IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

After a good night’s sleep along the Jersey Jim Lookout Loop trail, I continued northeast towards the Jersey Jim Lookout.

From the 1930’s through the 1970’s fire lookout towers were at the heart of the Forest Service fire detection system. By the 1980’s these towers became obsolete as individual lightning strikes are now recorded by satellite and most forest fires are detected by airplanes. This tower is available to the public for nightly rental.

Next I took a quick detour from the Jersey Jim Lookout Loop onto the Gold Run Loop.

Hesperus Mountain…the Navajo Sacred Mountain of the North

After finishing up both loops, I decided it was time to start heading back home. I headed northwest on CO 145 to Telluride and then made my way over Imogene Pass to Ouray so I could finish my drive home. I’ve been over Imogene Pass a number of times and the scenery never gets old 🙂

Social Tunnel

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From my camp on Devil Mountain, my goal was to reach and start exploring the La Plata Mountains. I didn’t have anything planned, so I checked out a few trails along the way. When I reached US 160 again, I traveled further west for a few miles before turning off on the First Notch Trail.

I guess a stock Jeep is not a standard 4×4 😉

The trail was a bit rock and muddy, but nothing I would consider difficult. It stayed in the trees most of the time.

One of the sections where it passed through a clearing

When I was almost to the end of the trail, I came across this large fallen aspen…

The trail beyond the fallen tree was nice and smooth

I wasn’t sure if my winch would be able to move the tree, but I figured I would give it a try before turning around…..since I didn’t want to head all the way back to the beginning again….

Lucky me, it started to move.

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Gold was discovered in the Summitville area in 1870. The town at one time had a population of more than 1,500 and 2,500 mining claims were staked. At 11,200 feet on South Mountain, Summitville was once the highest major gold camp in Colorado. By 1889 there were only about 25 residents left in town. This would be my main destination for the day….but first I would have to get there.

Since I was camped just off of the Clover Creek trail, I finished up that trail and made my way back through Bonanza before heading up and over Ute Pass (9,944 feet).

Coming down from Ute Pass, overlooking the Cochetopa Hills

I reached CO 114 again just outside of Saguache and then headed east, where I picked up the Carnero Pass Road.

Headed south from Carnero Pass

Once I reached La Garita, I followed another dirt road further south to Del Norte. I fueled up and then headed towards Summitville along Pinos Creek.

I took a short spur trail to the summit of Grayback Mountain along the way

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This morning/afternoon Amanda and I headed up to the Grand Mesa to hike part of the Crag Crest Trail. We ended up hiking about 3.5 miles in and then returning the same way for a total of 7 miles. Here’s a few photos from the hike.

Part of the Crag Crest

Amanda took this photo of me

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Those were the words a prospector shouted two miles upstream from Bonanza. That’s how the town got it’s name….and Bonanza would be my destination for the second day of my adventure. This town’s population jumped quickly to around 5,000 in 1880, and those people left just as fast in 1890. I would be exploring the roads that they once traveled and would stop to check out the old mining relics along the way.

Before I could get to Bonanza, I would have to head out from camp. I followed a loop from the side road I had camped along to make my way back to the highway.

When I reached CO 114, I headed southeast to Saguache and filled up my fuel tank. From there I continued on to Villa Grove and then took a left onto the main road that heads into Bonanza along Kerber Creek.

Pretty soon I had reached my destination.

Unfortunately, Bonanza is all private property, so you can’t really do much exploring of the old buildings in town. I did snap a few photos from along the road.

You can check out this cabin at the townsite of Exchequer, which is a few miles north of Bonanza.

Soon I turned off the main road to check out the Slaughterhouse / Kerber Creek loop trail.

Cocomongo Mine and Mill

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