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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.

East Fork Loop: Frigid Air Pass to Hasley Pass

Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness | Friday – Saturday, June 26-27, 2026

This weekend I returned to the western side of the Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness near Crested Butte so I could get in a nice alpine day hike on Saturday morning. Although I was initially planning to hike in a different area of the Wilderness at first, when I saw that the weather forecast was calling for rain overnight I though it would be a good idea to change up my plans and hike into the East Fork of the Crystal River just below Schofield Pass so I could quickly get up above treeline since I hoped that there might be some low clouds surrounding the peaks on Saturday morning at sunrise. Unfortunately, this weekend was a good reminder of why I usually avoid heading over to the Crested Butte area before Labor Day since getting around before and after the hike was kind of a pain in the ass, but since that’s probably not going to be an option for me this summer I thought I would make an exception and try going earlier in the season.

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The Flat Tops: Trappers Lake to Big Marvine Peak

Flat Tops Wilderness | Friday – Saturday, June 19-20, 2026

This year for the Juneteenth holiday Jackson and I headed up into the Flat Tops Wilderness for a quick overnight backpacking trip so I could finally hike to the summit of Big Marvine Peak, which is something I’ve wanted to do since the first time I laid eyes on that peak jutting out from the top of the plateau from a distance. I had actually planned to hike to Big Marvine Peak with Diane when we backpacked to the Marvine Lakes about three years ago, but things didn’t quite go as planned on that trip and we ended up just staying in the Marvine Creek drainage, so I was looking forward to trying again, but this time coming from the opposite direction. We left home early on Friday morning and made our way to Meeker, then followed the Flat Tops Trail along the White River to the Wall Lake Trailhead located just above Trappers Lake, where we began our hike.

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The Colorado Trail: Little Molas Lake to Lime Creek

Saturday, June 6, 2026

This morning I was on my way to Durango to meet up with my friend Jackson so we could raft the Upper Animas River together on Sunday. But since today was also National Trails Day, I made sure that I gave myself enough extra time to go on a high-country hike in the San Juan Mountains along the way. After following the Million Dollar Highway from Ouray to Silverton, I stopped at Little Molas Lake just above Molas Pass so I could hike a short section of The Colorado Trail to two small tarns located on a ridge between Lime Creek and North Lime Creek. Although it was clear and a little bit hazy out when I started hiking shortly after 9:00am, clouds started to build quickly later in the morning and by the time I was hiking back to the trailhead the wind had picked up and I was rained on a few times. These are a few photos from the hike.

The Gunnison River: Tongue Creek to Crane Landing

Saturday, May 30, 2026 | Average CFS: 695

This morning Jackson and I headed over to Delta so we could float the last remaining section of the Gunnison River below the Black Canyon that I had not been on yet. Although Jackson and Chris had actually floated this short section of the river a few years ago, I was unavailable the day they went and have been trying to get back ever since. While I really only needed to float the section from the Highway 65 Bridge to Confluence Park, Delta County constructed a new boat ramp a few miles further downstream just a couple of years ago and we thought it would be a good idea to extend the trip a little bit and take out there. Since this would be a pretty short and easy day trip, we decided to skip the inflatable kayaks and just bring our packrafts to make things a little easier. I met up with Jackson and his son Ken at the Crane Landing Boat Ramp by 9:00am and then we took Jackson’s car up to the put-in just below the Highway 65 Bridge.

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Mancos Valley: Helmet Peak to The Knife Edge

East Fork Loop: Frigid Air Pass to Hasley Pass

The Flat Tops: Trappers Lake to Big Marvine Peak

The Colorado Trail: Little Molas Lake to Lime Creek

The Gunnison River: Tongue Creek to Crane Landing