If I Were Going...: 2025 Stevens Family Calendar: November

Brrrrrr

You may have noticed that this year’s calendar lacks the vibrant orange/yellow/red photos for autumn that I usually use for October, November or both. We just never were in the right place at the right time for fall photos in 2024, so I improvised a bit.

The October page featured a fall-looking photo as its main anchor (although it was actually taken in winter), but much of the page was photographed in spring and summer.

This month, the pictures skew far more towards winter in feel, although they were taken mainly in fall and summer. When you travel between hemispheres and latitudes, these things can get confusing.

But, anyway, let’s take a look at some chilly photos.

Main Page

The two main shots on this page couldn’t be farther apart in terms of both location and season. What they have in common is elevation.

The top right photo is Aiguille du Midi (Needle at Noon), a tall spire in the
tallest portion of the French Alps above Chamonix, France; Photo: Scott Stevens

Below that is the peaks of Tierra del Fuego near Ushuaia, Argentina,
taken in January, which is summer there

The top photo was taken on a cold snowy/rainy day at about 12,000 feet. The bottom on a warm, balmy day from sea-level, looking up.

All the photos running down the left were taken in and around Chamonix.

The featured photo, left, is the mountains at sunset from the deck of the apartment we stayed in
in Chamonix; right is two views at other times of day that we didn’t use; Left: Scott Sevens

Next is the wall of an ice cave we visited in France’s famous Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) glacier

This is Scott in the cave and an also-ran photo of the ice cave that just wasn’t quite as pretty

Next is a photo of the snow-coverer engineering marvel of a visitor center/cable car base embedded within the needle. I had to crop the vertical shot to fit the layout.

Left is the full photo; right are other views that show just how icy and cold it was up there

The trip up to the summit of Aiguille du Midi is via two cable cars. The first rises straight up from Chamonix and stops at a tundra-covered shelf called Plan d’Aiguille with good (well on days that aren’t foggy) views of the town below.

The tundra vegetation might be the best fall we got

Another shot we didn’t use; Photo: Scott Stevens

And, one more; Photo: Scott Stevens

We’ll go back there in a minute.

Calendar Page

The calendar page is decidedly icy.

A shot of a cirque glacier and tarn (lake) taken from an airplane over the Argentinian Andes;
Photo: Scott Stevens

A brief foray back to a mountain in Freud Passage in Antarctica

One of the Aiguille du Midi cable cars, which also appears on the back cover

A view of the cables from Plan de l’Aiguille

The ultimate icy shot on the calendar, right, shown here with a look at the needle we didn’t use; Photos: Scott Stevens

Our first view of the snowy Alps as we approached Chamonix;
we used the cropped version on the left

Completely changing gears, this is Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs after a snow

We had a few other snowy Colorado shots that didn’t make it; upper left. Long’s Peak;
lower left, near Mount Blue Sky; right, Rocky Mountain National Park

Ushuaia’s iconic Mount Olivia

Aiguille du Midi above the ice fog; Photo: Scott Stevens

Unused Photos

Let’s return to France to look at a few more photos that ended up on the outs.

Scott and me at the summit and the cable car from the platform; Right: Scott Stevens

Aiguille du Midi from town; Photo: Scott Stevens

Multiple views of the foggy/snowy mountains and glaciers from town;
Upper left and lower right: Scott Stevens

A wider view of Aiguille d Midi

Chamonix from Plan de l’Aiguille

At lower elevations, the French Alps are lovely. We saw many beautiful vistas (some of which I shared in September) as we drove to Chamonix from the south.