July 21, 2020
Thought upon waking: I’m very cold….and awfully wet
Thought upon going to sleep: Yes we made it! I’m ready to go home
Craving: getting home at a decent hour
The way out
I pretty much passed out from exhaustion last night. It was a long satisfying day and after a week I was becoming accustomed to the air mattress and the tent. When we awoke, everything including our tent and all its contents were wet with moisture. Campsite selection is everything here. First, it is never wise to pitch a tent on the valley floor in the mountains. All the cold air and the moisture naturally seek the lowest point possible. Second we were by a water source, once again a poor choice for moisture reasons. Just like the heat index can make a warm day feel hotter than the thermometer suggests, cool wet conditions can make the air feel cooler than the temperature as well. Regardless, of my layers and wonderful Western Mountainering bag, I was cold. It was cold and wet enough I did not want to get out of the sleeping bag.
Yesterday was gratifying. Today is where all the extra steps from not wanting to pause our hiking catch up to us. After 7 days and roughly 45 miles of hiking and mountaineering, my feet are worn. There are no blisters however I have several hot spots and the pads are tender. Today will be slow going. If we don’t make it to Vallecito Reservoir, we can always hike out tomorrow morning. The goal, however, is to make to the public campground and our transportation.
We packed up our tent and sleeping bags. They were still damp. Our destination is Vallecito Reservoir, about 10 miles further down the trail. All day we will follow the Vallecito river till it intersects with the reservoir. Our goal is by 2pm we will arrive so that we have time to dry our gear back out before needing it again for one last night in the San Jaun mountains.
The hike started promising. The valley continued to open up into a vast array of meadows full of flowering shrubs and plants full of color. We were making good time and enjoying the warm sun on our faces as the rays knocked the cold dust off from the night before. unbeknownst to us or Garmin, soon our hike would add a bit of route finding challenge.
Snowmelt Ahoy!
In 2018 Colorado was blessed with one of the largest snow years on record. Normally most of the snow is melted by July 1. In 2018 the accumulation totals were so high it was not uncommon to still have 16-20 ft of snow remaining in the alpine areas by the beginning of the summer hiking season. With large snowfall also come avalanches. As we continued to hike we could see the destruction these snow slides caused to the mountainsides. Trees were strewn like a box of toothpicks tipped over. Large piles of granite rock littered the meadows beneath them. Soon we passed some steel cabling lying loosely atop mounds of rock. We kept walking and soon our path turned to mud. It also turned right into the river. There were no markers, no cairns, no trail. We check our Garmin InReach and it shows we were supposed to cross the river and we had passed the crossing point. When we go back, we find the large cables again. Soon it became apparent that the bridge had been wiped out by an avalanche and no replacement was in its place. We look for a good place to cross the icy river where it is shallow enough to not be swept away by the rapid current. Eventually we settle on a place and send a scout across to verify there is indeed a trail on the other side for us to follow.
One last climb
Its now early afternoon and we are still a few miles out from our destination. At this point my feet really start bothering me and our pace slows. The trail on this side of Columbine Pass has been rocky a fair portion of the way. Each step and each rock begins to be felt through the soles of my shoes. I long for the finish line. I know there are messages on my Garmin InReach from my wife and I’d love nothing more than to stop and chat with her.
The last portion of the trail is a bit deceiving. Instead of continuing to follow the Vallecito river at its base the trail breaks off and begins to climb. Soon we are high above the river. We continue our path upwards until we reach the peak of the mountain for which the river is its base. This last climb really did the group in. We were all ready for this day to be over. To finish we began the long decent from the top to the river at the bottom. We had finally made it.
As a group we took some pictures of the signs at the trailhead and then began the short journey to my truck. Once there we sat for 30 minutes rehydrating and re energizing ourselves on flaming hot cheese treats before entering the campground and selecting a site to pitch our tents for the night.
There is a public campground between the trail and the reservoir. We chose this relatively luxurious spot. Clean pit toilets, access to running water and several flat sites in which to pitch our tents. The campground was very clean and very busy.
We pitched our tents and then headed down to Vallecito Reservoir to do some trout fishing for dinner. It was the first time one in our group had gone fishing before. My brother showed him the ropes and we all dropped our lures in the water. No sooner had the group managed to get all our bait wet, winds from the south sprang up from nowhere. In 2 minutes we literally went from calm and delightful to howling winds and cloud cover. The winds were violent enough they back churning up the sand on the shores of the lake. Soon the crystal clear water was clouded and the prospects of trout for dinner disappeared along with our desire to fish facing into the fury.
Beaten after todays events we returned to the campsite. As a group we sat and dined on the remaining snacks we had and said prayers giving thanks to God for a good hike and no injuries. I chatted with my wife and we talked about all the news back home. It was making it tough to leave this area. Tomorrow we will head home and with it all the anxieties of family life return…jobs, pandemics, education etc. But also I will get to see my youngest daughter who has a been a bit lost without me so I’m told. I’m hopeful she will be happy to see me and tonight is sound sleep as I fall asleep thinking of home and being with my family again.
