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Tag: white river national forest

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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East Brush Creek: Ironedge Trail & Mystic Island LakeEast Brush Creek: Ironedge Trail & Mystic Island Lake

East Brush Creek: Ironedge Trail & Mystic Island Lake

Holy Cross Wilderness | Friday & Saturday, August 16-17, 2024

Aside from my weekend visit to the Red Table Mountain late last summer, I haven’t spent much time exploring the area at the very northern end of the Sawatch Range, so I decided to stick around after the GIS Colorado Summer Meetup to hike a couple of trails on the west side of the Holy Cross Wilderness, hoping they would be a little less popular than those found on the east side. After the GIS presentations at Sylvan Lake were completed early on Friday afternoon, I drove over Hardscrabble Mountain into Eagle for fuel and snacks and then headed up East Brush Creek and the Hat Creek Road to the Peter Estin Hut, which is one of the popular 10th Mountain Division Huts. From the parking area near the hut I hiked over to the Ironedge Trail and followed it to the ridgeline that makes up the boundary of the Holy Cross Wilderness and then continued up to the Charles Benchmark.

CONTINUE READINGEast Brush Creek: Ironedge Trail & Mystic Island Lake
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Sylvan Lake: Hardscrabble Mountain to Fulford CaveSylvan Lake: Hardscrabble Mountain to Fulford Cave

Sylvan Lake: Hardscrabble Mountain to Fulford Cave

Wednesday – Friday, August 14-16, 2024

This week I left after work on Wednesday afternoon and headed east on I-70 towards Eagle so I could spend Thursday and Friday attending the annual GIS Colorado Summer Meetup, which was being held at the Sylvan Lake State Park campground this year. I exited from the interstate at Gypsum and followed the road along Gypsum Creek around Hardscrabble Mountain below the edge of the Red Table Mountain as I hoped to take the backroads to Sylvan Lake, but when I was only a few miles away I ran into wet roads that were slick with mud and had to turn back and go around the long way through Eagle. I haven’t had good luck with the slick muddy roads in this area in the past, so I didn’t want to take any chances! Here are some photos from a few days spent at the Elk Run Campground next to Sylvan Lake.

CONTINUE READINGSylvan Lake: Hardscrabble Mountain to Fulford Cave
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The Elk Mountains: Geneva Lake to Siberia LakeElk Mountains: Geneva Lake to Siberia Lake

The Elk Mountains: Geneva Lake to Siberia Lake

Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness | Saturday & Sunday, July 27-28, 2024

Last year Diane and I had a permit and planned to spend a weekend camping at Geneva Lake in the Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness, but after we had driven most of the way to the trailhead we were turned around by a very slick and muddy road and the weather forecast for the rest of the weekend wasn’t looking too good, so we decided to call it a weekend and headed back home instead. I decided to give the same trip a try this summer and grabbed another camping permit for Geneva Lake, but this time Diane was out of town so I invited my friend Jackson to come along with me. I picked up Jackson early on Saturday morning and we drove around the Grand Mesa, over McClure Pass and then followed the Crystal River up to the trailhead in Lead King Basin where we shouldered our packs and started hiking up the trail to Geneva Lake.

CONTINUE READINGThe Elk Mountains: Geneva Lake to Siberia Lake
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Red Table Mountain: Crooked Creek to Mount ThomasRed Table Mountain: Crooked Creek to Mount Thomas

Red Table Mountain: Crooked Creek to Mount Thomas

Around the Red Table: Crooked Creek Pass & Cottonwood Pass
Friday – Sunday, September 15-17, 2023

This weekend I headed out to the very northern end of the Sawatch Range so I could drive around and explore Red Table Mountain, which is located just west of the Holy Cross Wilderness between Gypsum, Eagle and Thomasville. I left from work on Friday afternoon, stopped in Rifle for gas and a bite to eat, and then continued on through the Roaring Fork Valley to Basalt where I turned off and followed the Fryingpan River to Lime Creek. Although I had driven through a couple heavy rain storms along the way, I found the beginning of the Crooked Creek Pass Road to be in good condition when wet, but that quickly changed as I drove higher and found some very slick conditions. After sliding off the road into the ditch twice, and thankfully not off the other side of the road, I found a small level spot to pull over and spend the night at. I had had enough of the slick and slippery road and felt it was too sketchy to continue driving up to the pass or turning around and heading down, so I was hoping that the road would dry out a bit overnight.

CONTINUE READINGRed Table Mountain: Crooked Creek to Mount Thomas
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