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 Brad, Randy, and Jeff at the Vallecito Creek trailhead camprground Tuesday morning, refusing to ponder their fate. |
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 Brad teaches Jeff about global positioning. (What, does Jeff think he's a Boy Scout with that bandanna?!) |
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 Brad digs in Randy's pack along the Vallecito Creek trail. |
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 Green aspen near a bend in Vallecito Creek. |
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 Randy and Brad along Vallecito Creek. |
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 Jeff and Randy hang out creek-side before a sunny lunch. I wonder if we should break out the m&m's? |
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 Randy almost as comfortable as he is happy; the creek-polished granite had a novel look. |
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 A good time of year for aspen spotting. The colors are bright, and everywhere. |
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 Brad and Randy pause for the scenery along Vallecito Creek. |
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 The view from our first backcountry camp site: high peaks just ahead. |
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 Colorful aspens among the conifers. |
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 Brad the mountain man. |
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 Heave-ho that pack right off your back. |
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 "Hey Brad look over here!" |
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 White whale sunning near the bridge over Vallecito Creek near the start of the Johnson Creek trail. That's where the real climbing began. |
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 A nippy Wednesday morning. |
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 The frosty morning view from camp. |
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 Brad and Randy are happy, but sleepy still without the hot drinks. |
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 Another morning (snap) shot -- we were in no hurry to depart without the arrival of the warm sun on our backs. |
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 View back and across the Vallecito Creek valley/gulch. |
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 Somehwre over there the food hangs just out of reach of Mr. Bear. |
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 Frosty groundcover. |
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 Frosty groundcover macro-shot. |
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 "Here comes the sun!" We're getting close to departure now. |
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 Boulders dot the creek. This view is looking north up Vallecito Creek. |
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 That's some good sitting for pumping water. I think the rule is to drink at least a liter while you're there (and rinse out clothes downstream!) |
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 Partway up the Johnson Creek trail, we've got a pleasantly warm sun and plenty of scenic reasons to crane our necks upward. |
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 Brad soaks up nature after a fine lunch along Johnson Creek. |
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 Johnson Creek lunch. |
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 More Johnson Creek lunch. |
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 Waiting for Brad's feet to dry. |
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 Granite column in upper Johnson Creek canyon. |
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 Jeff at the pitstop overlooking Johnson Creek's log-strewn canyon. |
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 Brad and Jeff frame the squarish column. |
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 Randy, Brad and Jeff enjoying the weather and the views on the Johnson Creek trail up to Vallecito Basin. |
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 Looking back down from Vallecito Basin. |
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 Onward and upward, nearing Wednesday night's camp, the trees just above Vallecito Basin. Columbine Lake and Pass lie above the ridge over the trees. |
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 Brad on water filtration duty. |
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 Camp cooksite. |
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 Evening sun, looking down the drainage. |
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 "It's not that cold out here." |
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 Ouch! |
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 Jeff steadies his pack at Columbine Lake, Thursday morning. |
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 Looking east across Columbine Lake. |
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 Layering up for the high-altitude break. |
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 Trekking toward Columbine Pass. |
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 "Come on, Randy!" |
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 "I'm comin!" |
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 View down Johnson Creek from Columbine Pass, our journey's high point at 12,680'. |
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 Jeff and Brad soak up the sun and high country views. |
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 Randy browsing the map at Columbine Pass. |
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 Looking ahead toward Chicago Basin and Mt. Eolus. |
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 Mt Eolus, whose actual peak is slightly back right. |
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 Columbine Lake and the ledge above Vallecito Basin, from Columbine Pass. |
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 Brad way up high at Columbine Pass. |
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 Chicago Basin, looking down toward Needle Creek and the Animas River somewhere way over there. |
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 Jeff and Brad peering into an old miner's cabin. |
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 Jeff and Brad with cabin ruins in front and high peaks behind. |
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 "Raptor!" |
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 The ridgeline above the top of the Needle Creek drainage. |
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 Approaching Chicago Basin. |
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 Looking east up from Chicago Basin, a popular "14'er" destination due to the 3 14000-foot peaks near the top of the drainage. Sunshine Peak is somewhere in the background here. |
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 If you combine this photo with the previous one (and a powerful Cray computer), you can generate one of those 'stop-motion' scenes where the camera pans around the scene! Let us know when it's ready for viewing... |
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 Lush meadow and high ridge. |
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 "OK, so where are we going to camp tonight?" |
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 Randy looking mischievous in his older brother's cap. |
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 Dramatic slickrock creek location for filtering water for our last night's camp. |
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 A brief look at the waterfall below where we filtered. |
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 And another view. |
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 Bunny and Weasel camp. Plush floor and 15 foot boulders made this pretty sweet. |
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 Lonely aspen. |
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 Eeeeeuuuuwwww! |
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 Needle Creek trailhead and Durango-Silverton Steam Train stop. Our gateway to civilization. |
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 The 9:45 (no stop for us--we've got to wait for the 10:45). |
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 Bridge over Animas River near the train stop. |
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 All 3 husky hikers. |
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 Jeff and Brad demo the proper train signalling technique ("The Charleston without moving your knees"). |
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 Our actual train pulls up. |
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 Brad trusts the train will stop for us, while Randy continues the official flagging. |
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 Choo choo with coal spewing... |
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 Round 2 of gin & tonics from "the snack car". |
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 The long and winding train. |
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 Another view of the immense volume of coal smoke that is emitted whenever the train accelerates. |
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 The actual boiler. It is fed with coal manually using shovels! |
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 The end of the line in Silverton, CO. |
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 The backroads (and alleys) of Silverton. Note the TinMan. |
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 The trip back to Durango as taken by a camera held by Jeff's not-long-enough arm. |
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 Another steam train image along the Animas River. |
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 Belching steam. |
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 An early Saturday after a late Friday: Jeff is about to embark on a rippin' road trip back to Spokane, and Brad's about to depart for a high-security flight home to San Francisco. |
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