Back into the San Juans
Well, it’s just about that time of the year again. It’s the part of the year that I start transitioning away from the deserts of Southern Utah and start to concentrate on the mountains of Colorado. The last time I was up in the San Juans was when I went snowshoeing back in January. I had heard that some of the passes around the San Juan Triangle have been starting to open, so on Saturday we decided to head on down there and see just what the conditions were. We found that the snow has been melting fast this year, and there were a lot more trails open than I had anticipated.
On our way to Silverton, we took the scenic side trip through the Red Mountain Mining District.
Red Mountain Creek
Yankee Girl
Longfellow Mine
After we finished up the short side trip at Red Mountain Pass, we made a quick stop in Silverton for fuel before heading to Animas Forks.
After spending some time photographing Animas Forks we headed up over Cinnamon Pass and into American Basin.
At the pass
I hiked up into American Basin a little ways.
Headed back over Cinnamon Pass
We started to head up Picayune Gulch, but were stopped by a washed out road/bridge.
So we turned around and headed back towards Silverton.
Small waterfall along the Animas River.
Following the lower road along the Animas River
After a bite to eat in Silverton we started on our way back home, but not before stopping at Cascade Falls in Ouray.
If you look closely in the following picture, you can see me standing in the lower right corner for scale. I got soaked 🙂
It was perfect weather for a day trip, and I know we’ll be heading back a number of times this summer and fall.