Frog
Some of our favorite spots on earth….
Squaw Pass, or more exactly, the view back down to her (you can see why they call it Chief Mountain) from the little hanging valley a mile or so, and 1500 feet up) to the west, on the CDT trail. The snowy picture on our home page commemorates a late September exit from these environs. Weminuche Wilderness, San Juans, Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA, planet earth. Difficult. Near Creede.
Ship Island Lake, with her huge cathedral looking cliffs holding the water in from the River of No Return right behind, a long beach on the northeast side, and sure enough golden trout.  We shot 300 pictures here in one day, from all over  (”Go Higher” is a good photographer’s maxim, too). Bighorn Crags,  Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, Salmon River Mountains, Idaho. It is tough to get here, either by vehicle to the trailhead or by foot to this spot. Near Challis.
Titcomb Basin,  otherworldly, huge glaciers. Second prettiest place we have ever seen, after Wonder Pass. Good map skills needed. Tough hike. Wind River Range (once you have been, you just say “the Winds”), central Rocky Mountains,  Wyoming. Near Pinedale.
Wonder Pass, even if it is in a national park and there is a back country heli-lodge a few miles away. Catch her in late September and see the larch pine turning yellow everywhere. Lifetime views in all directions, as good as it gets. Prettiest place we have ever seen. British Columbia, but access most easily from Edmonton, and go up Bryant Creek, maybe. Moderately difficult, but good trail, in the   Canadian Rockies.
The Enchantment Lakes, a tough pack from anywhere, overly used, quota and permit system, but you are favored if you have been here. In the heart of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in the central Cascades, close to the PCT, near Leavenworth,  Washington, this is a good place to see why we guide only “Alpine” nowdays.
Mono Recesses, overlooking the more southerly Mono Creek, accessed either from Lake Edison and the west (you can take a boat shuttle and knock off five miles) or up over Mono Pass from the Little Lakes Valley. Pick any of the four recesses, which have little hanging valleys, or go back north to three other glorious basins, Laurel Basin being our favorite. Moderately difficult. In the Sierra Nevada (the serious just say “the Sierra”), more particularly the High Sierra over 10,000 feet, Mono Creek intersects the PCT near Bishop,   California.
Jefferson Park, especially from Park Ridge (you will never hasten from these flanks), is the consumate snow covered volcano. Most say it is the prettiest place in Oregon. Traversed also by the Pacific Crest Trail, this astounding place is in the Southern Cascade Range, near Detroit, Oregon. Moderately difficult.
Frog Rincon
 
High Sierra tarn