2013 July: La Garita Wilderness Day 1

We start at the La Garita trailhead. The open land turns into woodland and we're looking at some rolly hills, grass covered, leading into the forest. We start around 10,200 feet. Our destination for first night is about 3.5 miles, at 11,200 feet. When we get to our camp, my altimeter app reads 11,139 feet. We travel through nice meadows along Unknown Creek. And we notice the creek is dry. Oh Boy! This could be serious as we continue to move upward. Does the water flow and then go underground? We move further up around a bend and we hear and see water. Apparently, the creek does go underground along the Unknown section.

The maps I used for this trip:

- Rio Grande National Forest - I like this to look up approach roads
- Halfmoon Pass, CO USGS 7.5 minute 2001
- Mesa Mountain, CO USGS 7.5 minute
- La Garita/Cochetopa Hills Trails Illustrated Map

Enter the La Garita Wilderness

We end up camping at some point after the Unknown Creek trail meets with the Halfmoon Pass trail. We're in a big meadow, and set camp up slope from the trail, where the sun will shine in the morning. Low in the meadow is a marsh, a large one. In the marsh is a huge cage, opening from top. A mystery for us to ponder. We get to walk around here, and get socks wet. I tend to wear tevas in camp, so I bring tons of socks. It's here where the dead trees really sink in. On our dry land we are surrounded by potentilla bushes (I think this is what they are called) and the occasional anthill.

Camp for Night One - Marsh below and dry land above. Notice dead spruce trees

The view down valley we came up from Unknown Creek

The marsh with a stream

I was fortunate to sleep under the stars this night, number one. It did rain, about three waves worth before sunset, but when the sun came out it was nice. The sky is really clear here and the stars were incredible. It gets to the point where I couldn't figure out some constellations. The milky way dominated the sky and kept me mesmerized for a long time. It was worth sleeping out from the shelter. Plus, the night air was pleasant, never got to cold. Tomorrow we go up, closer to Halfmoon Pass.

The mountains here are mostly flat on the top

Peaceful moments after the rain

2013 July: La Garita Wilderness area (The plan and approach)

Welcome good wilderness travelers. I've just come back from a wonderful trip in the La Garita Wilderness Area. Later posts will cover the trip in some detail but here I just want to point out how to get to this place if you are ever interested. Be forewarned - the spruce beetle kill has devastated huge tracts of spruce/fir forest. In the section of La Garita (Northeast, by Half Moon Pass) we visited, all large Englemann spruce and sub-alpine fir trees are dead. I don't know how long, but eventually this land will be difficult and dangerous to travel due to the deadfall that is inevitable and the heightened probability of wildfire due to the excessive dry lumber. I don't think anyone is coming in to clear the stuff out. In these forests younger and smaller trees seemed to have survived so there is hope. My thinking is I am glad to have done this; in ten years this place might be impassable. However, there seems to be some folks who really love the place and I suspect they might work hard to access their favorite places.

On the road again...Dirt road (either FR 804 or FR 787) heading towards the La Garita

We live up north so to get here we drove south on Highway 285, all the way to Saguache. I recommend going here in the morning, stopping in town and eating some chow at the Saguache 4th Street Diner. The food here is excellent and you're about 1.5 to 2 hours from the trailhead so load up on the carbos!

When leaving, from 285 take 114 west, and drive about 25-30 miles. When you go over the Continental Divide you've less than 7 miles to make a left on FR 804(?), or Co Rd 17 GG. Take this about 7 miles, at stop sign, T intersection, turn left, and go about 1.5 miles and turn right on FR 787, Co Rd 17 FF, go about 23 miles until you arrive at the La Garita trailhead. You'll climb up and over the Continental Divide again, only this time it's on a dirt road and very narrow. However, the road conditions are great, even a car can travel upon this road. You'll pass through Stove Pipe campground and when you see this place you'll be about 12 miles away.

Go ahead and look at the road maps.  It's a very scenic and inspiring 30 miles to get to the trail.

2011: Day 2 at Woodland Lake, Saturday, July 30th

After sleeping peacefully under the stars I woke up nice and early and looked at the lake noticing an abundance of feeding fish.  The lake has lots of greenback cutthroat trout and is quite popular with fishermen.  We watched this one guy fishing for a little while, pulling out one after the other.  There is information available about the fishing with this document as a start.  It was a bright and warm morning, perfect for getting ready to leave, unfortunately.  It certainly looked like a good area to explore.  I could see all sort of routes to travel as mentioned before where you could reach the ridges up high and walk them towards the continental divide.  Since we had to leave by noon the hike to Skyscraper reservoir appealed to us.  The cutthroats in Woodland were a decent size, like 10 inches, but we heard rumors the fish were bigger at Skyscraper, so we hoped to catch a glimpse.

The hike is short to Skyscraper from Woodland, maybe one half a mile at most.  A few hundred feet gained in elevation, crossing some snowfields, listening to more gurgling water.  It doesn't get any better than this.  The lake, I keep calling it a lake, is dammed at the outlet, an approximately 20 foot high cement dam forming the lake, complete with spillway.  Above the lake massive snowfields swoop upwards to the peaks and pass we can see to the south.  It looks like one of those postcards you can buy in Boulder to send to your friends only we can take the pictures ourselves in real-time.  You'll really enjoy this view, I swear.

Ultimately we had to leave and walked the six miles out of the woods.  I managed to take a look at a huge jet of water spewing out over a large boulder, knowing as I watch this rock is slowly getting reduced to rubble.  It sounded like a jet.  And it was very cool with the spray hitting my face.  A nice to way to cap off the trip, especially since I was heading back down to the 95+ degree weather.  Oh well, maybe one more trip this year and for sure next year.  Enjoy the pictures and if you decide to go here you won't regret it.  Well worth the hike up.

Woodland in the morning.  The trout are ravenous.

Love these snowfields.  And the blue sky.

And here it is, the star of our show....the Greenback Cutthroat

The Sentinels of the Tundra

And did I mention the massive snowfields all over the place?

An old train trestle close to Rollins Pass.  You can see this on the way to Skyscraper Reservoir

And this is one reason why I go up to these places!

Woodland Lake from Skyscraper Reservoir

The Spillway

And there you have it.  Happy trails to you all and enjoy the wilds!

2011, July: Day One at Woodland Lake in Indian Peaks

This year I didn't get a chance to take a multi-day backpack but did manage an over-nighter close by home.  I went to Woodland Lake in the Hessie area in Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, in Colorado.  This was a real nice hike, starting on Friday July 29th, 2011.  The weather was getting hot there in the flatlands so it was perfect timing as the day was sunny filled with those puffy white clouds.  The best thing about the sky was it didn't rain that day and it had been like clockwork in the afternoons for about a week.  If you hadn't heard, the winter snow was sort of legendary this year, with abundant snowfall and a very cloudy spring, producing about 200% snowpack by the time summer rolled around.  To this day there is tons of snow up there and the drainages are all showing it by gushing loudly and showing off their generous volume.

This is Jasper creek on the way up the mountain

It's a good hike starting out at the Hessie trailhead by the beginning of the 4th of July road.  Actually, this is the parking area.  Two things: a) If you have beefy 4wd you can drive on through the water another half mile or so to a nice shaded parking area.  Then the real trailhead is about 1 to 1.5 miles from here.  b) If you can't drive this portion, and most folks can't, you get there early or you end up along the road and walk a little farther.  Assume you park on the road, so it's about 2 miles to the real Hessie trailhead.  It's a nice walk there, passing the old Hessie town-site.  Nice views, nice aspens, basically a nice but of land to walk through.  You enter the Jasper creek valley and from the Hessie trailhead, the real one, it's 4 miles to Woodland Lake.  Here the water is really roaring and the real hike begins.  You tend to break away from the crowd of people. 

It's about 2 miles up this valley then left up the Woodland creek valley in which the first mile was the steepest climb, about 800+ feet in a mile or less.  Overall I think it's 6 miles from the car and about 2,000 feet of elevation gain.  We started at 9,000 feet and end up just under 11,000 feet at the lake.  We spooked a small herd of elk about half a mile from the lake, that was really cool.  And the lake itself was so refreshing.  It's about 65 degrees, not 90+ back at home, sunny and calm.  And we brought up some cans of Fat Tire and put them in the snowfield behind our camp - most ground was dry but there were huge visible snowfields everywhere!

Woodland lake in the afternoon

This lake has a bunch of fish.  It's a popular place for a weekend as three more parties made their way up here.  It's steep terrain as the forest slopes right on down to the lake, but we all managed to be camped far enough away to keep things isolated.  I mean we're about a 90 minute drive from Denver and from up here you wouldn't know it.  And did I mention there is snow everywhere?

There is snow low and there is snow high.  Makes for nice cool breezes when you stand nearby

The area has some nice hiking.  We walked around the lake before dinner.  You can walk to Skyscraper Reservoir, just a short walk up the trail.  There are other areas to explore here, just follow a drainage upward and before you know it you're in a boulder field or tundra.  And of course, bright white snowfields to cross!

I was able to sleep under the stars and with a new moon it was amazing.  I saw so many stars I lost track of some popular constellations.  The Milky Way was a bright cloud in the sky and later in the evening, or rather, early in the morning I witnessed the Mars-rise.  It was this huge bright star, like as bright as Venus normally appears in the morning or evening.  I would walk now and then and track its movement across the sky, very cool indeed.  I thought about how crazy it is at home with all the light pollution, where not far away I saw so many stars it was mind boggling.  Enjoy these pictures and later I'll wrap up with another entry about the short hike to Skyscraper.

The woodland at Woodland Lake

And this is The Woodland Lake.  The clouds east turned into rain in the plains that night. 

The other end of the lake to the high country

The mini snowfield in the middle of the forest.

Shady clouds make it interesting.

Goodbye for now

On the Way Out [5: Sunday, July 25, 2010]

Another fine night for sleeping under the stars and a bright, shiny, full Moon.  We wake-up restful and a little sad, knowing we need to leave this beautiful place.  We pack up and take one last look at the Hague Creek valley.  It's one mile down to the Poudre, and we follow that river one more mile down.  It's a peaceful walk, relatively flat.  The River is wider and looking more wild.  We reach the Corral Creek Trail.  This is where we head uphill to the trailhead, where the car is parked.  We decide to walk a few hundred yards down the Poudre to take one last look.  I know about three miles away the trail crosses the water and continues down, into the Big South, all the way to highway 14.  Maybe a future trip.

As we hike up we notice a raging creek, Poudre Pass Creek.  This is the outlet of the Long Draw Reservoir, close to where we're parked.  This is the water slating the thirst of many denizens of the Front Range, captured from the winter snow.  Now it's a torrent; something scary looking.  We eventually reach the car and decide to ride along the reservoir to the parking area at the end of the dirt road.  Back here is La Poudre Pass.  This is the head-water of the Colorado River.  We walk along the path that parallels the Grand Ditch, diverted water from the Never Summer mountain range, and reach the swampy area where the might Colorado originates.  

An interesting aspect here is the path is an entry into more spectacular wilderness.  Something to think about.  Anyway, this area is a real change of pace for those who backpack in the high peaks.  Lots of wildlife, beautiful scenery and many options for hiking.  Something to think about for sure...

Information about the camps:

Cache
Flatiron

One last look up the valley, time to go

And here are shots along the rivers, the Hague Creek, followed by the Poudre...

From the trailhead looking back to where we once roamed...

A look at some possible future destinations

And the headwaters of the mighty Colorado River.

Moose on the Poudre [4: Saturday, July 24, 2010]

Our day two camp will take us to Hague creek, about three miles down river where it dumps into the Poudre.  We then go right (east) up the trail to Flatiron campsite.  The nice thing about this site is it's one of the few in Rocky Mountain National Park allowing fires in an existing fire ring.  

The morning is nice and sunny.  I'm fascinated by the fog.  Down the Chapin valley a large cloud flows up a drainage.  Closer to me I watch some low lying fog develop above the river, flowing downstream like an extension of the water.  I realized from my viewpoint this fog is a collection of all the evaporated morning dew meeting at this stream junction, forced by gravity to flow downhill.

We hike along the Poudre River, north, along relatively flat terrain, in open meadows, and thick forests.   The meadows flow with a growing river, widening after each creek feeding into it, draining the high country far up the hills we walk along.  As we enter forests, the land drops, the rocks squeeze the river, producing exhilarating rapids, a contrast to the mellow meadows we've been accustomed to.  


As we approach the confluence of Hague Creek, the point where we know soon we turn to head uphill to camp, we notice movement in front of us.  We surprise a momma moose and her calf.  The calf bolts into the forest, the momma stares at us.  If this happens to you, don't mess around.  Walk around the animal giving it a wide berth.  Not a good idea to make a momma moose mad!  It's an amazing animal up close; like the size of a horse.  This area is a great one for chance viewings of wildlife.  Lots of elk, deer and moose.


We make the turn for the Mummy Pass trail, and after a few hundred yards we break right to the trail taking us to Flatiron.  Hague Creek is healthy and not unlike the terrain we encountered along the Poudre the night before.  We're at 10,000' of elevation, experiencing pleasantly warm weather and ample sunshine.


The site fire ring is there as advertised, complete with a pile of dead wood.  Speaking of which, the forest edge is pre-dominantly dead lodgepole pines.  We decide to setup our rain shelters along the forest edge, safely away from any dead tree.  I highly recommend doing this.  The campsite is really nice, on a high, flat area overlooking the valley below, with nice views all around.  Down creek are rolling green hills and mountains far away, and up creek is the pathway to the Mummy's.  Desolation Peaks are back here as well.  We're in a good place, and only about two or three miles away from the car.  Not bad.


Our flat area is suitable for tossing a frisbee.  We have a nice, short steep trail down to the creek where we can lounge in the creek, get water and just relax.   The trail does continue up the valley, however it is un-maintained so it's not always obvious.  Up the valley are more huge meadows.  We saw another moose browsing on willows, with a nice backdrop of forest and mountains.  Amazing.  This is the way to go to the Desolation Peaks.  We didn't get a chance to go there this day, but if you do, you'll find out why they are named as such.  The hike is excellent, mostly meadow, some of it wet, mixed with some nice forested stretches.


At the end of the day the sunset was amazing, turning the sky red, and reflecting off the creek, looking like shiny jewels strewn along the meadow.  This is when you want to kick back and relax.  During this time of year, with the dry spell we experienced, it's a pleasant way to spend the evening.  This night is warm, the Moon full and our fire is raging.  Nothing like playing midnight frisbee in the middle of nowhere.  A great way to cap off an excellent day.


Next post I'll cover the way out and our visit to the source of the Colorado River.  Now enjoy these pictures.


This is more or less what we looked at on our hike to Flatiron.

 Yeah, this moose is awfully close to us.  Don't get these critters mad!

The forest is nice and cool.  The river starts to get rowdy at this point.

 

And what would a wilderness trip be without the mountains.  I think this is a view of Hagues Peak.

 
 On the hike we saw this crazy tree.  I couldn't resist taking a shot.

At dusk lots of deer appeared out of nowhere to check us out.  This is the place to be if you want to see lots of wildlife.

A nice view for the day's end.  Sunsets out here are amazing.  We sat out here for quite some time, relaxing and basking in the waning light.

Hiking the Poudre Valley [3: Friday July 23, 2010]

Okay, I'm back - a busy couple of months but had to come back and finish this blog.  This place is amazing and here in the dead of winter, sub-zero outside, all I need to do is think about those few days along the river and I feel warm all over again.  Continuing with the first day there at the Cache campsite we hiked up the valley a second time with a difference.  We hike up valley further then the last hike.  We see more ridges as if the valley is built from lateral ridges, one on top of the other.  At one point I catch a view up valley which is relatively flat, and can see probably a mile up-river.  Distance such as this looks so cool when it's wilderness.  You get a sense of something huge, yet deceivingly close.


We decide to at this point to hike into the forest towards Specimen Mountain.  This area is closed to camping; deemed a research natural area.  We joke the place is used for government, bizarre experiments and head uphill. We walk along game trails, remaining along a slightly uphill contour.  In here trees are very much alive; noticing more sub-alpine trees, shade and lots of cool looking ground cover like kinnicknick.  After a while of this peaceful hiking we break-out into a meadow separating our ridge from the next.  We climb uphill in this field to a saddle with a continuing meadow downward, away from the Poudre valley.  We cross the meadow into the forest to head back to camp.  More game trails, highways actually, are followed; we get to camp as we move through bunches of dead lodgepole.


Later towards evening we hike to the confluence of the Poudre and Chapin Creek.  It's a nice area, rolling moraine covered in grass and mini boulders.  It's here we catch a glimpse of a wider Poudre River downstream.  As dusk approaches the Moon rises over the Desolation Peaks.  We're high and dry looking at sunlight from the sunset light up the high points.  Back at camp I watch Venus setting over a faraway ridge and observe it winking in and out as it cross just above the ridge, filtered by the forests.  Then it disappears for the night; something I've never seen before.  While this is happening, two bull elk come out to feed in the meadow.  As dark approaches, I setup my sleeping bag under the stars, look at the bright, nearly full Moon, listening to the babble of the river nearby.  A nice way to finish off the day.  Next entry will discuss the moving to the next campsite, Flatiron.

Here is where we see the sunset light shine on the mountains next to us:

A view down river, where we'll go tomorrow (Saturday, July 24, 2010):

This here is some of the Rolling Moraine we encountered from time to time:

Goodbye to this place, a new camp awaits us next.....