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La Plata Mountains

Colorado Adventure 2010 | Day 4
Saturday, August 28, 2010

From my camp on Devil Mountain, my goal was to reach and start exploring the La Plata Mountains. I didn’t have anything planned, so I checked out a few trails along the way. When I reached US 160 again, I traveled further west for a few miles before turning off on the First Notch Trail.

I guess a stock Jeep is not a standard 4×4 😉
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The trail was a bit rock and muddy, but nothing I would consider difficult. It stayed in the trees most of the time.

One of the sections where it passed through a clearing
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When I was almost to the end of the trail, I came across this large fallen aspen…
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The trail beyond the fallen tree was nice and smooth
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I wasn’t sure if my winch would be able to move the tree, but I figured I would give it a try before turning around…since I didn’t want to head all the way back to the beginning again…

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Lucky me, it started to move.
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…but then I ran out of cable to the snatch block, so I had to setup on another tree to finish the job.
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That was my excitement for that trail….

Soon I was back at the highway and then following the Los Pinos River to the Lemon Reservoir and up the Transfer Park Road which ended at the Weminuche Wilderness.

Lemon Reservoir
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On my way back, I followed the Florida River to Durango, where I headed up the Junction Creek Trail.

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When I made it back down to town, I gassed up the Jeep and grabbed some dinner. Then I headed west to the La Plata River and climbed up to Kennebec Pass.

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My destination is that notch in the ridge above my Jeep
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At the top
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Heading back down
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Before going all the way back down, I took the short spur into Columbus Basin
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It was getting late at this point, so I made my way to Mancos and started up the West Mancos Road for a few miles until I found a campsite for the night.

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The full photo gallery from this day can be found here: La Plata Mountains Photo Gallery

Stay tuned for the last day of my adventure. To be continued…

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