We snuck in one more quick trip into the Weminuche Wilderness this last three days.   I wanted to get back to a spot I’d visited several years ago, when I first returned to backpacking and ultralight gear.  Mountain View Crest Overlook is just south of the Weminuche’s 14’ers and the Chicago Basin and offers an outstanding view directly across from that range at almost 13,000’.

There are a number of lakes in the immediate area and we visited at least four of them plus a number of unnamed ponds.  Our destination was Pear Lake where we set up camp the first day and later dropped further down in the afternoon to visit Webb Lake and it’s view up Needle Creek to Chicago Basin proper.

Forecast was “mostly sunny” in Durango, but it never quite cleared at our elevation and remained cool such that I never separated the zip-off portion of my pants, although the first night never dropped below 41°.

Since this loop was short in comparison to many of our adventures ,we had plenty of time for fishing (I actually bought a license: $1 for the year includes Search and Rescue rider, but not transport), and exploring.  In addition to looking for new trails and routes we spent considerable time rehabilitating campsite fire-rings.  Often times there are several rings in one campsite, or in totally inappropriate spots like the one at Ruby Lake where there was no firewood and was technically in a prohibited watershed.  After disposing of 18 one-gallon bags of ash and charcoal we restored the pit with a similar number of bags of fresh dirt (thanks to prairie dog mounds) and a few native plants.  And it allowed for a third tent site.

Mike had great luck fly fishing, and no luck teaching me to “clock to 11PM and don’t bend your wrist”.  He caught and released 12 fish before me and one after, while I caught only reeds and weeds.

Our hiking partner and ultralight guru, Will Rietveld, Southwest Ultralight Backpacking, was reviewing three new lightweight pack prototypes, so we switched off each day, gave unhelpful comments, and modeled for his analyses.  Fun to see what’s in the pipeline in the way of packs and even more fun to hear and share tips and tricks on cutting weight down and making gear serve two or more purposes.  We couldn’t help suggesting that Will should show how he tests all the packs on a trip like this by trying them all on at once.

Next day was even more leisurely, visiting other lakes, fishing, checking campsites and exploring the area.  We only managed 16+ miles but climbed and descended 6,400’ in this tight mountainous region.  If the weather were less cloudy our photos would be worthy of publishing as the views were spectacular.