pinedale engagement session | jon & cara.

Love this pretty little engagement session by the creek! A crisp, blustery winter day greeted Jon, Cara and me in the little town of Pinedale, Wyoming last weekend. I was lucky enough to find the gorgeous park that runs through the center of town. There was still a lot of snow on the sides of Pine Creek creating the perfect winter setting for Jon and Cara's photo session. Dealing with the wind was a bit challenging, but we ended up with a great set of images of this cute couple and their furry friends. I'm looking forward to photographing their wedding in Rock Springs this July!

jackson hole backcountry | 25 short

Yet another adventure to check off my Jackson Hole bucket list. I finally had the opportunity to snowboard in Grand Teton National Park! With skinning being the only way to access, doing this mission on a splitboard is the only way to go for snowboarders. Our goal to make it up 25 short seemed very reasonable, until we slept in. After waking up late and loading up our stuff, we didn't make it to the Taggart Lake trailhead until noon. Yikes! The ascent required 3500 feet of skinning uphill, and I knew I'd be slow since most of my skinning missions have been on the flats. Regardless of the intimidation factor, it was a beautiful sunny day and hopes were high.

The trail wove around through the woods for a while before starting an abrupt ascent up the slope. Lots of gorgeous views greeted us along the way, including tracks on the Grand Teton! Can't even imagine skiing that...

Our final push to the top brought us to one of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen. Buck Mountain loomed above Avalanche Canyon in the afternoon light.

Beautiful turns awaited us after taking in the views.

a celebratory beer was in order at the summit.

a little crusty, but still amazing!!

the views on the way out weren't so bad either.

We got back to the car right before sunset and soaked in the view as we rested in the back of the pickup. What a glorious day!!

pinedale engagement | jon & cara -- preview.

Here's a preview of an engagement session I photographed in Pinedale today. Such a cute couple and such a beautiful place! I'm so looking forward to photographing their wedding this summer :)

jackson hole backcountry | three days of powder.

Wow am I one lucky girl! This week has been simply amazing. With my friend Kristina coming to town (you can read about her skiing/climbing/mountaineering adventures here) I was really hoping to show her a good time and had been praying for fresh snow. Well, the snow gods have answered with over a foot falling over the last two days! Our first day was spent at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, and the conditions were questionable. A hard crust lurked underneath what looked like fresh powder and the skiing was super variable with a fresh fluffy turn here and then hitting a patch of hard ice there. Yuck. At least it was snowing! The next day we awoke to gorgeous bluebird skies and decided to hit up Teton Pass for the backcountry. What a great decision. Breaking out the splitboard for the second time, I tried to keep up with Kristina and David on my first side-hilling attempt out to The Claw on the south side of the Pass. Luckily I'm getting better at this two-planking thing and didn't even fall when the track went downhill! I just slipped a lot while trying to keep my edges in the slope. Regardless of my skinning abilities, the views were stunning and the weather was perfect.

photo by Kristina. skinning on Teton Pass.

reaching the top of The Claw.

We got out to our point of descent, David and I put our "skis" back together as snowboards, and off we went down the steep chutes of The Claw. Just wow.

Kristina took this one while she was waiting for me to put my board together.

Kristina on the left, David on the right. get some pow!

Kyle -- not a bad way to spend a morning.

Me & Kristina with The Claw in the back on the left.

So much fun! Kristina and I just couldn't get enough so we decided to do another lap by ourselves. The late afternoon sunlight was so beautiful and it was even warmer than before. The Claw was also equally as fun. So much pow!

that glorious late afternoon sun. photo by Kristina.

finally a photo of me snowboarding! photo by Kristina.

our way down.

After that we drove north to take some photos of the Tetons. That view seriously never gets old.

The next morning we woke up and it was snowing pretty hard. Another lap on The Claw was in order! There were no stunning views to take in but there sure was a lot of snow to shred.

another photo of me snowboarding! this didn't suck. photo by Kristina.

Kristina fully enjoys here Wednesday morning.

David getting some of the fresh stuff. Love how there is so much snow coming down in this one!

the rest of the way down. dreamy...

I unfortunately had to go to work after all of that last night but we woke up to eight inches of fresh snow today. Another day at the ski resort was in order with avalanche conditions in not such good shape. Several tram laps and gondola rides later, we ate some delicious Teton Thai and are now resting our legs by the fire. Today was one of the best days at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort all season! Oh and last I checked it was still snowing :)