This week’s photo challenge features my favorite geology. Since I was a young man, I have been drawn to the mountains. Amy writes, “We hope you will join us to share your joy and pleasure of visiting/climbing  mountains.” You can read her entire challenge post here. I have plenty of images I could share, so I’ll just feature a few of my favorites. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, the United States Air Force Academy has an airport at the base of Pike’s Peak, one of the country’s most recognizable mountain names. I captured this image from a rest stop on Interstate Highway 25.

One of my first trips as a college student was a weeklong backpacking adventure with a college buddy. In Eastern Wyoming, the Bighorn Mountains have restricted areas that were only open to backpackers, hikers, and horseback. It was a great experience for me and my college buddy was an experienced backpacking enthusiast so he taught me much about living in a tent.

In October 2018, we visited the Great Smoky Mountains that straddle the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. The forested ridges of the park are located just south of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were on our way out of the park when we noticed the sun was setting. There was no place to pull off the highway right where we were, and I worried that by the time we found a pull-off to take a photo, it would be too late to capture the golden hour we were seeing. We lucked out and just around a curve in the road was a pull-off where we stopped and captured several images. This one was my favorite.

Out of Skagway Alaska, you can take the White Pass and Yukon Railroad from the coastal city high into the Coast Mountain Range. The line runs from Skagway through British Columbia to Whitehorse Yukon. The trip is a must-do for railroad fans and provides many beautiful mountain views along the route.

My final images feature an altered reality, the skies have been replaced just for fun. Pinnacles National Park in California is one of the smallest national parks in the country. It’s an interesting stop after visiting Yosemite. Its small size makes for an interesting day trip, but don’t expect the spectacular views you find at Yosemite.

My final image features the only mountain in this series that isn’t in the United States. On a cruise excursion, while stopping in Nicaragua, we visited the active volcano, Masaya. We were close enough to look inside the caldera and were taken aback by the overwhelming smell of sulfur emitting from the smoky interior. As we were leaving the park, the bus pulled off the highway to let everyone get a photo of the entire volcano. One day, while playing around with Luminar’s sky replacement tool, I found a sky that added drama, if not realism, to the image.

I have so many more mountain images I could share, but I will conclude with a great big thank you to Amy for featuring one of my favorite subjects. Next week, it’s my turn to challenge you, but until Saturday, I’ll keep silent about the theme.

You can find all of these images in my Flickr album here. If you’d like to participate in the challenges but aren’t sure how to get started, you’ll find some hints here.

John Steiner