Always a little windier than advertised. Beautiful am nonetheless. Snow and ice on the trail once you make the turn towards the Glacier. Spikes and poles would be good to have, but not necessary. Ptarmigan were rad~almost fully dressed for Winter.

Not terribly cold but definitely needed some layers and wind protection. Got the spikes out for the first time in a long time. Really liking these softshell pants with a wind membrane, don’t need to pack extra pants for wind or precipitation.

Hiked the road up in lots of rain. The basin was sunny and nice for 20 minutes. Hiked down the road in a full-on blizzard! ❄️

I really wanted to tag one more centennial (my 20th!) to close out the 2026 hiking season. Couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for an easy one. No snow at all on the road up to Horseshoe Pass. Trail to the summit from HP was maybe 50% covered, with tracks. Got to watch the sunrise from the summit cabin! Awesome morning!

Had an amazing hike with my doggo today for our 15th 14er. Fall color was absolutely gorgeous and just a hint of snow up high made the views even better. As of today I wore trail runners and had no problems. Low wind and relatively warm so an amazing day weather wise. Some snow banks we had to tread carefully over but other than that dry and no ice. I suspect this could change quickly with early season snow becoming more likely.

I just did Holy Cross a week or so ago and was spoiled by the beauty of that Mountain so it isn’t fair to compare but you still get some awesome views from Shavano. Especially looking down towards Buena Vista with the spectacular fall color, north to the rest of Sawatch range, and towards the Sangre De Cristos.

It was easy to lose the trail in the brief class 2 section just before the summit with some additional snow but nothing to crazy.

Forest road is bone dry and can be completed by literally any car with wheels. I camped out the night before in one of the many dispersed camping spots before the trailhead.

Hiked Spencer peak (13,035) and Grand Turk peak (13,150) before an 11:45am thunder/lightning/hail storm forced a quit retreat to lower ground 😳

Beautiful day to be out there!

Did a 20 mile 2 nighter over the weekend from the Mill Castle TH with a forecast of perfect weather, bow season is over so we get a break from the hunters. It felt like I had the entire wilderness to myself, almost two full days not seeing any other humans. It was just me and bugling elks and miles of peak aspen color (and a bunch of cow pies).

The views per mile on this loop are off the charts. Water sources are good right now too. Campsites are plentiful on the Mill Castle trail all the way to treeline, the South Castle Creek segment is pretty sparse until you cross back into NF lands. The color might hold on through this upcoming weekend, depends on what kind of winds kick up. If you can get back in there soon I highly recommend.

Beautiful hiking on the edge of the wilderness area. Saw one car and zero people!

Parking filled up quick but the Mule Deer Trail to Panorama point was well worth it!

Fall going off in the San Juans! Beautiful hiking weather. Welcome to October 😀

Beautiful colors 2 days ago up there, took a bit to get into the large aspen groves but gosh was it worth it. Me and a buddy did 8.2 miles RT which was perfect to take it all in!

At least 5-6 inches almost to the summit at 13,500 ft. Almost didn’t make it down, a lot of scary sliding.

Started our hike around 8 this morning after a drive up Yankee Boy.

Last Sunday, September 27th I accompanied a couple of friends to hike a loop on the Portland Trail just south of Ouray. We started at the trailhead for the Baby Bathtubs access on the Ouray Perimeter Trail.

This seems like a great hike for visiting friends: beautiful views with a modest elevation profile.

Hiked up Black Bear Pass Road in a good old-fashioned white out! (9/28/26)

I had 3 easy trails planned for the weekend to get over a crappy week but couldn't finish either. Wore the wrong shoes for one, ran out of time on the other and simply too tired to finish another. I have been feeling horrible about it the whole time.

But looking at these photos now, I’m trying to remind myself that it’s okay to fall short sometimes. It’s okay not to reach the top and turn around. The view on the way should do once in a while.

Maybe that was enough for this weekend.

Location: Zapata Falls, Kenosha Past West trail and High Dune Loop at Great Sand Dunes.