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Ouray Trails: Portland Trail & Old Horsethief Trail

Ouray Trails on Memorial Day | Sunday – Monday, May 24-25, 2026

After leaving the Paradox Valley on Sunday afternoon, I went for a scenic drive across the Uncompahgre Plateau to Montrose and then headed south to Ouray so I could start off my summer hiking season in the San Juan Mountains since the snow is melting out early this year. I arrived with plenty of time to get in a late afternoon hike near town, so I started from the Baby Bathtubs Trailhead just below the Amphitheater Campground and planned to hike a loop up the Portland Trail, since it’s one of the few trails near Ouray that I had never hiked before.

Mountains of Minerals: Denver Pass to Grouse Gulch

San Juan Triangle | Sunday & Monday, August 31 – September 1, 2025

After staying home to attend a concert on Saturday evening, I was up early on Sunday morning and headed down to the San Juan Mountains so I could spend the remainder of the holiday weekend hiking and camping in the San Juan Triangle, which is one of my favorite areas to explore in the mountains. After making it over Red Mountain Pass to Silverton, I followed the Animas River to Animas Forks and then continued up the North Fork to Denver Lake. I parked nearby and then started my first hike of the day up the old mining track to Denver Pass. Although I have already hiked most of the peaks in this area and driven all the open roads, I had neglected to hike up to this pass before and was looking forward to finally checking it out!

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The Carbon Corridor: A Few Evenings Around Price

Monday – Thursday, May 6-9, 2024

After spending the weekend in Salt Lake City with Diane, we returned home for a normal day of work on Monday and then I drove back up to Price afterwards since I would be spending the rest of the week attending the annual Utah Geographic Information Council (UGIC) Conference, which was being held in the Carbon Corridor this year. Of course, during my drive to Price I took a detour off of the highway into the very northern reaches of the San Rafael Swell so I could go on a short hike and a scenic drive before continuing on to my hotel for the night. There had been a consistent and strong cold wind blowing all day which made the hiking a bit chilly this evening and it offered a preview of what the weather would have in store for the remainder of the week!

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Hagerman Pass and the Colorado Midland Railway

Wednesday – Saturday, July 27-30, 2022

This Thursday and Friday I was going to be attending the GIS Colorado Summer Meetup which was being held at Turquoise Lake near Leadville and then I planned to spend the rest of the weekend exploring the surrounding area. I was hoping to get plenty of hiking in during the evenings and over the weekend, but that didn’t end up happening and I spent most of the time meeting new people and relaxing around camp, which was a nice change of pace. Although the weather forecast had been calling for a wet and stormy couple of days at the end of the week, we didn’t see much rain at the campground, but it was still overcast and cloudy much of the time. These are some photos I took over the days I was in the area.

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Hancock Pass Peaks

Colorado Adventure 2018 | Wednesday & Thursday, August 8-9, 2018

After climbing a few 13ers in the Mosquito Range on Wednesday morning and then stopping for lunch in Buena Vista I headed up the road along Chalk Creek toward St. Elmo into the Sawatch Range again. My plan for Thursday morning was to climb a pair of 12ers from Hancock Pass, but since it was still early in the afternoon I had some time to explore for a little bit before finding a campsite for the night near the pass. I started out by driving up to the Pomeroy Lakes Trailhead since I hadn’t been up to this area in over ten years. When I reached the end of the road I wandered around a little bit and found a nice overlook of Grizzly Gulch. This view brought back memories of the one time I drove to Grizzly Lake and needed to use my winch to make it up there. The overlook area was connected to the ridge of nearby Chrysolite Mountain which looked like a fun climb to the summit, but the weather wasn’t looking too great at this time or I might have tried it. Thankfully, the smoke was finally starting to clear out a little bit as the afternoon clouds and storms moved in, so I was able to get a good view of the surrounding peaks.

Tag: railroad grade

Ouray Trails: Portland Trail & Old Horsethief Trail

Mountains of Minerals: Denver Pass to Grouse Gulch

The Carbon Corridor: A Few Evenings Around Price

Hagerman Pass and the Colorado Midland Railway

Hancock Pass Peaks