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Lake Hope via the Lake Fork of the San Miguel River

Saturday & Sunday, September 14-15, 2024

This weekend Diane and I headed up into the San Juan Mountains so we could spend an easy and relaxing overnight camping trip together since we aren’t going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next couple of weeks. We slept in later than usual on Saturday morning before leaving home and then made our way over the Dallas Divide and past Telluride to just shy of Lizard Head Pass where we found a very nice campsite right next to Priest Lake. After setting up camp we continued up the Lake Fork to the trailhead for the Hope Lake Trail, which we planned to hike this afternoon since there were no storms predicted at all for today. This is a hike we’ve been meaning to do ever since we first tried hiking to Lake Hope seven years ago from the South Fork of Mineral Creek on the other side of the pass, but that time we were stopped by a snow drift and had to turn around. We were looking forward to finally making it up to the lake this afternoon!

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Colorado Trail: Carson Saddle & the Continental Divide

Friday – Sunday, September 6-8, 2024

With the mountain season coming to an end in just a few short weeks and a busy schedule for me later this month, I wanted to make sure that I got out for some more hiking above treeline in the high country this weekend before it was too late. I thought a good way to do that would be by hiking part of the Colorado Trail along the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains starting from the Carson Saddle above Wager Gulch, so that’s where I headed when I left work on Friday afternoon. I didn’t want to deal with the Middle Bridge over Blue Mesa on US 50, so instead I opted to go over Red Mountain Pass into Silverton and then took the Alpine Loop over Cinnamon Pass to the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River.

The High Plateaus of Utah: Southern Trek

The Plateau Provence: Peaks & Plateaus of the Colorado Plateau, Part IV
Friday – Sunday, August 30 – September 1, 2024

After spending Friday morning visiting a number of rock art sites along the Old Trappers’ Trail in the Book Cliffs, I left the canyon shortly before noon and continued on to Ray’s in Green River where I stopped and had a burger for lunch. Afterwards, I topped off my gas tank and headed west across the San Rafael Swell into the High Plateaus of Utah for the rest of the weekend. After my recent Northern Trek into the the High Plateaus earlier this summer, I’ve been looking forward to getting back out and going on a loop through the southern plateaus including the Table Cliff, Paunsaugunt, and Markagunt, plus making a return to the Sevier Plateau so I could visit a new peak along the way. Now after this weekend I have visited the highpoint of all the major plateaus on the Colorado Plateau in Utah except for the Kaiparowits Plateau, which is next on my list!

Rock Art Along the Old Trappers’ Trail

Book Cliffs Rock Art VIII | Friday, August 30, 2024

After spending most of Monday hiking with a friend in the San Rafael Swell, we met up again on Friday morning in the Book Cliffs so we could spend a few hours visiting rock art sites along the Old Trappers’ Trail, which was a historic route in eastern Utah that travelled through the Book Cliffs to the Uinta Basin. While much of this rock art is located on private property and some of it is visible from the public road, my friend had secured us permission from the ranch to access their property so we could get a closer look at these images. After viewing and photographing the rock art in this area for most of the monrning, I returned to the Interstate and continued west to Green River where I grabbed lunch at Ray’s and then headed out to spend the rest of the weekend exploring the High Plateaus of Utah. Here are some photos from my morning along the Old Trappers’ Trail.

Rock Art of the San Rafael Swell XVIII

Monday, August 26, 2024

After my plans were washed out in the Book Cliffs on Sunday, I met up again with my friend in the San Rafael Swell on Monday morning so we could spend most of the day visiting and searching for some rock art sites. The storms that had been prevalent the previous week had all cleared up overnight and the weather forecast was looking very dry for the foreseeable future so we didn’t have to worry about any of that today, although it was now a bit hazy or smoky out. Many of the roads we drove throughout the day were in rough shape from all the recent rain, but thankfully they were all dry and we had no troubles getting around in my Jeep. Even though we didn’t find everything we were looking for today, we still had a nice time sauntering around the Swell and now I’m really looking forward to getting back out into the desert more often starting in just a few more weeks!

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Category: Hiking

Lake Hope via the Lake Fork of the San Miguel River

Colorado Trail: Carson Saddle & the Continental Divide

The High Plateaus of Utah: Southern Trek

Rock Art Along the Old Trappers’ Trail

Rock Art of the San Rafael Swell XVIII