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Tag: dolores river

The Rico Mountains & Lizard Head Trail

Friday – Sunday, September 22-24, 2023

Earlier this summer I had planned on spending another weekend hiking and exploring around the Rico Mountains and Lizard Head Wilderness, which are located at the western end of the San Juan Mountains. I’ve enjoyed heading down to this area over the past couple of years and was looking forward to returning again, but unfortunately on that trip I had started feeling ill and ended up coming home early on the first night. This weekend I wanted to give that trip another shot before the summer season comes to an end and I start heading back into the desert for the rest of the year, so on Friday afternoon I left from work and headed back down to the Rico Mountains.

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Lower Fisher Creek in Cottonwood Canyon

Sunday, June 11, 2023

This morning I was looking for a shorter hike close to home and thought I would make my way back over to Gateway so I could hike along Fisher Creek into lower Cottonwood Canyon. Hiking into this canyon has been on my to-do list for way too long and my interest was rejuvenated yesterday as I floated past the mouth of Fisher Creek on the Dolores River, so I figured it was finally time to make it happen. I woke up early on Sunday morning and then drove west through Unaweep Canyon to Gateway for the second time this weekend.

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The Dolores River: Fisher Creek to the Colorado River

Gateway Canyon: Fisher Creek to Dewey Bridge | Average CFS: 2,170
Saturday, June 10, 2023

This weekend Jackson was only free on Saturday so we planned a day trip to float down another section of the lower Dolores River from Fisher Creek to the Dewey Bridge Campground since it’s not too far away from home. Although most people run this stretch starting from Gateway, we decided to launch closer to Fisher Creek so that we would be able to easily finish it in a day while also skipping Stateline and Rockslide Rapids. While this kind of day trip would typically require a very long shuttle that would not make it worth the effort for most, living in the middle of the shuttle made the logistics a little easier for us. After work on Friday, Jackson and I dropped off his vehicle at the Dewey Bridge Campground and then returned home for the night. Then on Saturday morning Diane rode with us down past Gateway as we looked for a spot to put-in and then she drove my Jeep back home for us. This way we wouldn’t have to return to pick it up later in the day which would have required at least an additional four hours of driving time!

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Into the Ponderosa Gorge of the Dolores River

Dolores Canyon: Bradfield Bridge to Mountain Sheep Point
Friday & Saturday, May 26-27, 2023 | Average CFS: 2,400

After spending the last couple of weekends on the river, Jackson and I wanted to keep the streak going with three different day trips planned over this extended Memorial Day weekend. For our first destination on Saturday we were going to float a section of the Dolores River below the McPhee Reservoir from Bradfield Bridge to Mountain Sheep Point that is known as the Ponderosa Gorge. This nineteen-mile section of the Dolores River is known for it’s quick pace, spectacular campsites, soaring cliffs of red sandstone and of course the tall stands of ponderosa pines. Diane and I had visited the Dolores Canyon Overlook on our way to Mesa Verde last year which looks down into this portion of the Dolores Canyon, so I was really looking forward to seeing the canyon from the river this time!

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The Colorado River: Cisco Landing to Hittle Bottom

Average CFS Above the Dolores River: 26,278  //  Below the Dolores River: 32,500
Sunday, May 14, 2023

After spending five days on the Yampa River last week and then yesterday morning hiking in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison it was time for Jackson and I to get back out on the river again for a short day trip. Today we planned to float a section of the Colorado River that we had not been on before, starting from Cisco Landing and taking out at Hittle Bottom. With the water level around 30,000 CFS we knew the river was going to be high and fast, and figured that we would make it through this section of the river pretty quickly. We were right since we ended up floating all 23 miles in just about four hours and made it home by the early afternoon!

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