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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.

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The Rico Mountains: Five Years on the Calico Trail

Friday – Sunday, July 5-7, 2024

After Diane and I spent Independence Day backpacking in the Flat Tops Wilderness, we returned home early Friday afternoon so she could spend the rest of the weekend with a friend visiting from out of town. While at home I took some time to repack my Jeep for a solo trip and then headed south to spend the rest of the weekend in and around the Rico Mountains. Over the past four years I have been hiking to the summits of the peaks found along the Calico Trail, which follows the crest of the western Rico Mountains, and I only had one final named peak left- Landslip Mountain, which I panned to hike on Saturday morning.

The Rico Mountains & Lizard Head Trail

Friday – Sunday, September 22-24, 2023

Earlier this summer I had planned on spending another weekend hiking and exploring around the Rico Mountains and Lizard Head Wilderness, which are located at the western end of the San Juan Mountains. I’ve enjoyed heading down to this area over the past couple of years and was looking forward to returning again, but unfortunately on that trip I had started feeling ill and ended up coming home early on the first night. This weekend I wanted to give that trip another shot before the summer season comes to an end and I start heading back into the desert for the rest of the year, so on Friday afternoon I left from work and headed back down to the Rico Mountains.

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The Rico Mountains & Lizard Head Wilderness

Independence Day Weekend | Friday – Sunday, July 1-3, 2022

This year for the extended Fourth of July holiday weekend I decided to head back to the same area I did last year and returned to the Rico Mountains so I could hike to a couple more twelve-thousand foot peaks along the Calico Trail. I left from work on Friday afternoon and made my way south to the San Juan Mountains via the Dallas Divide and Lizard Head Pass. I drove through a bit of rain on and off from Ridgeway until I reached Lizard Head Pass, where I found the mountain-tops hidden in the clouds. After following the headwaters of the Dolores River for a bit, I turned off onto the Taylor Creek Road and drove up onto Taylor Mesa in search of campsite for the night. I found a pretty nice campsite on the ridge between Stoner Creek and Priest Gulch with a great view of the nearby Rico Mountains and the distant La Plata Mountains, but the mosquitoes were pretty terrible! After a colorful sunset I went to bed early so I could get an early start on Saturday morning.

Thanksgiving Weekend on Cedar Mesa

Thanksgiving Weekend | Thursday – Sunday, November 28 – December 1, 2019

This year for Thanksgiving Diane and I planned to spend the long holiday weekend searching for ruins and rock art on Cedar Mesa like we usually do at this time of the year. However, this year we had to deal with a winter storm that impacted the area and required us to change our plans on the fly. Although I wasn’t able to hike in the canyons I had originally planned for this trip, we managed to avoid most of the weather and find things to do throughout the weekend. Here are some photos from the weekend in no particular order…

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Tag: dolores

La Plata Mountains and the Jersey Jim Fire Lookout

The Rico Mountains: Five Years on the Calico Trail

The Rico Mountains & Lizard Head Trail

The Rico Mountains & Lizard Head Wilderness

Thanksgiving Weekend on Cedar Mesa