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Rambling Around Robbers Roost VIRambling Around Robbers Roost VI

Rambling Around Robbers Roost VI

Friday & Saturday, October 11-12, 2024

After spending a very warm week along the Arizona Strip with Jared, it was time for me to get back out exploring parts of the Colorado Plateau that are a little bit closer to home. So even though I needed to be home on Sunday, I still wanted to get outside on Saturday and decided to head over into the Robbers Roost area to get in a little canyon hiking and exploring this weekend. I left from work on Friday afternoon, grabbed dinner in town and then headed west into Utah. After topping off my gas tank in Green River I continued driving across the San Rafael Desert until I found a place to camp not far from Hans Flats shortly before sunset. Once it was dark out I finished reading a book and went to bed early so I could get an early start in the morning to beat the afternoon heat.

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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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The High Plateaus of Utah: Southern TrekThe High Plateaus of Utah: Southern Trek

The High Plateaus of Utah: Southern Trek

The Plateau Provence: Peaks & Plateaus of the Colorado Plateau, Part IV
Friday – Sunday, August 30 – September 1, 2024

After spending Friday morning visiting a number of rock art sites along the Old Trappers’ Trail in the Book Cliffs, I left the canyon shortly before noon and continued on to Ray’s in Green River where I stopped and had a burger for lunch. Afterwards, I topped off my gas tank and headed west across the San Rafael Swell into the High Plateaus of Utah for the rest of the weekend. After my recent Northern Trek into the the High Plateaus earlier this summer, I’ve been looking forward to getting back out and going on a loop through the southern plateaus including the Table Cliff, Paunsaugunt, and Markagunt, plus making a return to the Sevier Plateau so I could visit a new peak along the way. Now after this weekend I have visited the highpoint of all the major plateaus on the Colorado Plateau in Utah except for the Kaiparowits Plateau, which is next on my list!

CONTINUE READINGThe High Plateaus of Utah: Southern Trek
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Chepeta Lake: Eccentric Benchmark & Daggett PeakChepeta Lake: Eccentric Benchmark & Daggett Peak

Chepeta Lake: Eccentric Benchmark & Daggett Peak

Headwaters of the Whiterocks River | Friday – Sunday, August 9-11, 2024

After last week’s backpacking trip to the Red Castle Lakes in the High Uintas Wilderness I didn’t have any plans on returning to the Uinta Mountains anytime soon. However, after keeping an eye on the weather forecast around Colorado for the upcoming weekend, I couldn’t find a mountain range within a couple hundred miles of home that didn’t show stormy weather all day and night. It was going to be a wet and stormy weekend in the mountains of Colorado! I was originally hoping to spend the weekend hiking along the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains, but on Friday afternoon I made a last-minute decision to head up to the eastern end of the Uinta Mountains with hopes that I would be able to get some hiking in since the weather forecast for this area looked like the best around with only the typical afternoon storms. So for the second time in as many weeks I left from work and drove over Douglas Pass on my way to the Uinta Mountains. After a quick stop for fuel in Vernal I headed out across the Uinta Basin and then followed the Whiterocks River up to it’s headwaters at Chepeta Lake.

CONTINUE READINGChepeta Lake: Eccentric Benchmark & Daggett Peak
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Red Castle Lakes via the East Fork of Smiths ForkRed Castle Lakes via the East Fork of Smiths Fork

Red Castle Lakes via the East Fork of Smiths Fork

High Uintas Wilderness | Thursday – Sunday, August 1-4, 2024

After Diane and I backpacked into Henrys Fork and then hiked to the summit of Kings Peak in the Uinta Mountains back in 2018, we had talked about returning to the High Uintas Wilderness every other year for a new backpacking trip. Unfortunately, we did not keep up with that idea and have not returned since that trip, but this year I was determined to finally get back and planned for us to spend a couple nights near the Red Castle in the East Fork of Smiths Fork, which is a location I have wanted to visit for quite a long time. Although I would have preferred to do this trip much later in August, Diane was pretty busy at that time and the only weekend that work for both of us was the first weekend in August, so that’s when we would have to go. We left from home after Diane got out of work on Thursday evening and drove up to the Red Canyon Campground within the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area and arrived shortly after dark. We quickly got our tent set up and were in our sleeping bags by 10:00pm.

CONTINUE READINGRed Castle Lakes via the East Fork of Smiths Fork
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