#Weminuche

Summer view of South River Peak at the head of the Piedra River, #Weminuche, #Colorado San Juan #Mountains #reflection #publiclands

Leviathan, 13,528ft, Needles Range, #Weminuche Wilderness, #Colorado.
Deep in a trailless area of #mountains speckled with 14ers, this giant hides its north face well. Note the hiker at the bottom of the pic looking across the 1/2 mile wide drainage toward the looming face. #hiking #backcountry

The #Weminuche wilderness is known for its herds of elk. Other mammals include deer, bighorn sheep, moose, marmots, black bears, mountain lions, lynx, bobcats, and coyotes. Mountain goats have been introduced and are now common at higher elevations, particularly in the Needle Mountains. #Colorado

Above tree line in #Weminuche Wilderness is alpine tundra dominated by grasses and shrubs, along with extensive thickets of willow. #Colorado

#Weminuche Wilderness has montane forests with stands of ponderosa pine and Douglas fir and thickets of Gambel oak. Higher up are subalpine forests dominated by Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir. Stands of aspen occur in the wilderness in both the montane and subalpine zones. #Colorado

The western third of the #Weminuche wilderness is within the Needle Mountains, with 3 peaks over 14,000 ft: Windom Peak, Mount Eolus, and Sunlight Peak. #colorado

The #Weminuche Wilderness is an area in southwest Colorado managed by the US Forest Service in the San Juan National Forest. The w Wilderness was designated by Congress in 1975, and expanded by the Colorado Wilderness Acts of 1980 and 1993. It is the largest wilderness area in the #Colorado.

A panoramic sunrise view from the summit of Windom Peak (14,094 ft. / 4,295 m) - one of the 14ers in the heart of the Needle Mountains of southwest Colorado.

Jagged Peak rises above an idyllic alpine lake and basin in the Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado.

Pre-sunrise glow illuminates the rugged granite mountains of Windom and Sunlight Peaks in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado

Anticrepuscular rays of sunrise above Mount Eolus and Animas Mountain, reflected in a high alpine lake. San Juan Mountains, Colorado.

Here's a selection of photos from my best #backpacking trek of last summer: a 6-day mostly off-trail hike in the remote #Weminuche Wilderness in the #SanJuanMountains of #Colorado. I posted more photos and wrote more about this trek on my blog here: www.mountainphotography.com/gallery/thre...