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Red Mountain Creek: Ironton Park to Peters Pass

Mountains of Minerals | Friday – Sunday, August 1-3, 2025

This weekend I headed up into the San Juan Mountains near Ouray so I could hike a few new trails and explore some of the old mining ruins that are found along the upper reaches of Red Mountain Creek from Ironton Park up to Peters Pass. The weather forecast for the weekend was looking pretty dry, but there was bound to be some smoke in the air from all the wildfires currently burning in the southwest this summer. As usual, I left from work on Friday afternoon, stopped for a quick dinner in Delta and then continued up the Million Dollar Highway to the Red Mountain Mining District for my first hike which would take me to the Corkscrew Gulch Turntable and American Girl Mine.

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The Maroon – Snowmass Trail to Snowmass Lake

Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness | Saturday & Sunday, July 26-27, 2025

Back in February I took a little time out from exploring the Petrified Forest so I could grab a camping permit for Snowmass Lake in the Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness for this final weekend in July. Up until this past week I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to go on this overnight backpacking trip because Diane recently had surgery, but she got the OK earlier in the week and was looking forward to her first real hiking trip in a few weeks. We left home early on Saturday morning and made our way over to the Maroon – Snowmass Trailhead along Snowmass Creek, but ended up having to park a little further down the road at the East Snowmass Trailhead because the small parking area was full. We shouldered our packs and left the trailhead around 8:30am and then took our time hiking up to Snowmass Lake.

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Trappers Lake: Hiking in the ‘Cradle of Wilderness’

Flat Tops Wilderness | Friday – Sunday, July 18-20, 2025

This weekend I set out to finish what I had hoped to accomplish during the last weekend in June by heading up into the Flat Tops Wilderness to hike a few of the trails that surround Trappers Lake in this ‘Cradle of Wilderness.’ I had actually planned to go on this trip late last month but during the drive between Rifle and Meeker I had some issues with my Jeep and ended up having to return home, which not only ruined my weekend plans but was also the last straw with my Jeep and part of the reason I am now driving a 4Runner. This time I left after work on Friday and had no issues with the drive to Trappers Lake. Since all my hiking was planned around Trappers Lake and dispersed camping is not allowed in the immediate area, I grabbed an open campsite at the Himes Peak Campground which is right along the North Fork of the White River and only a few of the sites were occupied, which was nice. With my campsite secured for the weekend I continued down the road to the Scotts Lake Trailhead and hiked down to the shore of Trappers Lake.

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Scarp Ridge: Lake Irwin to the Red Lady

Friday & Saturday, July 11-12, 2025

This weekend I decided to return to the edge of the Elk Mountains near Kebler Pass and the Ruby Range so I could finally finish hiking the trail along Scarp Ridge all the way out to the Red Lady (Mount Emmons) since I was unable to reach the summit a few years ago when I was stopped by an impassable washout of the trail in Evans Basin. I left from work on Friday afternoon, topped off my gas tank in Delta and then made my way over to Kebler Pass and Ohio Pass for the evening. Along the way I took a short detour and stopped to hike the Three Lakes Trail Loop since the last time I had hiked in this area was during the fall of 2009 and I really can’t remember if we hiked the entire loop or just up to Lost Lake and back. It’s a short and easy trail that visits three small lakes and a nice little waterfall at the foot of East Beckwith Mountain.

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Ouray Trails: Silvershield Trail & Oak Creek Trail

San Juan Triangle | Monday – Tuesday, June 23-24, 2025

I wasn’t able to get out hiking on Juneteenth last Thursday like I had hoped since I was trying to figure out what was going on with my Jeep most of last week, so to make up for it I decided to take a day off from work this week and head on down to Ouray to hike a few of the trails closer to town. The weather forecast for Tuesday was looking like the best conditions of the week, so I left after work on Monday and made my way down to Ouray. After a quick stop for dinner in Delta and gas in Montrose, I continued on to the parking lot at the Ouray Hot Springs Pool so I could hike the last segment of the Ouray Perimeter Trail that was not yet built when Diane and I hiked the loop over nine years ago. Although it was a bit warm in Ouray this evening, most of the trail that I hiked this evening was already in the shade and there was a nice breeze.

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Tag: wildflowers

Red Mountain Creek: Ironton Park to Peters Pass

The Maroon – Snowmass Trail to Snowmass Lake

Trappers Lake: Hiking in the ‘Cradle of Wilderness’

Scarp Ridge: Lake Irwin to the Red Lady

Ouray Trails: Silvershield Trail & Oak Creek Trail