Segment 3 of the Collegiate West was a day we’d been nervously anticipating for a while. It’s 15.9 miles long, and almost entirely above 12,000 feet. The whole thing is above tree line, so the only option is to do it all in go. Fortunately, we had great weather. Started with beautiful blue skies, and the clouds that did move in didn’t bring rain. Hiking above tree line is a weird thing. Bad weather moves in fast, so even when things look good, I’m nervous. But the sights and the beauty of it is incredible. Our only other experience being exposed for this long was the Presidential range on the White Mountains. A lot of days of hiking are forgotten or blend together, but these are two that I feel like I remember every hour of. (July 28, 2016)

Collegiate West Segment 3

Segment 3 of the Collegiate West was a day we’d been nervously anticipating for a while. It’s 15.9 miles long, and almost entirely above 12,000 feet. The whole thing is above tree line, so the only option is to do it all in go. Fortunately, we had great weather. Started with beautiful blue skies, and the clouds that did move in didn’t bring rain.

Hiking above tree line is a weird thing. Bad weather moves in fast, so even when things look good, I’m nervous. But the sights and the beauty of it is incredible. Our only other experience being exposed for this long was the Presidential range on the White Mountains. A lot of days of hiking are forgotten or blend together, but these are two that I feel like I remember every hour of. (July 28, 2016)

Published on September 22, 2016

Taken with a FUJIFILM X100T

23 mm focal length 1/300″ at f/14 ISO 400