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.
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| Passed traffic coming back to trailhead |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Valley leading to both reservoirs was pretty |
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| The dirt road that eventually goes up on top of earthen dam (on the left of pic) |
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| Pretty, but nowhere to picnic |
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| Rito Honda Reservoir - barren |
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| 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.
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