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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.

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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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Upper Calf Creek Falls

Southern Utah Wanderings | Canyons of the Escalante
Friday, October 10, 2014

After visiting a few short slot canyons in the morning we still had plenty of time to find something else to do for the rest of the day. First we stopped in Escalante for a bite to eat and then found a campsite along the Old Sheffield Road so we could get camp setup early and not have to worry about it later. We decided to spend the late afternoon hiking to Upper Calf Creek Falls since we had visited the lower falls earlier in the week. The hike was a short but steep descent to the falls from the top of New Home Bench. After visiting the main waterfall, which wasn’t flowing very much this late in the season, we climbed above to visit a few small pools. This would make a great place to swim when the temperature is warmer.

Lower Calf Creek Falls

Southern Utah Wanderings | Canyons of the Escalante
Tuesday, October 7, 2014

After our long hot hike back from the Golden Cathedral on Monday, we decided to make today an easy day and drove back out to the highway so we could hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls. This hike has been on my list for many years, yet I always passed it up for other opportunities because of how crowded this popular trails seems to be. I was determined to finally make it to this classic southern Utah location this week.

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Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 2

Sunday, October 4, 2009 | Starting Odometer: 143789

After a pretty decent nights sleep (even though it got pretty windy overnight), I ended up waking around 7:00am. Though the wind had died down by now, it was still pretty cloudy out. I broke down camp and had a quick snack before heading out through Cathedral Valley and Caineville Wash. After making my way though Upper Cathedral Valley that I had visited the evening before, I passed the Baker Ranch Road that could take me to I-70 if I was headed that way (This is a road I will have to come back to explore some more.).

Tag: the hogback

Mancos Valley: Helmet Peak to The Knife Edge

Sangre de Cristo Mountains: Hermit Pass Peaks

Upper Calf Creek Falls

Lower Calf Creek Falls

Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 2