Best Photos of 2021

Another year has passed, and looking back at my photos, I feel extraordinarily lucky to have gotten to visit so many incredible and beautiful places during the past 12 months. For me, 2021 started out strong with a fantastically snowy February here in Washington, followed by a month in Oregon, getting to see some new places with old friends. During the spring I was really able to push my limits ski mountaineering, ticking off some classic lines and embarking on some longer and more challenging solo trips than I’ve accomplished in the past. Last summer I focused more on rock climbing than I have before, which I capped off with a great climb of the classic North Ridge of Mount Stuart with Sean. September was unfortunately marked by me breaking my arm in a mountain biking crash, which hampered my ability to get out as much as I wanted to, but I was still able to go on a lovely backpacking trip with my lab mate Mike during the height of fall foliage in the eastern Cascades.

Below are my favorite photos from the year - let me know what you think!

An aerial view of Gothic, Delcampo, Three Fingers and Whitehorse on a sunrise flight over the Cascades in January.

The south face of Forbidden Peak, with Logan and the Ragged Ridge of NCNP in the morning light.

Aerial view of morning fog in the Cascade foothills.

Mount Hood and the White River at sunrise in early March.

Crater Lake and Wizard Island at sunset from the north rim.

Adam and Alex on the predawn approach to North Sister ahead of long traverse of all three summits.

Adam skiing into the steep couloir of Middle Sister, far above the Diller Glacier. Broken Top, Mount Bachelor, and South Sister in the background.

The Painted Hills of Oregon on a stormy sunset in late March.

Dusk light on Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, April.

A lone tree at sunset in the Santa Ynez Valley of California, April.

Danny and Micah climbing up the base of the Fuhrer Finger, a steep couloir on Mount Rainier, in early May.

Redoubt and the Moxes within North Cascades National Park on a morning ski ascent of the Park Glacier Headwall in May.

A barn and bright green fields in Washington's Palouse Region near the border with Idaho. Late May.

Detail of some siding on a grain elevator. Late May.

Sunrise over the spectacular southern Picekts, including Terror and Degenhart, taken in the middle of a solo four day ski traverse of some remote parts of North Cascades National Park.

Hagan, Blum, and Watson from the summit of Blum, looking back along my route on the last night of the four day trip.

Glacier Peak and Mount Blum, as viewed from the summit of Ruth Mountain at sunrise, on a lovely ski trip with Dad, Mom, and Becca.

The north face of Amphtheater from a small tarn near Upper Cathedral Lake in the remote Pasayten Wilderness, taken during a climbing trip with Sean.

A barn sits in the midst of a summer morning thunderstorm in the Palouse in late July.

Going-to-the-Sun Mountain from Siyeh Pass during a smoky July sunset in Glacier National Park.

Pingora Peak, one of the most famous summits in Wyoming's Cirque of the Towers, with wildflowers, taken during a three day solo backpacking trip in early August

One of the higlights of this trip was watching this spectacular optical phenomenon called a glory from the summit of Bollinger Peak, far above the Cirque of the Towers, after a long day of waiting out the rain.

Sean leading one of the incredible pitches of climbing on the North Ridge of Mount Stuart, one of the 50 Classic Climbs of North America. Early August.

Serena rappelling into an emeral pool during an early September canyoneering trip down Mineral Creek in the Central Cascades.

Larch detail, at Upper Eagle Lake in the Sawtooth Wilderness, early October.

Larches in the meadows on the western slopes of Switchback Peak, in the Sawtooth Wilderness, early October.

An incerdible sunrise view of Cooney Lake during peak larch color, early October. Sawtooth Wildernesss.

A late December snowstorm in the Alabama Hills of California turns the normally colorful landscape into monochrome.