IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

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.

…but then I ran out of cable to the snatch block, so I had to setup on another tree to finish the job.

That was my excitement for that trail….

Soon I was back at the highway and then following the Los Pinos River to the Lemon Reservoir and up the Transfer Park Road which ended at the Weminuche Wilderness.

Lemon Reservoir

On my way back, I followed the Florida River to Durango, where I headed up the Junction Creek Trail.

When I made it back down to town, I gassed up the Jeep and grabbed some dinner. Then I headed west to the La Plata River and climbed up to Kennebec Pass.

My destination is that notch in the ridge above my Jeep

At the top

Heading back down

Before going all the way back down, I took the short spur into Columbus Basin

It was getting late at this point, so I made my way to Mancos and started up the West mancos Road for a few miles until I found a campsite for the night.

The full photo gallery from this day can be found here: La Plata Mountains Photo Gallery

Stay tuned for the last day of my adventure. To be continued…..