A sidetrack to town: Wolf Creek Pass to Creede, CO (Mile 862-903)

August 5th - August 8th

Day 1: My brother took off this morning on his motorcycle heading for home. I stuck around the econo lodge till 11am waiting for the city cab. I arranged for a ride from Pagosa back up to Wolf Creek Pass. I got on the trail about 11:30 and kept running into people who were just doing day hikes. As the afternoon went on I could see the storm clouds building and knew what to expect. Sure enough around 3 in the afternoon the thunderstorms rolled in. There was some pretty good lightning. Today’s walk was relatively uneventful. At most I saw a mule deer, but other than that it was pretty quiet. I made camp right on the edge of a Archuleta Lake and all the fish are jumping. The temperature has dropped to around the low 50s so I climbed into my sleeping bag and I’m happy to be warm and dry.

Day 2: I woke up this morning not wanting to get out of my sleeping bag. I finally made an effort to put on my damp socks and pants. The sun just started climbing over the mountain. The warmth of the sun never felt so welcoming. (The good thing is once I get to Creede I’ll have my rain pants so I won’t have to wear wet clothes for long.) I packed up my stuff and began to climb the mountain. Along the way I saw a marmot laying on a rock. About 4 miles in I took the cut off through the valley towards Creede. The first 2.5 miles were rough. Due to a recent forest fire the trail was non existent. I made my way over hundreds of downed trees as I went downhill along the river. What usually takes me an hour to walk took 2 hours. Once I crossed the Goose River the trail became clear again. I tried to find a way to ford the river without getting wet, but after looking up and down the bank there was no rocks I could hop all the way across. I hopped to a rock in the middle of the river, but then had to step in knee deep cold water. I climbed onto the grassy shore on the opposite side and continued on an semi-established trail. I was walking fast to make up for the lost time with the downed trees. As I was walking I spotted a black figure in the wood line. At first I thought “A cow? No.. a bear?” But then I realized it was a moose! She started walking off and right behind her was a young baby moose. As I walked forward I realized the mom was standing in a little pond. They ran down the trail and as I continued on I saw them on a cliffside on the opposite bank of the river moving back into the woods. I was both cautious and amazed. Amazed, because that’s the first time I’ve seen a moose in person let alone so close. Cautious, because I know moose kill more people in North America than any other big animal and can be very aggressive. As the day went on the afternoon thunderstorms rolled in and of course I got soaked. I just figured I’ll dry out one of these days and the sun can’t stay hidden forever. It rained most of the afternoon and when evening came it died off. I made camp on a rocky embankment, since it was the only relatively flat spot around. I did 18.5 miles today and that leaves me with 13 for tomorrow to get to town.

Day 3: I got on the trail around my usual time of 7:30am. It was all downhill to Creede. By noon I was walking into town. I went to every hotel in this small town and they all said they were booked for the night. I finally settled on the Snowshoe Lodge and they had 2 rooms available. I grabbed one up and did tasks for the evening. The tasks consist of resupply, shower, and laundry. I’m gonna spend a day in Creede to do some sight seeing before I get back on the trail.