Jack Brauer's Backcountry Landscapes

Published July 1, 2014 05:12PM

Bright pink flowers of fireweed provide a striking color contrast with the blue sky and lake in the Lyngen Alps in northern Norway.

Sunset light on Grießkopf (2581m) as seen from near the Kaiserjochhaus hut during a 9-day trek through the Lechtal Alps in Austria. Trekking in the Alps can be quite luxurious, enjoying idyllic views like this while wining and dining at the numerous alpine huts.

Sunset light on Mt. Sneffels (14,150 ft.) in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. My wife and I camped up on this high ridge and spent the evening enjoying this front-and-center view of one of Colorado’s most beautiful peaks.

Blue Lakes is one of the most popular summertime destinations in the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado. But after the first snows of autumn coated the range in powder, I had the place to myself. I set up my tent in the midst of a heavy snowstorm, then woke up in the middle of the night to see this mystical scene as the storm clouds broke apart and moonlight shined through.

On this autumn evening after the first snowfall, I hiked up to the summit of neighboring K2 to shoot the sunset behind Capitol Peak (14,130 ft.), one of Colorado’s sharpest and most striking fourteeners. I hiked back down very carefully on the snow covered rocks in the moonlight, happy to have witnessed such a wonderful scene from such a high point.

Sundial Peak forms the background horizon for these happy bunch of wildflowers in the Wasatch Range, Utah. For this photo I put the tripod down really low amongst the flowers and focussed on one of the nicer looking flowers in front.

Baita Segantini hut and the Pale di San Martino group, near San Martino di Castrozza in the Dolomites in Italy. That day I had hiked all the way up from town, waited around for this fantastic sunset, then started walking down the pass road at night until finally a kind passerby picked me up and drove me back to town.

The famous Matterhorn above Zermatt, Switzerland. Likely the most photographed mountain in the world (and rightfully so), I was fortunate to catch this unique moment when a snowstorm broke and clouds swirled about the peak, illuminated by a full moon.

For years after my second trip to Patagonia, I had dreamed of shooting the sunrise on Monte Fitz Roy from this neighboring summit On my third trip down there I was extremely lucky to make it happen on my first attempt, after climbing up this scrambly route in the darkness and dawn light. This morning was one of the most sublime sunrises I’ve ever experienced!

My fellow trekkers helped illuminate our tents during this 30 second exposure below moonlit Jirishanca (6094m) in the Cordillera Huayhuash in Peru. I actually met my wife on this trek; we just happened to join the same guided group in Huaraz and had 11 days in the mountains to get to know each other!