The San Juan Mountains

Day 26

Miles hiked today: 14.2
Miles from Denver: 338.2
Elevation: 11,720 ft
Segments 19,20
Landmarks: Continental Divide Trail, Gunnison National Forest, Chochetopa Creek, La Garita Wilderness, Eddiesville Trailhead

VIEW MAP

I woke up this morning with a lot of dew on my tent, and a slight frost. It is getting colder, and I have a feeling its going to be that way for a while. I was pretty late in waking up, and while I was eating breakfast the sun actually came over the nearby mountain and shined directly on me. It was nearly 9 oclock.

This didn't really follow my plans for the day, which involved waking up early so that I can get 15 miles done by early afternoon, so that I could summit San Luis Peak today. San Luis Peak is 14,014 feet tall, and is one of only a handful of 14ers that are easily accessible from the trail. I have passed all the others.

Today was just one of those days where the miles slowly ticked by, while time went faster than it should. By noon I had only done 6 and a half miles, and I found myself at Eddiesville Trailhead stopping for a snack, seemingly in slow motion. 2 hours later I had only moved about 2 miles, having stopped in a beautiful meadow to soak in the sun, eat some food and dry my stuff out. San Luis was not going to happen today.

A few miles earlier I had entered La Garita Wilderness area, which is the 5th Wilderness Area the trail has come though. After these last several segments of hiking on jeep roads, I was very excited for some pristine trail untouched by motorcycles and ATVs. What's interesting is that even in the wilderness area, I was still seeing double rut tracks.

The trail at this point is following Chochetopa Creek to its source, which is what I did for the whole day. The river valley is lined on either side with an ever more impressive array of mountains the farther up the valley I travelled. According to my map I have officially arrived in the San Juan Mountains, which is what I have been looking forward to this entire trip. If this introduction is any indication, they are absolutely beautiful. But I have the feeling I haven't seen anything yet.

I had decided to stop just before the climb up to San Luis Peak, and summit in the morning. That is going to make tomorrow a very long day. As I got closer to the head of the valley, the trail became enclosed in a very ancient forest. Most of the forests I've seen in Colorado, or even in most states I've been to, have already been logged and replanted. Some of the forests on the Colorado Trail are 3rd generation, having been logged and replanted twice. This forest however, doesn't seem like its ever been touched. This is the most remote part of the entire Colorado Trail, and is also the least used by even hikers.

About a quarter mile before I reached my intended camp site I met another hiker named Bo, who was already set up for the night and was about to build a fire. It was early, maybe 5 pm. Bo explained that the camp site listed was out in the open, which would be a concern with the cold wind coming off the pass. I decided to set up my tent at his camp, and enjoy a fire for the first time on this trip, as well as some rare company.

It was very nice having a fire, and we traded stories over the campfire until after dark. Bo explained his plan to hike San Luis Peak not in the morning, but the middle of the night so that he could get up there just before sunrise. This sounded intriguing. I had done something crazy like this once before; my middle of the night hike of Blood Mountain on the AT, and was greatly rewarded with one of the most unforgettable sunrises I have ever seen. I was in. We figured that a 3:30 am start would be needed, and I turned in to my tent for what was to be a very short night, and a very long day.

Chochetopa Park

Day 25

Miles hiked today: 21.2
Miles from Denver: 324
Elevation: 9,720 ft
Segments 18, 19
Landmarks: Continental Divide Trail, Gunnison National Forest, Chochetopa Park, Chochetopa Creek

VIEW MAP

It was very hard to get out of Gunnison. I ended up spending two zeroes there. Yesterday I actually tried to leave, but I stood by the highway for over an hour and didn't get picked up. That kind of killed my motivation to hike that day, and I ended up wandering across the street into the Pioneer Museum, and ended up spending several hours there. I can highly recommend this museum, by the way.

So I found myself this morning, motivated to put some miles down, and anxious to get going, getting soaked by a rain storm on an errand I was running. This was not a good way to start the day. I ended up stalling a little longer indoors until the rain stopped, and finally I was out the door by 11. Not exactly an early start, but at least I was dry.

I had to travel over 40 miles to get back to the trail, which is first 8 miles east on Rt 50, a very busy highway, and then 33 miles south on Hwy 114, which almost nobody travels. This could be a very long wait. Within a half hour I caught my first ride, a nice guy named Brian who was literally on his way to the airport to fly to Patagonia for a 1 year NOLS training course, which is National Outdoor Leadership School. When he comes out of that course he should be able to eat thru hikers for lunch.

The second ride I caught was from a guy named Jesus, who is a carpenter. No kidding. He pronounces his name (Hey-Soos), and he was just talking about his work on the way up, so I wasn't really thinking about it at the time. It wasn't until I got on trail that it dawned on me that I had just gotten a ride from Jesus the carpenter. The nice thing was that before I got in the car, he discussed that he was going 35 miles on Hwy 114, which worked for me because I was only going 33. However, when he dropped me off at the pass, he drove off the way we had just came, so I think we passed his work site and he didn't say a word.

I finally got on trail at 12:30 pm, which is not exactly early. I am trying to make it to Silverton in 5 days, which is 106 miles away. This means that I planned to go at least 20 miles each day, and I was a little worried now. I have a 3 mile an hour pace when I really hurry, and once, on the AT I had gone 21 miles in exactly 7 hours. I never thought I would try it again on this hike, but there is no time like the present. The terrain is flat, and is supposed to be easy walking. 21 miles also happens to be how far it is to the next reliable water source. I started out at a brisk pace.

Not a half mile from the road, I came upon some trail magic. A guy named Burnfoot had stocked two coolers with soda, and there was a register there as well to sign in. The register was full of fun anecdotes, and high praise for burnfoot leaving these sodas here. Had I not been in town for nearly three and a half days the soda probably would have tasted much better to me, but I am extremely thankful all the same, and especially on this trail which is barren on trail magic, this is very welcome. Packing a root beer with me, I was also able to go the entire day without needing water.

The guidebook talks about this being one of the most scenic segments of the whole trail, but at first I just wasn't getting it. I was on roads of some sort or another the entire day. There are forest service roads, fire roads, county roads, jeep tracks and hunting roads. Not a bit of trail, and all of it accessible to horses, mountain bikes, motorcyles, ATVs and any other kind of vehicle you want to bring. This is a far cry from the footpath-only regulations I know and love, but this is offset by the fact that I didn't see a soul of any means of transport, all day.

About halfway through the afternoon I came upon the scenic part. I have learned that in Colorado, a park is what you call a vast, open space in the mountains. Chochetopa Park is such a place, and it is very impressive. It goes for as far as I could see, and is dotted with small stands of trees, with a plateau on one side, and tree covered hills on the left. At the far horizon there are some mountains, but these are so far away that they looked very tiny. This is ranch country, and a barbed wire fence cuts through the scene, until I couldn't see it any more. It is kind of like walking through a smaller version of Shirley Basin.

The trail takes about six miles to get across this, and it is a very scenic, and windy walk. I had beautiful weather, but I would not want to walk across this when it was cold, windy, raining or snowing. Eventually I got to a road, where the trail turned left on the road, up into the hills. There was still much more to Chochetopa Park.

It was getting late in the day now, and I could see that I had nearly enough time to make the 21 miles, but I
would be finishing up in the dark. Sunset came, and I was able to use the light from the sky to hike until nearly an hour past sunset. In the last couple of miles, the trail climbs 600 feet on a jeep road, then turns downhill to meet up with Chochetopa Creek. It was now nearly completely dark, but there was just enough light to shine off of the rocks, of which there were many. I was hurrying, as I wanted to get to camp and set up before any weather could set in, as there were a few dark clouds overhead. My feet moved swiftly, uncannily finding all the spots where there were no rocks, never kicking or tripping on one. I have experienced this phenomenon once before, but I have never been as sure footed when hiking as I was just now, despite barely being able to make out the contours of the trail, much less where all the rocks are. It is a really strange sensation. I flew down the hill, and finally in the last mile I was forced to stop and dig for my headlamp, as mists of rain started falling.

Luckily, the weather moved on as I found a campsite next to a gurgling creek and set up my tent. It's the worst job of setting up my tent I've done yet, and the thing sagged in crucial places. I would be very grateful if it doesn't rain on me tonight.