kōloa and Māhā‘ulepū, while its long ridgeline forms a dramatic backdrop to Nāwiliwili, Kīpū Kai, and Kauaʻi’s south shore. Hā‘upu …
Nov 19 2023
Waiʻaleʻale
Waialeale | Waiʻaleʻale | Mount Waiʻaleʻale Deep in the mountainous heart of Kauaʻi, Waiʻaleʻale rises into a world of almost perpetual cloud, rain, moss, waterfalls, bogs, and native forest. The summit reaches approximately 5,148 feet (1,569 meters), making it the second-highest named summit on the island after nearby Kawaikini. Waiʻaleʻale is famous around the world …
Nov 19 2023
Kohala
Kohala At the northern end of Hawaiʻi Island rises Kohala, the oldest of the five principal volcanoes that form the modern Big Island. Unlike the active landscapes of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, Kohala has been quiet for well over 100,000 years. Rain, landslides, streams, forests, and time have transformed its once-broad volcanic shield into a …
Nov 19 2023
Puʻu Kukui
Puʻu Kukui Rising above the deeply carved valleys of western Maui, Puʻu Kukui is the highest summit of the West Maui Mountains, also known as Mauna Kahālāwai. At 5,788 feet (1,764 meters) above sea level, the mountain is less than 60 percent as high as Haleakalā on the opposite side of the island, yet its …
