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Buckskin Basin: North Lost Trail to Avalanche Pass

Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness | Saturday, August 8, 2026

This weekend I had some stuff I needed to get done around the house on Sunday so Diane and I just headed out for a day hike into the Elk Mountains near Marble on Saturday. Typically I only hike into the Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness once each summer, but I guess I have felt like spending more time there this year since this was now my third visit! We left home bright and early on Saturday morning and made our way around the Grand Mesa, over McClure Pass to Marble, and then followed Lost Trail Creek until we reached the trailhead at the mouth of the North Fork. Although it’s been pretty smoky around here lately from many wildfires across the West, the weather forecast was calling for the patchy smoke to clear up after 9:00am and I was hoping that they were correct.

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West Maroon Creek: Maroon Lake & Crater Lake

Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness | Saturday & Sunday, July 25-26, 2026

I can’t believe that it has finally happened! Just like with the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, the Maroon Bells Scenic Area was one of those places I thought I would probably never visit because of how popular and busy it can be there- plus there’s also the additional logistics of getting there and being able to park. As I have been working my way through the trails of the Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness these past few years, I figured it was finally time to give this area a shot and hike up the West Maroon Creek drainage since I had already booked permits at all of the other areas in the Wilderness with designated campsites except for at Crater Lake. Back in February I was able to secure a camping permit at Crater Lake along with an overnight parking reservation, so this trip was actually going to happen this year! Although I initially hoped that Diane would be able to go with me, she was unavailable this weekend, so I invited Jackson and his wife Amy who both wanted to come along.

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.

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Gunnison Gorge: Chukar Trail to Gunnison Forks

Gunnison River: Rafting the Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Saturday, July 11, 2026 | Average CFS: 465

This year Jackson and I made it one of our top priorities to raft the Gunnison River through the Gunnison Gorge this summer, which is a local trip that has been on my to-do list for way too long! We figured with the low snowpack this past winter and lower flows coming out of the Crystal Dam upstream that this would be a good time to finally give it a shot. Initially, we were considering doing it in our packrafts since it would be easier for us to just pick a day, hike in, and go, but after having so much fun on the Upper Animas River last month we thought it might be fun to go in a paddle raft with a few friends, so we contacted Bob and Lisa who were also interested in giving it a try. At first we were planning to use Bob and Lisa’s raft, but after a little research we realized that it might be a little too big for the narrow chutes at these low flows, so Jackson rented us a smaller raft from Colorado Mesa University to use instead. He also called J & Ray Outfitters to reserve a packhorse which would get our raft and gear down the Chukar Trail to the river.

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Cleveland Gulch: Cinnamon Pass to Schafer Basin

Mountains of Minerals | Thursday – Friday, July 2-3, 2026

This week I had Friday off from work for the Independence Day holiday and planned to spend it in the San Juan Triangle hiking around Cleveland Gulch from Cinnamon Pass to the ridge above Schafer Basin. Although there are quite a few large wildfires burning in Colorado, Utah and Arizona right now, this particular area was being spared from most of the smoke and seemed like a good place to go. I left from work on Thursday afternoon and initially thought I was going to have to drive the long way around to Lake City since Highway 550 had been closed earlier in the week due to the Gold Mountain Fire near Ouray, but luckily it had just been reopened on Wednesday afternoon. When I stopped to top off my gas tank in Montrose I double-checked COtrip one last time to make sure that Highway 550 was actually still open, and it was, so I carried on driving towards Ouray. Of course it figures, by the time I made it past Ridgway the road had been closed again! Thankfully, this time traffic was just being rerouted on County Road 23 instead of having to go the long way around, so it only slowed me down a little.

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Buckskin Basin: North Lost Trail to Avalanche Pass

West Maroon Creek: Maroon Lake & Crater Lake

Mancos Valley: Helmet Peak to The Knife Edge

Gunnison Gorge: Chukar Trail to Gunnison Forks

Cleveland Gulch: Cinnamon Pass to Schafer Basin