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La Plata Mountains: Kennebec Pass Peaks

Friday & Saturday, August 21-22, 2020

This weekend I knew that the entire state of Colorado was going to be completely covered with smoke from wildfires since it seems like the entire West is currently on fire. After looking at smoke and weather forecasts for the weekend it looked like my best bet to escape the worst of the smoke might be to head down to the southwest portion of the San Juan Mountains, so I thought another visit to the La Plata Mountains would be a good idea. In order to continue my Summer of 12ers I decided to hike to a couple of peaks near Kennebec Pass along the Colorado Trail. It’s been about ten years since the last time I drove up to Kennebec Pass and I was looking forward to spending some more time hiking in this area again.

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Soaking in the Conundrum Hot Springs

Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness
Sunday & Monday, August 16-17, 2020

This weekend Diane and I finally got our chance to visit the Conundrum Hot Springs in the Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness, which is something that has been on my to-do list for as long as I can remember. For the longest time I figured this was one trip that I probably would never actually do because of how popular it is and how busy it gets in the summer, and the last thing I wanted to do was hike all the way in to the hot springs only to find out that all the designated campsites were occupied. However, last year the Forest Service finally started to require permits that have to be reserved online in advance to camp near the hot springs, and I knew that this was finally my chance to go! I wanted to try to go last year, but I was out of town the weekend when the permits became available, and by the time I returned back home all of the dates I could go were already booked, so I figured I’d try again this year. This year I was around when the permits became available in the middle of June, and after a frustrating morning trying to secure one on the Recreation.gov website, I did finally manage to get one for this Sunday night.

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Among Giants of the Uncompahgre: Matterhorn Peak

Uncompahgre Wilderness: Between Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn Peaks
Friday & Saturday, August 14-15, 2020

This Sunday Diane and I have a camping permit secured for an overnight backpacking trip to the popular Conundrum Hot Springs near Aspen, but I didn’t want to skip out on hiking at least one new peak this weekend, so I thought I’d try to find something quick and easy to hike on Saturday morning before I returned home to pack for the overnighter. Since I haven’t made it back to the Uncompahgre Wilderness yet this year, and it’s probably my favorite wilderness area close to home, I figured doing something in that area would be a good choice. After looking over my maps I settled on hiking Matterhorn Peak (13,590) which has been on my to-do list for far too long. What better way to spend the morning than hiking in between two of my favorite 14ers!

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Hermits Rest Trail to the Morrow Point Reservoir

Cimarron Point into the Black Canyon of the Gunnison | Curecanti National Recreation Area
Saturday & Sunday, June 13-14, 2020

The next couple of weeks are about to get pretty busy for us since we will be moving into a new house, but I wanted to try to get one more quick overnight backpacking trip in before that happens. Since we still had a lot to do at home, I was looking for something easier and close to home where I didn’t think we would run into many people. After looking over some maps, I thought it would be nice to camp along the shore of the Morrow Point Reservoir in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison at the bottom of the Hermits Rest Trail. I couldn’t find very much information about this hike online, so I figured it probably wouldn’t be too busy. Although I’ve driven through the Curecanti National Recreation Area many times on Highway 50 between Montrose and Gunnison, I have never really spent any time there and thought it was about time we finally did some hiking there. Plus, with the daily boat tours currently not operating because of COVID-19, I knew there wouldn’t be any motorized traffic on the reservoir either.

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West Pollock Arch & Window Rock Tower

Canyons of the Black Ridge Wilderness
Sunday, June 7, 2020

This weekend I was hoping to get back on the river with a couple of friends again, but it seems that Mother Nature had other plans for us. Between severe thunderstorms on Saturday and very strong winds on Sunday, we decided it was best to cancel our river plans this weekend and try again another time. On Sunday afternoon I decided it was time to get out of the house for a little while and went on a short local hike to visit West Pollock Arch in the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness. Even though it was windy out, the temperature had dropped significantly because of the passing storm on Saturday, making it perfect weather for hiking. Plus I figured the strong winds would help keep the gnats away that are usually prevalent at this time of the year. I left home in the middle of the afternoon and drove over Black Ridge to the Rattlesnake Arches Trailhead to start my hike. When I arrived there was only one other vehicle at the trailhead and they were just leaving. I was surprised since it was a nice day and this is usually a popular trailhead. After descending to the lower Rattlesnake Arches Trail on the bench below I headed east past Window Rock Tower to the rim of the West Fork of Pollock Canyon.

Tag: smoke

La Plata Mountains: Kennebec Pass Peaks

Soaking in the Conundrum Hot Springs

Among Giants of the Uncompahgre: Matterhorn Peak

Hermits Rest Trail to the Morrow Point Reservoir

West Pollock Arch & Window Rock Tower