After my last trip in Fall 2025 ended prematurely due to an accident, I wanted to start this season with something familiar and comfortable, so I went to one of my go-to routes in a NW Colorado Wilderness area. It’s about 25 miles connecting two trailheads by 2-3 miles of dirt road (I try to park directly in the middle, to minimize the road-walking at each end). Max and I had lovely weather, no mosquitoes, and very little snow remaining given that it’s the beginning of June. Sadly, this past winter was the lowest snowpack in Colorado’s recorded history, so we may be looking at a dry and dangerous summer.
After leaving the road we followed a fire road for a bit, and looked back at the reservoir, ultimately transitioning to single track.
After a few miles of gradual climb up a valley, the trail emerges on a high plateau of alpine tundra typical of this wilderness. Max was looking for every last remnant of snow.
We dropped down into a large unnamed basin, which is the reason I love this route so much. The trail dead-ends  in a really beautiful area straddling timberline, with many square miles of mixed conifers and tundra, creeks, small drainages, and endless lakes and ponds. In this early season trip, I didn’t see anyone for three days, but even at high season, I have rarely seen anyone in this area. It was windy, so we found a sheltered spot near a small creek. Max was mostly good, but there was a huge herd of elk nearby and he did get a bit stimulated and I had to leash him for a while.
In the morning, we crossed the basin and made our way west towards the sawtooth ridgeline. I always head north, to cross that ridge at a gentle saddle. There was still snow remaining in some sheltered areas, and the warm weather made for slow going through those sections.
After crossing over the ridge, we continued west and then doubled back towards the south to climb up to a large mountain pass. Most of this day is off-trail, but generally follows a route that I first scouted more than a decade ago, and I’m very familiar with it, so it was fast going.
Reaching the massive pass, we looked back to the North, and then started the descent south into the lake-filled valley, back on a trail again. Since we hadn’t see anyone in two days, I took a chance and camped at a popular lake, and luckily we had it all to ourselves.
In the morning, we made our way down the valley, through a mix of forest and open field, eventually reaching the forest road and completing the walk to the car along the reservoir.
All went well on my first trip after the trauma of the fall and broken wrist last September. It was comforting to go back to a familiar place.
