San Juan Triangle | Monday – Tuesday, June 23-24, 2025
I wasn’t able to get out hiking on Juneteenth last Thursday like I had hoped since I was trying to figure out what was going on with my Jeep most of last week, so to make up for it I decided to take a day off from work this week and head on down to Ouray to hike a few of the trails closer to town. The weather forecast for Tuesday was looking like the best conditions of the week, so I left after work on Monday and made my way down to Ouray. After a quick stop for dinner in Delta and gas in Montrose, I continued on to the parking lot at the Ouray Hot Springs Pool so I could hike the last segment of the Ouray Perimeter Trail that was not yet built when Diane and I hiked the loop over nine years ago. Although it was a bit warm in Ouray this evening, most of the trail that I hiked this evening was already in the shade and there was a nice breeze.
There was a good view of Abrams Mountain from the start of the Perimeter Trail just off of Oak Street. The air was a bit smoky this evening from the nearby Snowshed Fire that was still burning and had closed down the road to Red Mountain Pass since yesterday.
Following the Ouray Perimeter Trail to the Rocktopus Bridge.
Ouray Overlook
Ouray Perimeter Trail
Looking up the Uncompahgre Gorge to Tuttle Mountain.
I followed the trail a short distance beyond Henns Overlook until I reached the Troll Bridge over Oak Creek.
Make sure to stop and see the troll hiding under the bridge.
Troll Bridge Falls
After leaving the Troll Bridge I turned around and returned the way I had come.
I followed the Sandias Trail back down to Oak Street.
I still had plenty of time left this evening, so I went for an easy walk along the Uncompahgre River.
After my short hikes around Ouray I left town in search of a campsite for the night. I didn’t know it at the time, but this has turned out to be the last photo I will be taking of this Jeep…
I watched the sunset on Gold Hill from camp and went to bed early.
After an OK night of sleep I was up early on Tuesday morning so I could get started hiking up the Silvershield Trail at dawn.
It wasn’t long until I reached the junction with the Oak Creek Trail, which I would be coming down later in the day to complete a loop.
Although they weren’t abundant, there were some nice wildflowers along the trail.
The highlight of today’s hike was finally getting to visit the West Gold Hill Dinosaur Trackway, which is the world’s largest continuous dinosaur trackway.
I’ve seen many dinosaur tracks before, but seeing this many in one long trackway was very cool!
Looking above the trackway to Sister Peak.
Dinosaur Tracks
The sun was just starting to reach the tracks as I continued along the Silvershield Trail to meet up with the Oak Creek Trail.
After leaving the dinosaur tracks the views really began to open up over Canyon Creek.
United States Mountain
Looking across the canyon to Hayden Mountain.
Light in the Valley
I eventually reached the Oak Creek Trail and started following the creek high up into the valley.
Oak Creek Trail
There were a few good views of the nearby Twin Peaks.
White Wildflower
Quite a bit of the Oak Creek Trail was in the trees with limited views.
The trail passed by two old mine tunnels.
The views opened up again as the trail climbed a few short switchbacks to a nice overlook.
Oak Creek Spire
Upper Oak Creek Trail
Oak Creek Overlook
There was a pretty nice waterfall visible in the distance.
Oak Creek Basin
Whitehouse Mountain
There were some pretty great views of this end of the Sneffels Range from near the overlook.
It was starting to get pretty cloudy out as I left the overlook and continued up to the pass.
Once I hiked beyond the overlook there were no more views from the trees and the trail was pretty overgrown until I reached the Silvershield Trail again.
I caught this Dusky Grouse walking on top of a log right after another one had startled me when it exploded out of the thick brush right next to the trail.
From the Silvershield Mine there was a good view across the valley to the mining structures on Gold Hill, including this Boarding House at the Jonathan Mine.
By the time I completed the loop and returned to the trailhead I had hiked about 9 miles with 3,600 feet of elevation gain and I was still feeling pretty good. As I started my drive back home it started to rain just a little, so I guess I had finished the hike just in time!
I’ve seen a few trackways in the desert, but that one takes the cake!