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Tag: rocky mountains

The Zirkel Circle in the Mount Zirkel WildernessThe Zirkel Circle in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness

The Zirkel Circle in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness

Friday – Saturday, September 20-21, 2024

This weekend I headed up into the Mount Zirkel Wilderness of the Park Range for what will most likely be my last trip into the mountains of the season. Since I’m leaving for a week-long river trip early on Monday morning and need to finish prepping and packing for that, I was hoping to stay closer to home on Saturday by heading up into either the San Juan Mountains or The Flat Tops, but the weather forecast was not looking good for any of the ranges nearby this weekend, so I had to start looking for alternate options. After looking at the forecasts for other areas throughout Colorado and Utah, the only place that looked like it might have decent weather on Saturday was the Park Range, so I decided to drive a little further east so I could hike the Zirkel Circle, which has been on my to-do list for a long time anyways. I left from work on Friday afternoon, grabbed a quick dinner in Rifle and then headed north where I started following the Yampa River and Elk River into the heart of the Park Range. I found a campsite on the ridge above the South Fork of the Elk River shortly before sunset and then went for a short walk until dusk.

CONTINUE READINGThe Zirkel Circle in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness
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Early Fall Colors on the Grand Mesa 2024Early Fall Colors on the Grand Mesa 2024

Early Fall Colors on the Grand Mesa 2024

After Work Adventures | Thursday, September 19, 2024

I’ve got a very busy couple of weeks coming up with a Canyon of Lodore river trip schedule for next week and right afterwards I will be leaving to spend a week along the Arizona Strip at the beginning of October, so I’m not really going to have any time to chase fall colors in Colorado this year. Even though I know it’s too early for peak fall colors, I thought it would be a good idea to head up onto the Grand Mesa after work this afternoon to see how the colors were coming along since it’s going to be my only chance this season. As I suspected, it was still mostly green out, but there were some scattered patches of nice colors to be found, so it’s wasn’t a total waste of my time. Here are a few photos from my short trip up onto the Grand Mesa this evening.

CONTINUE READINGEarly Fall Colors on the Grand Mesa 2024
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Lake Hope via the Lake Fork of the San Miguel RiverLake Hope via the Lake Fork of the San Miguel River

Lake Hope via the Lake Fork of the San Miguel River

Saturday & Sunday, September 14-15, 2024

This weekend Diane and I headed up into the San Juan Mountains so we could spend an easy and relaxing overnight camping trip together since we aren’t going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next couple of weeks. We slept in later than usual on Saturday morning before leaving home and then made our way over the Dallas Divide and past Telluride to just shy of Lizard Head Pass where we found a very nice campsite right next to Priest Lake. After setting up camp we continued up the Lake Fork to the trailhead for the Hope Lake Trail, which we planned to hike this afternoon since there were no storms predicted at all for today. This is a hike we’ve been meaning to do ever since we first tried hiking to Lake Hope seven years ago from the South Fork of Mineral Creek on the other side of the pass, but that time we were stopped by a snow drift and had to turn around. We were looking forward to finally making it up to the lake this afternoon!

CONTINUE READINGLake Hope via the Lake Fork of the San Miguel River
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Colorado Trail: Carson Saddle & the Continental DivideColorado Trail: Carson Saddle & the Continental Divide

Colorado Trail: Carson Saddle & the Continental Divide

Friday – Sunday, September 6-8, 2024

With the mountain season coming to an end in just a few short weeks and a busy schedule for me later this month, I wanted to make sure that I got out for some more hiking above treeline in the high country this weekend before it was too late. I thought a good way to do that would be by hiking part of the Colorado Trail along the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains starting from the Carson Saddle above Wager Gulch, so that’s where I headed when I left work on Friday afternoon. I didn’t want to deal with the Middle Bridge over Blue Mesa on US 50, so instead I opted to go over Red Mountain Pass into Silverton and then took the Alpine Loop over Cinnamon Pass to the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River.

CONTINUE READINGColorado Trail: Carson Saddle & the Continental Divide
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Glenwood Canyon: Shoshone Rapids of the ColoradoGlenwood Canyon: Shoshone Rapids of the Colorado

Glenwood Canyon: Shoshone Rapids of the Colorado

The Colorado River: Shoshone Powerplant to Grizzly Creek | Average CFS: 1,440
Saturday, August 24, 2024

This weekend I needed to stay closer to home so I could meet up with a friend in Utah on Sunday afternoon, so Jackson and I had talked about maybe rafting the Shoshone section of the Colorado River on Saturday morning. However, last week on my way home from the Holy Cross Wilderness, I stopped at the Shoshone exit and walked the paved path next to the rapids to check them out since I had never really taken a good look at them before, and I wasn’t sure that I was ready to tackle these rapids in my ducky just yet. During the week I was able to talk Jackson into joining me on a commercial trip instead so we could get a feel for running these rapids with an experienced guide, so we signed up for a Double Shoshone trip with Defiance Rafting Company that would take us through the rapids twice.

CONTINUE READINGGlenwood Canyon: Shoshone Rapids of the Colorado
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