Today was the day for our first Jeepin excursion up the mountain led by Mahjong pal, Judy. She’d told me when we first met that she would love to take us up on a few different treks and today was our first. While we were playing mahjong this morning, Dave was getting snacks ready and letting some air pressure out of the tires. We only had to use 4-wheel drive through the super rocky, shale covered spots.

I know part of the trip (or maybe all) was in the San Juan National forest, along very rocky trails, but I only remember the name of one of the peaks we viewed, which was Mt Helmet. Dave remembered the other, it was Mt. Hesperus!

At one point, we passed a fallen section, like a cliff just slid down the mountain. Shale in giant mounds that covered the trail in spots. Going over that seemed a bit dicey, but both Jeeps handled it fine. It was an amazing sight! Wildflowers and butterflies greeted us through the entire trek and we took several breaks for lunch or photo opps.

I’m going to put the pics in a gallery, and comment where necessary.

So much for captions. Google wants to add some junk at the bottom when I try. So! I’ll try to narrate the route. The first stop was near Mt Hesperus and I took a pic of Dave alone, and Judy with her friend Laura. It was a gorgeous spot with a creek running through it, pines, and lots of boulders to sit on.

The next shots are a field of corn lilies and the shale covered area we crossed. The fallen down shack was from a previous mining operation. We just saw the shack remains. There were areas filled with aspens, and areas full of pine trees, and some places they were mixed together. At one point, we had to stop as a man and his wife were loading a fallen tree into their truck.

I was free to pick up a few rocks, but that’s all I really found at stopping points was three. I wish we could have stopped in the shale, but it looked too dangerous for me to want to walk on. Not sure, but I think I picked up some anyway, shale or slate, not sure.

Further down the trail, we came to another resting spot at the memorial of Three Heroes Trail. During a brave rescue attempt, the pilot and his crew lost their lives trying to save an injured person.

I took a shot looking up through the aspens, and then my view of us following Judy, Laura, and Judy’s doggie-Tuco (sp?). Unfortunately, the only wildlife we saw were a couple of lost cows. But the beautiful wildflowers, weird rock formations, gorgeous mountain views, and the columbine were worth the ride! We saw a few patches of snow in the shady spots, but none at any of our stopping places.

It was a kidney jarring ride, but so fun! My pacer app got so confused with all the shaking up that it recorded me as taking 9,800 steps! 🤣😂

Dave took some photos too, which are taking a while to download. How about I save those for a second post?

I can’t wait for the next trek!!