Cross Mountain Trail #637 • Hike • Colorado • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Jul 03 2021

ShatteredArm

Guides 12
Routes 192
Photos 863
Triplogs 356

42 male

Joined Nov 30 2015
Phoenix, AZ

Lizard Head Trail #505

West, CO

Lizard Head Trail #505

West, CO

Run/Jog		Jul 03 2021
		ShatteredArm • Triplogs 356

Run/Jog	10.67 Miles	2,586 AEG

Run/Jog	10.67 Miles	3 Hrs 15 Mns	3.35 mph
	2,586 ft AEG	4 Mns Break

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Lizard Head Tr to Black Face 12k' Ridge

Cross Mountain Trail #637

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Wanted something convenient on the way up north, and this looked good. Only the second time checking out trails in the Mount Wilson area. Dropped a car off at Cross Mountain for shuttle, then started from Lizard Head Pass (didn't know there's a connector for a loop option, but we were lazy anyways).

The climb up to Al Jolson Peak was long, but the last mile wasn't steep. View from the top was outstanding.

Past there, we were treated to views of Lizard Head from various angles. Decided to go to the saddle past the Cross Mountain Trail, which yielded a very worthwhile view of the summits.

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Jul 28 2018

FOTG

Guides 37
Routes 556
Photos 10,872
Triplogs 1,052

43 male

Joined Jan 21 2013
AZ

Cross Mountain Trail #637

West, CO

Cross Mountain Trail #637

West, CO

Hiking		Jul 28 2018
		FOTG • Triplogs 1,052

Hiking	6.51 Miles	1,944 AEG

Hiking	6.51 Miles
	1,944 ft AEG	29 Mns Break

Linked

none

no linked trail guides

Partners

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no partners

This was the final hike of our little tour of the Lizard Head Peak Wilderness. I kept our last day miles kind of low for Cup and so we did not have to drive into the night to get home to Phoenix.

As with the other trails we hiked, this trail was in great condition and steep at times. We hiked up an area that offered some awesome views of the wilderness area and Lizard Head Peak. We ran across a large herd of sheep on the way up and down, but the dogs were good. After we turned around, it was a pretty quick hike back. I am assuming it was hail, but Lizard Head Peak had a substantial white dusting left over on it from the nasty storm the day before. We were one of the first at the trailhead in the morning and it was nearly full when we finished.

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Lizard Head

Lizard Head Creek

Medium flow

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Sep 16 2015

nonot

Guides 107
Routes 249
Photos 2,067
Triplogs 514

male

Joined Nov 18 2005
Phoenix, AZ

Cross Mountain Trail #637

West, CO

Cross Mountain Trail #637

West, CO

Backpack		Sep 16 2015
		nonot • Triplogs 514

Backpack	44.00 Miles	8,500 AEG

Backpack	44.00 Miles	4 Days
	8,500 ft AEG		38 LBS Pack

Linked

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Lizard Head Trail #505

Kilpacker Trail

Wilson Mesa Loop Trail

Navajo Lake Trail #635

Groundhog Stock Drive Trail #634

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Backpacking in the Lizard Peak Wilderness. Steep and tough trails, but with amazing views.

Day 1: Up Cross Mountain Trail, to Lizard Head trail, and down Bilk Creek trail and along Wilson Mesa. 16 miles. Bilk Creek trail is amazing and probably was the best part of the entire trip. Wilson Mesa is extremely mucky due to allowing motorcycles during the summer, which tear it up.

Day 2: Climb to Rock of Ages TH, then up Rock of Ages to Elk Ridge trail and onto Navajo Lake. I had high hopes for this day, but the people who routed the Elk Ridge trail should be shot. The trail adds a ton of unnecessary elevation for what would otherwise be a nice trail along the treeline. Navajo lake is nice but it gets very cold as the sun sets and the cold air tries to leave the basin.

Day 3: Climbed Wilson Peak, met several people who almost died sliding off the mountain on snow. With being really close the the peak, so that I could probably hit it with a rock, encountered an icy patch, and turned around about 100 yards from the true summit, the trail routing to Wilson Peak is a complete disaster, for being a popular 14K'er.

Day 4: Down Navajo Lake Trail and Kilpacker and Groundhog Stock trail back to the vehicle.

This is a decent loop that packs a lot of elevation. The horrible trail routing makes the trails way too steep, you can observe many places where people and horses are sliding/falling and probably horses are breaking their legs. It seems that the goal of the wilderness trail routers is to ensure every uphill section is at least 30% grade, especially when it is scree on hardpack. Why bother creating an extra switchback when you can simply discourage anyone from travelling the trail in the first place.

Except for Wilson Mesa, which is muddy and depressing, the wilderness is very nice and even dayhikers should find many of these trails accessible from nearby trailheads.

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Lizard Head Wilson Peak

Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate

Wildflowers Observation Moderate

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http://hikearizona.com/garmin_maps.php

Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, ankle-twisting, HAZmaster crushing ROCKS!!
Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, shin-stabbing, skin-shredding plants!
Hike Arizona it is full of striking, biting, stabbing, venomous wildlife!

1 archive

Jul 29 2015

rvcarter

Guides 36
Routes 310
Photos 2,235
Triplogs 241

79 male

Joined Mar 27 2008
tucson, az

Cross Mountain Trail #637

West, CO

Cross Mountain Trail #637

West, CO

Hiking		Jul 29 2015
		rvcarter • Triplogs 241

Hiking	7.62 Miles	2,106 AEG

Hiking	7.62 Miles	3 Hrs 41 Mns	2.44 mph
	2,106 ft AEG	34 Mns Break

Linked

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Any place you stop to hike along the road from Delores to Telluride would be winner. This is a target rich area. My friend from Delores told me about this one, and I decided to do it because of the very distinctive Lizard Head formation east of the saddle. Also, he and 7 of his buds are going to climb Wilson Peak and/or Mount Wilson, both difficult 14ers, next week, and you can see them from the same saddle to the west. They invited me but I declined on the basis of the car camp (and it looked really hard). The hike to the saddle is great, with the initial part through relatively easy forest, and the last part across some beautiful ridges above the tree line. There are alternative returns. Not a killer, just a pleasant day. There is a nice, big parking lot at the TH. Not many people on the trail. Met a nice young couple from Chicago. Good day out.

Wildflowers Observation Moderate

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Check out my Instagram posts at "cartershift", and videos on my Rumble channel "rvcarter".

Sep 27 2013

Randal_Schulhauser

Guides 71
Routes 98
Photos 9,967
Triplogs 1,009

65 male

Joined May 14 2003
Ahwatukee, AZ

Colorado Fall Colours 2013, CO

Backpack		Sep 27 2013
		Randal_Schulhauser • Triplogs 1,009

Backpack	31.74 Miles	2,240 AEG

Backpack	31.74 Miles	4 Days
	2,240 ft AEG

no routes

Linked

9 linked trail guides

Disappointment Valley

Kilpacker Trail

East Fork of Dallas Creek Meadows - CR#7

Blue Lakes Trail #201

Cross Mountain Trail #637

Ophir Pass Road #630

Alta Lakes and Ghost Town

Woods Lake Trail

Wilson Mesa Loop Trail

Partners

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Colorado Fall Colours - September 2013

Prelude:

For those that know me, I’m in the habit of booking a quarterly “wilderness adventure” months in advance so I can work my schedule around the dates.

Q1-2013 was the “Salt River Canyon Wilderness Trek” (check out http://hikearizona.com/photoset=24440 )
Q2-2013 was the “Colorado San Juan Mountains Trek” (check out http://hikearizona.com/photoset=25725 )
Q3-2013 was the “Himalayan CardioRenal Screening Project & Trek” (check out http://hikearizona.com/photoset=26703 ) – still have photos from Stok Kangri Trek, Delhi, and Agra to post!

The plan was to also add a “Colorado Fall Colours” trek in Q3 using last year (check out http://hikearizona.com/photoset=21834 ) for timing guidance…

Thursday 9/26
Route plan per Google Maps indicates 7 hrs 22 minutes to travel 455 miles from Ahwatukee to Danzl Cottage on Dolores River via Tuba City.
Any time gained leaving work at a decent time and getting on the road before 4pm was lost waiting an hour trying to climb up I-17 to sunset point (major accident closed the highway until it was cleared).
Burg in Flagstaff and on the Rez by 7pm where we were greeted by a steady rain all the way to the cottage on the Dolores River between Dolores and Telluride.
Rain on the cottage roof made for a soothing song to put us to sleep after the long drive from the Valley to the San Juan Mountains.
FITBIT data; 4.46 miles, 36 floors

Friday 9/27
I had Disappointment Valley on my radar as a nearby location known for wild horses – this isn’t a political statement, but check out BLM Disappointment Valley/Spring Creek Basin (http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/sjplc/wild_horses.html ) and the musical celebrity laden movie on Disappointment Valley wild horses (Watch the 12 minute “Wild Horses & Renegades” video trailer at :next:

http://theamericanwildhorse.com/ and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1532296/ ). Abort near Spring Creek Basin due to excessive mud! snow! and threatening rain/sleet/snow clouds...
Afternoon take West Dolores Loop for fall colours - turned out to be winter snow scene loop!
$4.64 per gallon gas in Rico - Yikes!
BBQ a couple of New York strip steaks back at Danzl Cottage FITBIT data; 6.21 miles, 19 floors (10 ft/floor)

Saturday 9/28
Plan to redux Dallas Divide, Double RL Ranch hay rolls, and onto CR7 for beaver dams and Blue Lake Trail hike. If time permits, sundown at Woods Lake.
FROSTY morning - 28 deg F according to my truck (failed to get photo evidence)
Actually start with awesome coffee in Rico at the little shack on east side of town - blows Starbucks away with a $2 cup.
Stop at Lizard Head Pass for photo op.
Stop at Sunshine scenic overlook on SR145. Aspen on Wilson Peak are still green - major let down

Take Lynn to Ophir - get some colours

Gas up in Teluride - Chrissy photo op by the Minersaur!
Stop at Last Dollar Road off of SR62 - plenty of photo ops, but too much traffic to my liking

Dallas Divide - still too early for optimum colours.
CR#9 and a Double R L Ranch - score! Plenty of hay rolls at southern most field. Combine and tractor pick up in action...
Off to CR#7 - an old reliable that's never failed to please.
Stop at Jason Hatfield's pond for photo recreation
Stop at beaver meadow for another photo recreation and lunch
Hike Blue Lakes Trail
Back to hay rolls on Double R L Ranch to catch long shadows
Telluride elk (are these employed by the Chamber of Commerce - they're always at this spot at sunset)
BBQ some chicken back at the cottage
FITBIT data; 7.82 miles, 79 floors

Sunday 9/29
Plan to get to Alta Lakes and Ghost Town plus Lost Dollar Road and Woods Lake redux. Maybe check out Silver Pick Road...
Start the day with another cup of awesome coffee in Rico from the "High Ground Coffee Shack". Find out the coffee beans are from Ibis in Utah - will have to check this out - they're that good...
On to Alta Ghost Town and then Alta Lakes - amazing number of trout visible in Alta Lake - and friendly ducks agreeable to Skippy...
Check out Mountain Village above Telluride
On to Woods Lake via Fall Creek Road - disappointing fall colours

Return via Elk Creek Road onto Wilson Mesa and loop back via Silver Pick Road - Awesome view on Hughes Road - marked this one with geocoded iPhone photo.
Ilium to Ophir Loop and back to Danzl Cottage
BBQ some split cheese dogs...
FITBIT data; 8.16 miles, 63 floors

Monday 9/30
Getaway day, close up the cottage per Danzl winterizing instructions.
Route plan per Google Maps indicates 7 hours 58 minutes to travel 508 miles from Danzl Cottage on the Dolores River to Ahwatukee via Gallup NM.
FITBIT data; 5.09 miles, 27 floors

TOTALS
211 photos on Canon 7D
323 photos on Canon Rebel XT
53 photos on iPhone 4S
587 total photos to sort thru when I get the chance...
963 miles return Ahwatukee to San Juan Mountains
Prelude to fall colours (not the peak we were planning/hoping for…)
Unexpected winter scenes more than compensate!
28 degF frosty mornings
Awesome coffee warm-up from High Ground Coffee Shack in Rico CO each morning :next:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Annies-H ... 4149051267
31.74 miles on FITBIT
2240 elevation gain (224 floors on FITBIT)

Sent from my iPad

Culture

Culture [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Fraley Pose Humor Mine Shaft Mining Equipment Wooden Dwelling

Named place

Named place [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Alta Lakes Dallas Divide Dolores Peak El Diente Peak Golden Horn Lizard Head Meadow Creek Middle Alta Lake Mount Wilson Ophir Pass Pilot Knob Wilson Mesa Wilson Peak Woods Lake

Autumn Foliage Observation Light

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WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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