Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
This was an adventure for sure. I’ve wanted to see Vestal Basin in the San Juan’s Needle Mountains for a long time and climb some of its high peaks. I did just that over this 3-day backpacking trip, getting my butt kicked by the Trinity Peaks Traverse and badly rolling my ankle in the process, causing me to abandon my plans for Arrow Peak. Then after coming back to the Molas Pass trailhead (as I found out only after I’d turned the camera off) I discovered a completely flat tire on my Outback. Hence a nail-biting drive on a windy mountain road on a spare down to the Durango Walmart tire center, on almost zero sleep. So, there were more lessons learned this weekend than I normally get in the hills, and thankfully none of them required total catastrophe as part of their curriculum. A good reminder that even after one has climbed all the Colorado fourteeners, the mountains can easily humble. But they still saw fit to brandish their beauty for my eyes and camera to behold, for which I am always grateful.
#mountains #wilderness #backpacking #hiking #outdoors #colorado
This was an adventure for sure. I’ve wanted to see Vestal Basin in the San Juan’s Needle Mountains for a long time and climb some of its high peaks. I did just that over this 3-day backpacking trip, getting my butt kicked by the Trinity Peaks Traverse and badly rolling my ankle in the process, causing me to abandon my plans for Arrow Peak. Then after coming back to the Molas Pass trailhead (as I found out only after I’d turned the camera off) I discovered a completely flat tire on my Outback. Hence a nail-biting drive on a windy mountain road on a spare down to the Durango Walmart tire center, on almost zero sleep. So, there were more lessons learned this weekend than I normally get in the hills, and thankfully none of them required total catastrophe as part of their curriculum. A good reminder that even after one has climbed all the Colorado fourteeners, the mountains can easily humble. But they still saw fit to brandish their beauty for my eyes and camera to behold, for which I am always grateful.
#mountains #wilderness #backpacking #hiking #outdoors #colorado
