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Rocky Sea Pass: Hayden Pass to Brinkley LakeRocky Sea Pass: Hayden Pass to Brinkley Lake

Rocky Sea Pass: Hayden Pass to Brinkley Lake

The Western End of the Highline Trail in the High Uintas Wilderness
Friday & Saturday, August 8-9, 2025

After driving up to Salt Lake City on Thursday morning to see a concert, I spent the night in town and then drove up into the Uinta Mountains on Friday morning to meet up with Jared so we could go on backpacking trip along the western end of the Highline Trail from Hayden Pass to Dead Horse Lake. After meeting up with Jared at the Highline Trailhead on Hayden Pass we continued following the Mirror Lake Highway north to the North Slope Road so we could leave a vehicle where we planned to end our hike at the West Fork Blacks Fork Trailhead. Just after turning right onto the North Slope Road we were stopped by a caravan of at least twenty fire vehicles that had turned right in front of us and were headed east. There was a Summit County Sheriff’s vehicle parked near the intersection, so we stopped to ask what was going on. That’s when we learned about the Beulah Fire which had started the previous evening and blew up to 1,400 acres overnight, which also closed the road to the trailhead that we were trying to get to, so our plans were going to have to change. We didn’t have any backup plans, so we decided to return to Hayden Pass and follow the Highline Trail over Rocky Sea Pass and then return the same way.

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Sangre de Cristo Mountains: Hermit Pass PeaksSangre de Cristo Mountains: Hermit Pass Peaks

Sangre de Cristo Mountains: Hermit Pass Peaks

Rito Alto Peak & Hermit Peak | Saturday & Sunday, September 4-5, 2021

After spending the last couple days hiking high points in Arizona and New Mexico, it was now time to start heading back home through Colorado, but of course I planned to hike at least a couple more peaks on the way back! As I followed the Sangre de Cristo Mountains north out of New Mexico and into Colorado I thought it would be a good time to hike some peaks in that range since it’s been quite a while since I’ve spent any time there. Originally, I was considering continuing my quest of the The Four Sacred Mountains of the Navajo by hiking Blanca Peak, but didn’t think that would be a good place to find much solitude now, especially in the middle of a holiday weekend. I think I’ll save the last two Sacred Peaks for a little road trip next summer. Instead, I decided to head up the road to Hermit Pass near Westcliffe so I could not only hike some high 13ers, but also so I could drive up to a pass that I had never been to before. The road was not difficult or dangerous, but it was very bumpy, slow and annoying. I found a place to spend the night above Horseshoe Lake and then spent the rest of the evening relaxing at camp and watching the clouds move through the sky as sunset approached.

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