There are several nice spots for boondocking on Miners Creek outside of Creede including this meadow. Water and dump station are available just a couple miles away on the west end of Creede. The second image is local scenery.
Man, that sure looks inviting! Maria's now back, but I'm sure I can't convince her to just close the park and leave for a while. (Among others, the white-siders with reservations would be just a smidgen peeved, methinks.)
Lynn
Man, that sure looks inviting! Maria's now back, but I'm sure I can't convince her to just close the park and leave for a while. (Among others, the white-siders with reservations would be just a smidgen peeved, methinks.)
Lynn
I could see how that would irk them some. It looks like I should be back in the saddle this afternoon, so its time to get back up in the mountains- haven't decided for sure where yet. It would be nice to have a cell signal for a change though. Whatever I do this evening I will be doing an in-depth tour of the area for the rest of the month.
Keep the pictures coming. Have they had rain there this year? The last time I was at the house in Grand Lake, it was so dry and the lakes were way down. Hope it's better now.
__________________ Judy and Bob
At Home in Oklahoma
I was talking to someone that lives in Creede this morning.
She said they had snow also!
Dang, 1st week of June and still snowing. But supposed to be back in the 70's tomorrow.
39 degrees in Del Norte light rain (so far) at 1:40 PM.
Don
I was talking to someone that lives in Creede this morning.
She said they had snow also!
Dang, 1st week of June and still snowing. But supposed to be back in the 70's tomorrow.
39 degrees in Del Norte light rain (so far) at 1:40 PM.
Don
Yeah, it looked to me like it was snowing up in the higher country from the radar on the Weather Channel. Argh! Our aspens just started coming out late last week!
But same here for the forecast: Warm as toast on the weekend.
Rodney, I guess you got the same thing we did this morning:
Lynn
Wow... here it's been in the late 90's... today a cool 94. Yesterday, it was 96 with a heat index of over 100. Summers are hot (& humid) here, but we usually don't get this heat until late July - August.
Could use a little snow right now...... well, maybe not...
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. Bill & Kim's Marvelous Adventure with Catahoula Charlie
30' Classic
F250 Diesel
AIR 9218
At the head waters of the West Fork San Juan River near Pagosa Springs, Colorado:
Following the truck repair episode I returned to Miners Creek for several days. Hiking up the creek was limited due to high run offs but I did see some Big Horn sheep down by the highway and drove as far north west as Spring Creek pass looking for camping spots. I decided that since the weather was still cold at night (mid to upper 20s common) that camping on the passes could wait for a few weeks. Instead, I opted to head to the south side of the range.
Wolf Creek Pass
I was delighted with how my truck handled Wolf Creek pass (10,810 ft). I ended up in third gear by the top (and the whole way down) but the truck hummed along like nothing especially challenging was being asked of it. The temperature gauge didn’t move a bump (for those of you who read along as I traveled last summer power and overheating was my bane). There was a fair amount of snow at the top of the pass attesting to the magnitude of the winters accumulation. Coming down the west slope of the pass I passed a semi that had gone out of control and wrecked providing a bit of reassurance that I wasn’t being to much of an old man about keeping the rig in 3rd coming down the side of the mountain.
Just beyond the pass, I elected to turn up (North) FR 648 or West Fork to find a suitable camping spot. There are two FS campgrounds on this road one of which was open- both of which looked like disasters- more about the FS campgrounds in Colorado later. If you keep going up the road past the second CG (West Fork) about half a mile there are a couple good boondocking spots right on the river. A third, and probably best of the lot, can be found ½ mile further on the road that branches off the main road. This site is also on the river. Not knowing about the third spot, I choose to camp at the first next to the bridge. It seems to me that temperatures here are about 10-15 degrees warmer than on the other side of the range, I don’t know if this is the case or if I just caught a warm front when I moved. In any case it is nice.
The boondock area is located central to plenty to do without getting into your truck. The Rainbow trail head is less than one mile further up the road, and serves as a gateway to the Weminuche Wilderness area. I hiked in as far as the hot springs (4 1/2 miles as the crow flies, some what farther as the hiker travels). The trail is reasonably well maintained although there are numerous blow downs on the trail. I counted four visible waterfalls and a couple cascades on the way up. The trail is UP the entire way but generally with reasonable grades and I ran into snow packs in several places. The scenery is as nice as you will find anywhere. The hot springs lie adjacent to the river on the east side at the bottom of a cliff, when I visited it was a nasty climb down as the trail was degraded over the winter. The water was warm rather than hot, but a wonderful way to spend an hour at the top of the climb. It was a great hike and one that I would recommend. I estimate round trip distance from my camp on the river to be about 11 miles.
Also close by is Treasure Falls, just off the Hwy maybe 4-5 miles from where I camped. Although I drove by it on the way in, I have not visited it yet, but may in the next day or so. Finally, there are plenty of places to fish, although the water from the snow melt remains high. Finally, there is a private campground at the beginning of the road Bruce Spruces (or something like that) that looks ok if you like that sort of thing.
More stuff I have learned. One month into the trip I have had hookups 2 nights (Monte Verde), stayed in FS, National Park, or BLM campgrounds an additional 10 nights and boondocked the balance. My generator seems to run better and start easier up here- who knew?, Using river water to wash dishes, shower, and running the privy allows about 8-10 days between water fills. That folding picnic table from Sams is a boondockers delight, and I need to build racks into my truck camper shell to organize stuff better.
************** RANT WARNING*****************
Forest Service Campgrounds in Colorado.
I don’t know where to begin stating my disappointment in the condition, fees, and management of these public facilities. These campgrounds are priced at $14-16 a night (as I have seen so far) which is frankly an outrage. For comparison, the FS campground I stayed at above Montezuma, NM was $8 and the BLM CG at Wild Rivers was $7. The later facilities were well cared for, whereas the ones here in Colorado are minimally maintained and in generally poor condition. Further, for $8 more a night you can camp in the local private campground with full hookups. FS CGs offer trash bins, pit toilets, and water if you are lucky. While I am not opposed to a nominal fee for camping, it should be remembered that these are public lands and not revenue streams. Apparently the FS doesn’t see it that way since the have elected to pass on management of these campgrounds to a private concessionaire, which I have no doubt is profiting nicely from the arrangement.
I know the argument is that these facilities cost money to operate. No doubt that is true and surely there are limits to the public purse. However, I would argue that public lands, be they parks, campgrounds, picnic grounds, or other are more akin to libraries which serve to improve us than amusement parks which do little more than entertain us. It seems to me that it should be self-evident that our public lands are more than stores of timber and minerals to be exploited. Further, I question the mentality that every activity must generate profit or even revenue. Like space exploration, our forests kindle the spirit of wonder in those who travel its paths and seek solace there. Traveling our forests enriches lives and should be encouraged where possible rather than punished with “user fees”.
Are we now so poor as a people that we must attempt to turn the bounty of our public lands into concessionaire opportunities? I say emphatically: NO. There are costs on the public budget that must be borne with no prospect of self-sufficiency. Our federal government has a budget so large that it defies imagination (Try and imagine a trillion anything, let alone multiples of that.) and I can not believe that a cap of $10 on camping fees and no fees (or a annual-good on all federal lands fee of $10) would materially damage the fiscal condition of the nation. I don’t know about you, but I will be writing to the FS, Department of the Interior, White House, and my congress critters about this situation.
**************RANT ENDS************************
I haven’t decided on the next stop, although I suspect it will be somewhere in the southern part of the state. Maybe up HWY 550? I think it may be approaching time to do some alpine boondocking, but I am turning out to be pretty fickle as far as planning goes……
Didn't you have to cross the river to get to Rainbow Hot Springs? That's what I remember, but maybe I am getting hot springs confused, or there's another trail.
I can't agree more with your rant and think it completely rational.
Check out the Shrine Pass rally link—the rally will not be at Shrine Pass—too muddy—and you could make it to the site which will be revealed shortly.
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Judy and Bob
... well, maybe not...
Adventure
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