Category: Mountain Field Guide

Traversing the White Mountains’ Presidential Range

They say you are who you hang out with. For this reason, it is difficult to get a true sense of a mountain until you spend some time with its neighbors. Sometimes the character of one peak may be better appreciated after having explored others in the same range. You know what you’re looking at …

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Punta La Marmora

Sitting in the crystalline waters of the Mediterranean lounges the Italian island of Sardinia. Throughout history, whichever tribe or nation had control of Sardinia was considered a bellwether for the power dynamics of the Mediterranean. One of the things that made Sardinia such a strategic point, aside from its relative size as the second-largest island …

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How Big are the Rocky Mountains?

If you spend as much time as we do thinking about mountains, then there is a good chance that you have asked yourself the most pressing question that there is about any mountain, which is, quite simply, How Big is it? Our fascination with mountain landscapes is no doubt due to the sense of majesty and …

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Fun Facts about the Rocky Mountains

There runs through the heart of our country a mighty spine of rock … a jagged 3,000 mile wonder that separates the Great Plains from the Western Plateau, and the deserts of New Mexico from the woodlands of Canada. Truly, this is the Purple Mountain Majesty that we sing of, and the Rocky Mountain High that has …

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Stargazing from the Summit of Sierra Negra

The summit of Sierra Negra is a special place. It is an extinct volcano with bragging rights as the fifth-highest peak in Mexico. Its prominence is just 1,770 feet (540 m), but its location in the higher altitude neighborhood of Pico de Orizaba, the summit of Sierra Negra reaches a maximum of 15,030 feet (4,580 …

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Standing Indian Mountain’s Monster is No More

The mountains hold so much wonder. I feel a billowing sense of wonder whenever I stand on a giant rock which was forced up by energy deep within the Earth to soar above the crust many millennia ago. A mountain top is a place to look around and gain a deeper understanding of the fascinating …

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Mount Ritter

Mount Ritter When the electrified chaos of the city becomes too loud, it is necessary to escape to nature. John Muir waxed poetic on the subject, and I would tend to agree with his waxings. A visit to Mount Ritter, whose jagged profile can be seen from his eponymous trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains …

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Starter Peaks: Nine Easy Mountains to Climb in the U.S.

If you’re ready to tackle your first peak, or want to explore some of America’s amazing beginner treks, then consider one of these great beginner “walk up” mountains for your next climb. These are some of the easiest of the beginner mountains, and are great for most adventurers in good physical condition. Climbing one of …

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Earth’s 10 Highest Mountains

All of the world’s ten highest peaks, based on height above sea level, lie in or near the Tibetan region of the Himalayas, with Everest as the tallest and most of the rest being child mountains of Everest.  The highest peaks of the Himalayan region stretch from India to the southwest of Nepal, to China to …

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Finding Healing and Guidance in Mount Rainier

At the very beginning of 2020, in early January, my family was struck with a sudden death. Soon after, the world was beset with the coronavirus, and we had to make some pretty big lifestyle adjustments along with everyone else. So in late summer, my sister and I decided to reconnect with nature for healing …

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