Above Treeline

Jay, your pics seriously rock!

Sapphire Lake- Here comes a afternoon thunderstorm!!!!

Lake McDermand and Wanda Lake at Muir Pass 11,955 ft

Finger Col….

Very nice!

Elba Lake-French Canyon

Puppet Lake

Mesa Lake

Glacier Divide…Evolution Valley is on the other side.

These are fantastic Jay, keep 'em coming!

Cheers,

Rick

Mesa Lake— I learned some very good lessons- 1st No Tarps over 10,000 ft.

Very exsposed and too Windy for Tarp use— My TarpTent would of ben perfect!!!

Mt. Humphreys—One very large mountain!

Impressive Geology–Granite and quartz and Tungsten

.

Beautiful photos. Are you planning on posting a trip report? I'd really enjoy hearing about it.

Broken Finger Peak

Puppet Lake

Desolation Lake

This area is spectaclur but is very wind swept and desolate hence the name of Desolation Lake.

Humphreys Basin–Puppet Lake
I felt like I was on the Moon.

May I play too?
.

Camp below Glacier de Moiry
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Up by the Glacier de Moiry
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Camp above Gruben heading towards Augstbordpass
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Morning tea at Grat, Zermatt valley
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The Europaweg track – falling (avalanching) down the hillside
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Climber's campsite, bottom of Hornli Ridge, Matterhorn
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Bottom of Hornli Ridge, Matterhorn

All Switzerland.
Cheers

My wife and I just back from the Italian, French and Swiss Alps. It really is amazing to me how much there is above treeline, but below the glaciers/snow fields (and there is plenty of ice and snow). I do most of my hiking in the Cascades, where we have a huge sub-alpine area (lots of little trees mixed with blueberry bushes and heather). The European Alps don't seem to have much of that — there is a much more abrupt switch from the trees to the meadows, with the meadows covering a huge area. I find it all very interesting.

Anyway, great pictures. I'll add to them when I get some time.

Excellent pictures Rodger!! I really enjoy being "Above Treeline". It reminds me of maybe being possibly on the Moon or Mars. Terra Furmma

Muir Pass 11,955 ft
A storm is lurking!!!!

On top of Mt Whitney
14,491 ft

Hi Ross

> The European Alps don't seem to have much of that — there is a much more abrupt switch
> from the trees to the meadows,

I think that may be due to the cows. Where there is forest the area is usually fenced of from the cows on the high pastures, so the forest grow. But the high pastures are grazed pretty heavily, so they are just grass.
my 2c.

Cheers

I think that may be due to the cows.

Cows, and even higher up, sheep!

Also why the milk there tastes so delicious! No grain-fed livestock!

All these shots are wonderful, but Roger, that Hornli shot from below… wow. Two years ago I was very near the Matterhorn, but never right up against it. Must have been awe-inspiring and quite intimidating to be right beneath the great spire!

Hi Miguel

Obviously impressive, but …

There's a statue on a fountain in Zermatt to a local Guide, Ulrich Inderbinen (1900-1990). It records that he climbed the Matterhorn (obviously with clients) 370 times. The Guides' fee for climbing the Matterhorn is about 1,800 Swiss Francs. It's very popular …

If one looks closely at the start one sees a large bronze statue on the face (Virgin Mary), and a plethora of fixed ropes. I am afraid that the Hornli ridge has gone from being impossible, to a hard route, to a trade route, to a bread&butter for the guides.

But it is still impressive, despite some people claiming it is entirely loose rock. Well, there is a lot of loose rock there in some places, but that tooth still sticks up awful high, with some awful steep faces.
Sue said she'd let me do it with a Guide, but it seemed a bit commercial these days.
.

The HornliHutte and HornliHutte Hotel are just below dead centre. The photo of the start of the ridge was taken from above that, a bit to the right.

Cheers

Might I add some of my own photos?

The Tour du Mont Blanc, August 2007

And some images from my beloved mountains here in Japan:

(sorry to hog the space)

Back when I still wore boots and carried a 14 kilo pack. The Asahi Range in Yamagata. The green you see in the back is creeping pine, a chest level evergreen that hugs the ground but grows on the highest mountaintops in Japan… horrible for bushwhacking, from which I was taking a much needed rest. Great for taking refuge in if a sudden storm hits.

Watching a typhoon approach.

Common campsite in the Japan Alps. Here, Karasawa.

This boy challenged his father that he could easily carry his father’s full pack and marched all the way down the mountain, alone (his father was five kilometers back with his wife and other son)… all 15 kilometers… to the trailhead, where I took this photo.

Jay, my favorite of your photos is the one of Finger Col. I keep going back to it.

Thanks Miguel, I really enjoy the picture from around the world….Japan Alps to Mont Blanc- Very nice!

Approaching Finger Col

Seeing all the fantastic photos I thought I would add two of my own:

Tarp opposite the Glacier du Trient (TMB – France)

Tarp in The Kitzbühler Alpen in October (Tyrol Austria)