Williams Creek Trail and Lake Fork Canyon

Tuesday we went and talked with folks in Lake City to try to get more information on where to hike.  The hikes we found have all been listed as strenuous, not our cup of tea.  We got a couple of leads, came back to the RV and packed up a lunch and we headed up the Alpine Loop towards Williams  Creek Trailhead.  About 3 miles along the loop, was no problem for the car.  About 6 miles in you really need an ATV or Jeep since the roads gets more rocky.

Aspens have not changed color yet

One crossing of creek, have another to do 

Moved back into aspens

Found the trailhead, changed into our gear, and off we went.  The trail first started slowly increasing in altitude along a pretty aspen forest.  They are beginning to change which is about 3 weeks early, so hopefully in another week or so the trees will really be spectacular and we will see some beautiful scenery.

And then we started to climb

Found the second crossing, creek really low

Had to hug the side of a cliff for most part

After the aspen grove the trail opened up in a flat meadow, and we did not find the trail that difficult.  Continued on, came to a large fir/pine grove, did see signs of bear activity with trees scratched, still moving upward.

Back at the beginning

Eventually we came to a creek, water was low so we were able to cross without any difficulty.  And then we really started to climb.  The best part is we were in the forest so we had ample shade.  Came to a second creek, crossed that and continued on for a short bit and saw the trail really took a sharp incline and we decided not to go on.  Dave check our elevation and we had climbed 600 feet, the equivalent of walking up 40 flights of stairs.  A tidge pooped.  Our 2 hour hike was just right.  When we looked at the information on the hike afterwards, it was rated strenuous.  We felt good we did what we could.  This high altitude is really hard on the body.

A well-known family in Lake City

Entrance to Gateway

Traveled along the Lake Fork of Gunnison River
on old railroad grade

Yesterday we drove north along Route 149 towards the “Gateway” which everyone seems to know about and followed the gravel road along the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River.  In the late 1800’s the railroad was built along and through the canyon connecting Sapinero which lies on the Blue Mesa Reservoir and the main road which links Gunnison to Montrose, and it was built south to Lake City which provided Lake City with a means to ship out it’s silver and ore.

Water was so clear

The railroad was abandoned in 1933 but where the tracks were are now a nice scenic road along the river.  We took the road to the trailhead for fishing and hiking.  We took the path along the river for quite some distance and we were blown away by the beautiful scenery played out in front of us.

At one point we saw a graveyard of driftwood.  Came across a man who was fishing and he explained that last year there was a log jam and the river rose up 30 feet before breaking apart and floating to Blue Mesa Reservoir.  Amazing to see!

We were not far from Blue Mesa Reservoir

Camera set up to monitor activity

Start of where log jam happened

The amount of driftwood was amazing

Hard to see but golden eagle sitting on bottom log - at top of it

We will definitely come back to the Gateway before we leave Lake City.

Continental Divide, Continental Reservoir, Rito Hondo ReservoirVa

We did a couple of small hikes in the area, one of them was not so pretty, the beetle infestation of the pine trees was terrible which made the scenery very depressing.  We drove south, up and over the Slumgullion Pass on towards the Continental Divide where Spring Creek Pass is located.

Passed traffic coming back to trailhead

Not very pretty 

There is a picnic area with ample parking and it is a stop over for those hiking the Continental Divide Trail and/or the Colorado Trail.  The Colorado Trail is a 470 mile path that starts just southwest of Denver and ends in Durango.  The Continental Divide Trail extends from the border of Mexico to the border of Canada.  3,100 miles long, has established stops every 20 miles or so for those hiking through to camp for the night.

Out in the middle of nowhere

As we started up the trail(s) we had to dodge a lot of mud puddles, had rained hard the previous day.  And we noticed where vehicles were just recently gone through and one of them was bottoming out and scraping its bottom.  Could not figure out what or who would put their vehicle in that much harm.  We were also climbing continuously, starting at 10,920 feet and going up.  Little hard to breathe at times, had to stop and rest.

By the time we got back to car, more ATVs were being off-loaded

About a mile or so further we saw a huge complex of tents, located on a relatively flat meadow, and we noticed, from a distance, ladders going up, lots of activity.  As we walked by we noticed a number of men, one called out to see if we needed water, and to let us know that it got really muddy further on.  I just felt uneasy stopping to chat, so we walked on for a ways.

On our return, we decided to see what was going on.  4 vehicles, a ATV, a large trailer with the back end open, just what the heck?  One of the men said he had waited 14 years for the lottery to pick him and he wanted this area for elk hunting.  The next day bow-hunting for elk began and they were setting up for the 2 week stay to elk hunt.  They came from Texas to hunt.  Wow.

How'd this cow get on the road?

After we got back to the car, we decided to go find the Continental Reservoir which was not much farther along Route 149.  And it was very full of water.  No place to stop and have a lunch, only for fishing boats, so we turned around and went to Rito Hondo Reservoir which we passed on the way to the Continental.  Had to contend with a cow staring at us while we sat in the car eating our lunch.  Pretty little lake, man-made, some campers spread out along the banks, a couple of row boats, no shade.

Valley leading to both reservoirs was pretty

The dirt road that eventually goes up on top of earthen dam (on the left of pic)

Pretty, but nowhere to picnic

Rito Honda Reservoir - barren

This girl stared at us the whole time we were eating lunch

A nice day to be outside even though the scenery at times was blah.