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Tag: green mountain

Jackass Pass: Beaver Basin to Dry PeakJackass Pass: Beaver Basin to Dry Peak

Jackass Pass: Beaver Basin to Dry Peak

La Sal Mountains | Saturday, July 4, 2026

After spending Friday morning hiking around Cleveland Gulch in the San Juan Triangle, I returned home later in the afternoon and got a really good night of sleep and then had a nice relaxing morning on Saturday. I was well rested and feeling like I should go on a short day trip up into the La Sal Mountains since I hadn’t been back to that range in over two years and really wanted to get up there again this summer. After checking the smoke forecast earlier in the morning it looked like the smoke was supposed to mostly clear out in the afternoon, so I left home after noon and made my way through Unaweep Canyon to Gateway and then followed the backroads up into Beaver Basin to start the short hike that I had in mind. I had actually planned to hike from Beaver Basin with Jackson and his family in June of last year, but ended up having issues with my Jeep when we arrived and decided it would be best to turn around and head home before we could begin, so I was happy to finally return!

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Deep Black: The Warner RouteDeep Black: The Warner Route

Deep Black: The Warner Route

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park | Saturday, May 16, 2026

After hiking into the Black Canyon of the Gunnison last year via the Gunnison Route I believe I said that I wouldn’t be interested in hiking any of the other Inner Canyon routes into the canyon, but I guess I lied because earlier this year I had the strange desire to give another of the Inner Canyon routes a try. Currently the only other route that is open from the South Rim is the Warner Route because of the South Rim Fire last summer, so back in early April I grabbed a Wilderness permit on Rec.gov so I could give this one a try. Of course, not only is this route the longest one at about 2.75 miles each way, but it also has the most elevation change at over 2,700 feet! I asked my friend Jackson if he would be interested in joining me this time and thankfully he was up for the challenge! We left home bright and early on Saturday morning and were on the trail from the Warner Point Trailhead shortly after 7:00am.

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Gunnison Gorge: Red Rocks to Gunnison ForksGunnison Gorge: Red Rocks to Gunnison Forks

Gunnison Gorge: Red Rocks to Gunnison Forks

Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area | Friday – Sunday, April 25-27, 2025

After going on a last minute trip into the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness in Utah last weekend, I wanted to stay even closer to home this weekend and thought that this would be a good opportunity for me to return to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Although as of last June I have hiked all of the official trails within Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, there are still quite a few trails and roads in the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area that I have not hiked or driven yet, so I figured I could check out a few more of them as I continue to explore the area more thoroughly. I left from work on Friday afternoon and made my way down to the Gunnison Gorge.

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Final Trails at the Black Canyon of the GunnisonFinal Trails at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Final Trails at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison

After Work Adventures | Friday, June 7, 2024

After finishing my last hike at the North Rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park two weekends ago, that left me with only one short trail in the entire park that I had not hiked yet, along with maybe a couple of other short walks to overlooks that I could not remember if I had ever been out to before, though I most likely had a long time ago. Since I was going to be in the area to start driving the Rimrocker Trail from Montrose to Moab on Saturday morning, I figured that I might as well head over to the Black Canyon on Friday evening so I could spend a few hours there and finish hiking all the trails in the park. As usual, I left work on Friday and made my way down to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Although it is currently the busy season for the park, I was hoping it wouldn’t be quite as busy because of the ongoing US 50 bridge closure and road construction inside the park.

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Memorial Day Weekend Along the Black CanyonMemorial Day Weekend Along the Black Canyon

Memorial Day Weekend Along the Black Canyon

Memorial Day Weekend | Friday – Sunday, May 24-26, 2024

This Memorial Day Weekend I decided to stay a little closer to home so I could spend some time along the Gunnison River in both the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Since it’s getting to be that time of the year when the desert is starting to get a little too warm for me and there is still too much snow up in the high country, luckily this area along the rim of the Black Canyon is in-between and usually just right at this time of the year.

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