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Island in the Sky: From West to East

Wilhite Trail & Lathrop Trail
Friday – Sunday, November 22-24, 2019

I was originally supposed to go hiking with my friend Alan this weekend, but he had some issues come up on his trip and had to change plans earlier in the week, so I was on my own to find something to do. I figured this would be a good opportunity for me to return to the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park so I could continue hiking more of the official trails there. I planned to leave right after work on Friday afternoon, but the sky was looking nice when I got out of work so I drove over to the base of the Book Cliffs to watch the sunset before heading out of town. When the sun was down I grabbed a quick dinner in Fruita and then made my way over to Canyonlands and found a spot to camp outside of the Park.

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Over the Edge: Island in the Sky

Grand View Point Trails: Murphy Trail Loop, Murphy Point & Gooseberry Trail
Saturday & Sunday, November 2-3, 2019

After finishing up hiking all of the official trails in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park last year I figured that it was time for me to get started working on my remaining trails on the Island in the Sky. While I have already hiked most of the official trails on the top of the mesa, I had not hiked any that descended down to the White Rim, so I wanted to change that this weekend. I figured a good starting point would be to hike a couple of the shorter trails that start from Grand View Point, including the Murphy Trail, Murphy Point Trail and Gooseberry Trail. It’s kind of funny, although the Island in the Sky is the closest district of Canyonlands to me, it’s also the one that I’ve spent the least amount of time in. I think I’m going to make it my goal to finish hiking my remaining trails in this district of Canyonlands within the next year. Let’s see how many I can squeeze in over the winter!

Holy Cross Wilderness: Fancy Lake & Holy Cross City

Saturday & Sunday, September 21-22, 2019

Although I wanted to try to climb Mount of the Holy Cross (14,005) with Diane this summer, we just never found the time to squeeze it in. Still, I wanted to get in at least one short backpacking trip into the Holy Cross Wilderness this year since I really haven’t spent much time in the northern Sawatch Range before, so we decided to go on an easy overnighter to Fancy Lake this weekend. From Fancy Lake I would also be able to revisit the 1880’s ghost town of Holy Cross City which I first visited way back in 2005 by driving the rough 4×4 road in my Jeep. Now that it’s getting late in the season, this will probably be our last backpacking trip into the mountains for the year since it’s starting to cool down and it’s time to get back to exploring the Colorado Plateau!

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Towering Over Telluride: Ajax Peak

Friday – Saturday, September 13-14, 2019

This weekend Diane and I had another concert to go to on Saturday evening, so just like when I climbed Red Mountain #2 a few weeks ago, I decided to climb another easier peak in the San Juan Mountains on Saturday morning so that I could return home in the early afternoon. I’ve had Ajax Peak (12,785) near Telluride on my to-do list for a while, and that looked like it would be the perfect quick and easy mountain to summit this weekend. Ajax Peak may not be a very high peak by Colorado standards, but it is a prominent sight when you are in the town of Telluride, and I believe it is also a popular hike from town since there is a good trail all the way up to the summit. The peak sits along the ridge separating Ingram Basin from Savage Basin and is down below Telluride Peak (13,509), which I climbed at the end of last summer. Of course, I was not planning on climbing Ajax Peak from Telluride like most people do, instead I planned to drive over Black Bear Pass and spend the night in Ingram Basin where I would start my hike in the morning.

The Wind Rivers: Cirque of the Towers

Wednesday – Saturday, August 21-24, 2019

After our first backpacking trip into the Wind River Range for The Great American Eclipse two years ago it was time that we finally headed back for a another one. Since we had some pretty good conditions on that last trip (weather and mosquitoes) we planned to go at the same time of the year. Of course, since we had already visited Titcomb Basin and Island Lake on that previous trip, this time I really wanted to check out the Cirque of the Towers. I had originally planned this trip to be a four day loop that would take us past Big Sandy Lake into the Cirque of the Towers and then over Texas Pass to Shadow Lake, but things didn’t quite go as planned and we ended up not completing the loop. It was still an amazing trip and we both really enjoyed our time spent in the Cirque of the Towers!

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Tag: alpenglow

Island in the Sky: From West to East

Over the Edge: Island in the Sky

Holy Cross Wilderness: Fancy Lake & Holy Cross City

Towering Over Telluride: Ajax Peak

The Wind Rivers: Cirque of the Towers