The Crystal River Valley, South of Redstone, Colorado

A familiar trail I've avoided for a while was a perfect place for a short hike last Saturday afternoon.  Few other places have sage brush, scrub oak, and aspen trees.  Because colors are changing later this year, the scrub oak is peaking while the aspens are changing.  It's a great time for landscape photography, especially when using a polarizing filter.

This unmarked trail goes by many names, and is on few maps.  Driving north from Placita to Redstone, the road descends into a canyon.  On the right is a turn-out, and on the left one can pick the grade of a long-abandoned road bed climbing the western slope of the valley.  If you're coming from Redstone, it's about three and a half miles south of the coke ovens on highway 133.

Duley Park on the Avalanche Creek trail

About four and a half miles up the Avalanche Creek trail is Duley Park, an open expanse that looks like a great place to build your dream home.  For day-hikers, this is a great spot to enjoy lunch and take photos.  Backpackers could make camp in the pines near the creek.  On the other side of the clearing the trail continues its gentle climb toward Avalanche Lake - the last mile and a half of which is rather steep.  There's also a junction with a trail that goes over a pass into Lead King Basin.

I often hike Avalanche Creek early in the season because of its low elevation and southern exposure.  September is a nice time too, as the golden fields compliment the blue skies and puffy white clouds.  In a couple of weeks, the aspens that cover the northern slopes of the valley will be ablaze in color, and I may return to photograph them.

The Avalanche Creek trailhead is in the campground at the end of the USFS road that turns east from Highway 133 about ten miles south of Carbondale, Colorado.

Frying Pan Lakes in the Hunter-Frying Pan Wilderness Area

We've made a couple of day-hikes to Frying Pan Lakes, but this was my first time camping there.  It was also my first time going on a solo backpack trip.  Not sure why I've waited so long to try an overnight trip alone, but I had such a good time, that I'll do it again.  Backpacking alone means carrying the stove, fuel, water filter, tent, etc. yourself.  Nobody else with whom to share the load.  So I looked to save weight where I could, and managed to get a fully-loaded pack at thirty-nine pounds (not including my camera).

My map shows a trail beyond the lakes, over the saddle to the west of Deer Mountain, where there's a couple more small lakes, but I wasn't able to follow it.  About a half mile south of the upper lake, the trail became ambiguous, and eventually stopped at a seemingly impenetrable field of willows.  I climbed a boulder field, hoping to find a way around (or through), but eventually returned to the upper lake to take more photos.  Later in the day, a trio of hikers, who had started at a hairpin turn below Independence Pass, came over the saddle and down through the lakes.  They reported that they just pushed through the willows.  I guess I'll have to try that sometime.

To reach the trailhead for Frying Pan Lakes, drive east from Basalt about thirty-two miles to where the road makes a hairpin turn and begins climbing towards Hagerman Pass.  On your right is an improved dirt road that leads to the trailheads for both this hike and Lily Pad Lake.  The trailhead is at 10,000 feet, and the lakes are at 11,000 feet.  The surrounding peaks and ridges are above 13,000 feet, making for a very dramatic - and photogenic - scene.  Roughly halfway to the lakes, the trail crosses the river via a sturdy bridge.  This is a great place to stop, drink some water, and take a few photos.