Telluride Trails | Friday – Saturday, September 18-19, 2026
I was originally planning to spend this entire weekend celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Dominguez – Escalante Expedition, but when the weather forecast for Saturday was looking too wet for some of the backcountry roads I would need to drive, I decided at the last minute to delay my journey by a day and took Monday off from work. Surprisingly, the weather forecast was looking drier on Saturday morning in the San Juan Mountains, so I decided to squeeze in another high-country hike this season while I still could and planned to hike up the Blixt Trail from the Howard Fork to Oscars Pass and a little beyond. I left from work on Friday afternoon and made my way over the Dallas Divide and up the San Miguel River to the Ophir Pass Road in the Howard Fork where I found a campsite for the night.
While there were a few patches of fall colors in the Howard Fork just beginning to emerge, most of the trees were still green.
Since I happened to be nearby, I took a short walk from camp to visit some popular curved aspen trees.
Dancing Aspens
Colors Above Camp
I had a nice view of U.S. Grant Peak from my campsite which I was just on the other side of last weekend.
Evening light on the mountain ridge above Swamp Canyon.
South Lookout Peak
The sun shone through a gap between the clouds and San Miguel Mountains shortly before sunset.
After a decent night of sleep I was up before sunrise and started hiking up the Blixt Trail right from camp, which is another section of the Hardrock 100 route. It was very cloudy out this morning, so there would be no sunrise.
Yellow Mountain in the Clouds
Apparently, the road used to be open much higher than it is today…
As the clouds slowly started to clear out, a little light got through and lit up the little town of Ophir.
I liked the way San Bernardo Mountain was lit up in this shot.
This ridge was lit up nicely as the clouds continued to slowly clear.
The view looking back across the Howard Fork to Swamp Canyon.
Pilot Knob
More nice light on the ridge as I neared Oscars Pass.
I was thinking about hiking up to Oscars Peak when I reached Oscars Pass, but in the end I didn’t really feel like it and instead continued down into Bridal Veil Basin.
Bridal Veil Basin
I followed the trail to the pass between Oscars Peak and Wasatch Mountain where I had this view down the East Fork of Bear Creek to Gold Hill.
The upper end of the East Fork Basin with the San Joaquin Ridge in the shadows.
Looking up at the southern end of Wasatch Mountain from the pass before I started hiking back the way I had come.
Here’s a good look back to Wasatch Mountain as I returned to Oscars Pass.
La Junta Peak with Potosi Peak hiding in the background.
Looking back up to Oscars Pass and Peak as I started my descent down the Blixt Trail.
The highest peaks of the San Miguel Mountains were still hiding in the clouds.
More dappled light on the ridge to Silver Mountain.
Lizard Head Peak underneath the clouds.
Eventually the clouds lifted and exposed the tops of The Wilsons.
Following the Blixt Trail down into the Howard Fork.
I took a slightly different trail back into Chapman Gulch and then followed the Ophir Pass Road back to my campsite.
After returning to my vehicle I left the Howard Fork, drove back over the Dallas Divide and then followed the Uncompahgre River to Montrose where I could begin following in the footsteps of the friars Dominguez and Escalante!