Back to the Beautiful San Juan Mountains, Colorado
It has become an annual summer retreat for the Lautzenheisers to explore the impressive San Juan Mountains below via Jeep Trails.
Red Mountain #1, #2, and #3....those are really the names.
This year, we stopped in Cedar City, Moab, and Twin Lakes on the way to our final destination of Silverton, the southern most town of the San Juan Range. While in Cedar City, we broke in our new mountain bikes on Lichen It Trail. Moab gave Scott the chance to revisit the trails that he and his brothers had ridden in the past.
After leaving Utah, we attempted to visit the famous Bells Maroon area, but all the campsites within a million miles were full, so we continued on. We ended up well above the clouds on Independence Pass and finally settled in a campground on Twin Lakes, which was beautiful.
Once in Silverton with Duane and Mom, the days just got better. We started out on Corkscrew Gulch (where we had to turn around last year due to a broken jeep) to California Gulch with Como Lake in between. The red mountains were just as impressive as we'd remembered. The drivers decided to take it easy on day two, where we traversed Stony Pass and did a historical tour of the town. Our final full day took us across Engineer Pass (with nearly a 360 degree view of the mountains) to Lake City and back to Silverton on Cinnamon Pass.
Anxious to return to Patches, we (meaning Scott) drove back home in one day, with a couple stops. First, the not-so-impressive Four Corners Monument. Fun fact: the monument isn't even on the four corners. If you stand on the monument, you're actually only in New Mexico. Ha...suckers! Finally, we stopped at the famously photographed Horseshoe Bend in Page, AZ. Although the gorge was impressive, there were too many people for our liking. From afar, all the tourists walking to and from the lookout looked like ants on a hill.
