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Tag: ophir

Lone Cone: Westernmost Peak of the San Juans

Saturday & Sunday, August 12-13, 2017

For years I’ve explored southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah and during that time I’ve seen Lone Cone (12,613) on the horizon from all different angles. It’s the westernmost peak in the San Juan Mountains and is easily identified from a hundred miles away. During that time I’ve always thought to myself that I really should make time to climb that peak one day. Well, that day has finally come…

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Beating the Heat in the San Juan Mountains

Saturday & Sunday, June 23-24, 2012

After spending a few hours in the morning at the Shavano Valley Petroglyph Park near Montrose, we continued driving into the San Juan Mountains to get out of the heat for the weekend. Shortly after crossing over Red Mountain Pass we turned down the road along the South Fork of Mineral Creek and found a campsite for the weekend. After setting up our camp we drove through Silverton and made our way up Cunningham Gulch to the trailhead for the Highland Mary Lakes. As soon as we passed through Silverton the valley started filling up with smoke, and by the time we reached the Cunningham Trailhead the smoke had become pretty thick and there was even a little ash falling from the sky. We would later learn this smoke was from a wildfire that had started near Mancos.

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Leaving Colorado

IntrepidXpedition 2007 | Day 10
Saturday, July 28, 2007

When I woke up on that Saturday morning, I had been in Colorado for 9 full days. It was finally time to head out and move on to Utah. My destination for this day was the La Sal Mountains and Moab, Utah. I was planning on getting there via the Castleton-Gateway Road. In order to get to Gateway, I needed to cross over the passes to the Telluride side. I knew Black Bear still wasn’t opened yet, but had heard Ophir Pass was open again, so I decided to give Ophir a second chance. When I made it to the pass this time around, the road closed signs were gone, so I continued on down the other side towards the little town of Ophir.

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