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Category: Touring

Mancos Valley: Helmet Peak to The Knife EdgeMancos Valley: Helmet Peak to The Knife Edge

Mancos Valley: Helmet Peak to The Knife Edge

La Plata Mountains & Mesa Verde National Park
Sunday – Monday, July 12-13, 2026

On Monday afternoon I was going to be meeting someone on Cedar Mesa, so I thought it would be nice to spend Sunday afternoon and Monday morning in the La Plata Mountains where I wouldn’t be too far away. A few weeks ago I was actually trying to decide if I wanted to spend this weekend in the Abajo Mountains or the La Plata Mountains, but the Babylon Fire ended up making that decision for me. After spending Saturday in the Gunnison Gorge it was much too late for me to leave that evening, so I went home, slept in, and then took my time getting ready to leave late on Sunday morning. After driving through the Uncompahgre Valley I left the smoky sky behind when I crossed over the Dallas Divide and then drove through a few much-needed rainstorms between Lizard Head Pass and Dolores. I stopped for dinner in Mancos while I waited for the afternoon storms to pass and then headed up Echo Park Road so I could hike to the summit of Helmet Peak, which is the westernmost peak of the La Plata Mountains.

CONTINUE READINGMancos Valley: Helmet Peak to The Knife Edge
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La Plata Mountains and the Jersey Jim Fire LookoutLa Plata Mountains and the Jersey Jim Fire Lookout

La Plata Mountains and the Jersey Jim Fire Lookout

Overlooking the Four Corners | Friday – Sunday, June 12-14, 2026

A few weeks ago I was able to reserve a night at the Jersey Jim Fire Lookout Tower when the reservation system was moved over to Recreation.gov without very much notice. Diane was not able to come with me on my previous visit to the Fire Tower and I have wanted to take her back ever since, so we planned an extended weekend in the La Plata Mountains around this stay. It’s kind of hard to believe that it has been almost six years since my last visit to the La Platas, so I was definitely overdue for a return! We left home early on Friday morning and took the San Juan Skyway over Lizard Head Pass to Rico and then followed the Dolores River to Hillside Drive which we turned up and followed to the end. From the end of the road we hiked up the Hillside Connector Trail and Grindstone Trail until we reached the Highline Trail, which is part of The Colorado Trail, and then followed it across the top of Indian Trail Ridge.

CONTINUE READINGLa Plata Mountains and the Jersey Jim Fire Lookout
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River of Lost Souls: Rafting the Upper Animas RiverRiver of Lost Souls: Rafting the Upper Animas River

River of Lost Souls: Rafting the Upper Animas River

The Needleton Section: Needleton Stop to the Tacoma Power Station
Average CFS – Silverton: 290 / Durango: 870
Saturday & Sunday, June 6-7, 2026

Last November during their annual Black Friday sale, Jackson and I had booked a day trip for this Saturday on the Upper Piedra River near Pagosa Springs with Mild to Wild Rafting, but after the dismal winter we’ve had here in the San Juan Mountains there just wasn’t enough water for the trip this year, so last weekend we were contacted by the company to see about switching to the Upper Animas River which thankfully did have enough water, albeit for a brief season anyways. Since the Upper Animas is one of the trips we were planning to do eventually and they gave us such a great deal to switch, we couldn’t say no! As an added bonus, since the only way to reach the put-in at Needleton, other than hiking in, is by train, I would finally be able to ride the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which is something I’ve wanted to do for over two decades but never really made a priority. So, despite all the last minute changes to our plans, we were both looking forward to our first rafting trip down the River of Lost Souls!

CONTINUE READINGRiver of Lost Souls: Rafting the Upper Animas River
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Deep Black: East Portal Trail to Deadhorse GulchDeep Black: East Portal Trail to Deadhorse Gulch

Deep Black: East Portal Trail to Deadhorse Gulch

Black Canyon of the Gunnison | Saturday, May 30, 2026

After floating a short segment of the Gunnison River through Delta on Saturday morning, I returned home in the afternoon to drop off my rafting gear, took a quick shower and loaded up my camping gear into the 4Runner since I had made a last minute decision to hike the Ouray Perimeter Trail first thing on Sunday morning. I figured that on my way to Ouray I could spend the rest of this evening at the East Portal deep in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison since I had not been down that way in over a decade and there was a short hiking route just downstream from the campground that I had not hiked before and was interested in checking out.

CONTINUE READINGDeep Black: East Portal Trail to Deadhorse Gulch
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Crossing Paradox: Sawtooth Ridge to Monogram MesaCrossing Paradox: Sawtooth Ridge to Monogram Mesa

Crossing Paradox: Sawtooth Ridge to Monogram Mesa

Lost in the West End | Friday – Sunday, May 22-24, 2026

After finally taking the time to drive the entire Rimrocker Trail back in 2024 I’ve wanted to return to the West End so I could explore more of the many old mining roads that are found around the Paradox Valley. I figured that the Memorial Day weekend would be a good time to finally do this trip since I was pretty sure this part of the Colorado Plateau would be considerably less busy than some of the more popular areas in the mountains. With temperatures warming up in the high desert and snow in the mountains melting quickly, I’m pretty sure that this will be my last desert trip until the fall as I start concentrating on the rivers and mountains for the next few months. After leaving work on Friday afternoon I drove through Unaweep Canyon to Gateway, topped off my gas tank and then continued up the Dolores River into the heart of the West End.

CONTINUE READINGCrossing Paradox: Sawtooth Ridge to Monogram Mesa
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