Category Archives: Durango

Romanian Guest

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SimonWS2
Once again we had the pleasure of hosting a WarmShowers.org cross-country cyclist, this time a young man from Romania. We especially enjoy cyclists from outside the US because it gives us a chance to look into that country’s details on Google Earth and also on Wikipedia. It’s always nice to prep ourselves with geographical and demographic data before a visitors arrival.

For example we learned that Romania is just smaller than Colorado but has a population just in between Texas and New York at 20 million. I looked up cycling in Romania, specifically in Transylvania where he’s from, and read that “it’s so wonderful you need to come visit before it changes”. He was amused that I found that quote.
SimonWS
Simon came over on a J-2 visa (another interesting thing I learned, was how all the National Parks and resorts get their foreign staff for the high seasons), and that visa allows him to work 90 days and then travel for another 30 days. What was most interesting was that he’d been working in a bike shop in Delaware and that’s how he decided to cycle across the states. His original plan was to rent a car with friends, but between cost and quality of companions available, he chose to ride. If you look carefully at his baggage you’ll be able to notice that he’s carrying “more than I weigh”. His bike shop loaned him the bike and he’s carrying full camping and cold weather gear.

His route is from Los Angles to Delaware via Kentucky where he hopes to visit the famous Mammoth Cave. He’s a caver. Super 24-year-old young man just graduated with a masters in Hydrology, “but there aren’t any jobs because only the Government hires hydrologists and the government is broke”.

Ladders

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20130907-170007.jpgLast night’s stay at the Praflaurie hut was super crowded with about 70 hikers. Amazing considering how virtually remote it was and how far it is to get there from Verbier. Actually there were two routes and we took the more scenic and exposed route which afforded the rare opportunity to see both Chamois and Ibex in the wild. I’ll have to do some photoshop cropping to get them to show up in the photos before I can prove our proximity.

20130907-170600.jpg Our room was a double bunk bed with a Russian couple below with whom we never spoke a word but exchanged some smiles. Other rooms had 12 and (we heard) as many as 16 bunks. Dinner is served family style, with soup then salad and then a goulash with mashed potatoes. Surprisingly there was plenty and even seconds and thirds. Construction of the hut was reasonably new but they only provide 2 pay showers and two toilets for that many bunks. Needless to say it was quite interesting to see the line coming away from the bathroom.

20130907-171133.jpgWeather has still been wonderful but stormy weather is forecast. We are about three valleys over from the Mont Blanc massif and can only see the backside when we summit a pass. Another interesting fact about the hikers is that they have solidified into mostly English speaking variety. The French contingent has mostly turned at the Tour du Mont Blanc trail and now it’s almost all English on the tracks. The real interesting group is from Seattle with an 81 year old couple and their sons and families, 11 in total. Of course there are several versions of American tours on the route and they vary from supported luggage and lunches to the guided versions.

20130907-172103.jpgToday’s route featured a Hobson’s choice of 70′ vertical ladders or a long loose gravel climb over the adjacent Summit, followed by a 1000 meter descent in to the town of Arolla with it’s three hotels and single ski lift. The small town square was filled on my arrival with another trail runner’s finish line. Seems to be quite popular, this ultra trail running around here. The field must have been easily 4-500 runners in all categories.

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Garage Move

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Finally, we got moved into our newest garage closer to the front door of our current condominium. Another test from the iPad version of WordPress.

IPad test

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This is a test of the iPad blogging software for WordPress. Should there really be a blog when we travel you should Read accordingly. What’s going to be the most problematic is getting photos from my iPhone to my iPad. And I don’t think we’ll be able to format photos left right center.

Weminuche Loop

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WemLoopTop

This jagged red track on the topo represents about 3 of 5 days recently spent in the Alpine regions of the Weminuche Wilderness of the San Juan Mountains just northeast of Durango.  Without a question this was one of the most beautiful (and adventurous) trips I’ve made in a number of years.  Putting my ultralight gear to the test was just one of the features of this high country trek of about 53 miles with approximately 16,200′ of elevation gain and a corresponding 18,100′ of descent.

 

Cold garbIt’s a wonder that we don’t have to go to far-off regions of the world for an alpine experience, because we have such an amazing 488,210 acres of true wilderness so close to home.  The San Juan National Forest, of which the Weminuche is a quarter, is almost 3,000 square miles. Before this trip, I had only “dabbled” in this expansive wonderland, with most trips very near to Trailheads and access roads. Once we got a couple miles in on the Cave Basin trail north of Vallecito Reservoir, we left the beaten trail and rarely trod on designated trails again until we exited the high country at Chicago Basin on the 6-mile downhill route to catch the Silverton Narrow Gauge train at it’s wilderness stop at Needleton.  It’s not unusual to have afternoon thunderstorms come thru the San Juans, but we hit the jackpot of adverse weather the first night, when we had hard hail, followed by wet snow, and then another round of hail for a couple of hours.

Frozen TentHoled up in each of our tents we were dry and warm but the “trim” of the tent shape suffered when loaded down with snow and ice.

tgWISI’ve signed up to be a Wilderness Information Specialist as a volunteer for the National Forest Service and lucked out to have my indoctrination with Will Rietveld a long time resident of Durango and intimate of San Juans.  He prefers to hike off-trail, above tree line, and no longer requires a map. So we spent most of those 5 days high up in the alpine regions of the San Juans, only venturing down into the thinned tree line long enough to contour or traverse up to another pass and on to the next drainage.

We had much in common, most notably an interest in ultralight backpacking gear, as he’s been an ultralight gear editor and writer/reviewer for some online and print publications for over 10 years.  Our gear was very similar and/or he knew all about my choices, their weights and usefulness.  Needless to say I took copious notes on how to tweak my gear and skills.

Alpine Camp

Friendly goatsThe first four days we only saw three hiking parties and that was when we dropped down to drainages that had established trails.  Wearing a Forest Service shirt seems to make folks friendlier and it was fun to “chat them up.” We didn’t see many live elk, however there were numerous mule deer, ptarmigan,and mountain goats, plus the ubiquitous pica and marmots.  We were too high to encounter any bear as the foraging above tree line is non-existant.

Last PassThe high point, both literally and figuratively, was climb up the east side of the pass between Sunlight and Windom peaks at first light the last morning.  Our morning snack at 6:45 am was in the notch at 13,700′ between two of the most popular 14’ers in the Weminuche.

Arrowhead LeftOh, Will did find an arrowhead about 50′ from one of our tent sites. Which, according to the rules of the National Forest, remains right where he found it. Here’s hoping that I can remember his shortcuts and routes across that spectacular country.

 

Weekend Bash

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Columbine

On this hike I rarely took time to smell the flowers.  It’s the end of July and the wildflowers are still prolific at altitude and the Colorado Columbine always catches your eye.  It just wasn’t a hike that I wanted to take the time to get the iPhone camera out and snap away.  Besides I’d just done this exact route either last year or the year before on my mountain bike.

The occasion to duplicate a route I’d just recently done, was that it was some place with sufficient distance, close to home and where I could snag a ride to the trailhead without inconveniencing anyone (thanks Christopher).  I’ve wanted to know, ever since I met a thru hiker (incidentally on this same trail while I was mountain biking) who had averaged 33 miles per day out of Denver on the 550 mile Colorado Trail to Durango.  He’s the first UltraLight hiker I ever met and I was fascinated on how it was possible to cover over 30 miles a day with a backpack.

Now that I am an UltraLight backpacker I’ve wanted to learn how many miles I could cover in a day (realizing that he’d done that for over 14 days in a row).  With several time constraints, re-covering the same segment of the Colorado Trail made perfect sense, so I hastily packed my gear and hitched a ride to Molas Pass above Silverton.  Starting just before noon on Saturday I managed to make my goal at the top of Junction Creek by Sunday noon.  (Daniel and grand girls were arriving from Portland late Sunday).

Every hike is a shake down, but this one had several things I wanted to test, besides my body.  New hiking shoes, the iPhone Gaia GPS system, new poles, a SteriPen water purifier and most important how fast I could travel with 8.5# of base weight in my pack.  I’m sure I started out too fast, because at the 3 hour mark, when I took my first break, another UL hiker breezed by and I never saw him again.

First day there was no rain, only loud clatterings of thunder and lots of lightening south of my track.  I managed 20.5 miles when I quit walking at 8 PM, this was just shy of my first mt.bike camp from the year before.  Next day looked wonderful, and I was doing great until I missed a trail marker when I merged into a forest service road.  Evidently the route was just 100 yards up the road to the right, but I was expecting the trail to go left and missed the trail entirely.  I followed 4 mt. biker tracks I’d seen pass me earlier, down a trail I later learned was Hotel Draw, and it was well over an hour before I realized I was on a descending ridge to the east of where I was supposed to be.  Turning around an hiking uphill an hour was a hard decision, but once I got back on the right trail I was glad I had.

I was trying to make 30 miles that day but fell about a half mile short when I chose a campsite just below a towering scree slope at 8:30 PM, with rain starting to close in.  I’d stopped about 6 PM during a short squall to cook dinner in the trees, so all I had to do was put up the tent and bed down.  Funny thing I learned was, my body was so sore that I couldn’t get to sleep.  No position was comfortable and it took 2 ibuprofen at midnight to settle me down.  Heavy rain all night tested my newest UL tent and proved it dry.  I’ve seldom, if ever, broke camp in the rain but Sunday morning I did, rolling my tent up last and stowing it outside the pack, on top.

It rained the entire morning, unusual for the La Platas, as the thunderstorms generally come in about noon.  Traversing Indian Ridge was exciting with driving rain and hail at over 12,000′ and no trees to break up the torrent.  Just as I headed down from the last pass the rain abetted and I was possible to view the vast forest below.  I used the Spot Locator to signal Stanna that I was approaching the trailhead meeting point and she was there just before I got to the intersection.

Met and saw a number of hikers and bikers along the way.  Most interesting was seeing 3 solo bike packers, one of whom was a racer from the Colorado Trail race which started 7 days earlier.  She had gotten altitude sickness in climbing the first 6,000′ out of Durango and bailed down to Rico on the western side of the LaPlata mountains.  After recovering for 4 days, she set out again to finish the race to Denver.  Wish I’d taken her photo as we talked about 10 minutes at a stream.  Her bike had much the same gear I use on my bikepacking rig.

MolasJunction ElevationsWith the extra mileage down Hotel Draw I’d covered 61 miles in 48 hours, from noon Friday to noon Sunday.  What I learned was: 20 miles is okay, 25 is tiring and 30 makes for a real hard day.  I’m still trying to validate the elevation gain and loss, but my GPS says 34,000′.  My new shoes aren’t that great, I need waterproof over-mitts and I should have loaded the topo maps in my GPS before I left.  SteriPen works fine but I need to modify the wide-mouth bottle cap.  All good to know.

Mt. Saint Helens

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It’s hard to backpack on the devastation side of Mt Saint Helens.  Most the trails on the north side of the mountain, where the 33 year ago volcano wiped out miles and miles of National Park forest, visitors are relegated to day hiking or trailheads for very distant backcountry camping.  We had assumed you could backpack in the National Forest like you can in Colorado, just about anywhere.  As we found out once IMG_0225arriving high up the park road at the Johnson Observatory (well worth a trip on it’s own), the only unregulated camping is on the south side of the mountain.  Fortunately with the late summer sun we were able to retreat about a 100 miles to the south side of the mountain and actually get much closer to America’s youngest and most active volcano.  The contrast between the two sides is well worth experiencing.  Mordor on the north IMG_3321slope and a verdant and dense old growth forest on the south facing slopes.  Since we only had two days for our outing we made the best of the time and were able to hike in almost 3 miles and find a camp site just below tree line well before dark.  The girls do real well once we get going and love “tight-roping walking” downed trees, scrambling on rocks and fooling around with found objects.

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Fortunately camp food never goes down with a fuss and it doesn’t take long for them to go to sleep.  We sure like hiking with them and hope they’ll remember these times with us.IMG_3351

 

Agressive Marmot

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MarmotTook a weekend hike along the Colorado Trail between Molas Pass and Coal Bank Pass which is entirely above 10,500′ elevation.  It was an invitation for Senior Outdoors folks to try out and see Ultra Lite gear in a high altitude hiking and camping setting.  Unfortunately only 3 members of the choir showed up, probably because it was Father’s Day weekend.

breakEngineerNever-the-less, as John Martin’s trip report states it was “just average gorgeous”, if only the three of us took advantage of the weather.  Total pack weights (including food and water) was 15, 15 and 17 pounds.  The night temps were down to 29 or 30°, it didn’t rain but there was a very short period of graupal snow. We all tested some new piece of gear and were satisfied with performance, warmth and versatility.

What was unique to all of us was the tribe of aggressive marmots we found at our first camp choice.  We’d each pitched tents near the edge of a large meadow to cut the wind and have smoother ground.  Almost before we had the tents up the large marmot pictured above started coming after our gear on the ground, with us no less than 5 feet away.  He’d (or she’d) dart away and be back in seconds once they perceived we weren’t a threat.  We became a threat after he picked up my hydration valve and started nibbling on it.  Sticks and rocks wouldn’t keep him away, but he still managed to bite a hiking pole plastic joint, and another plastic item.

We decided to move the tents into the center of the meadow where we could keep an eye on the marauders (several buddies showed up by now – coming in at various points on the perimeter).  While we were finishing dinner another marmot came so close, John decided to run them off with rocks we’d gathered for just that eventuality.  Unfortunately one rock went “way” wild and my new cuban fiber Hexamid Twin tent took a direct hit, creating a star shaped rent in the top panel.  By this time, we feared that once we went to sleep they’d be gnawing on our tents and lines directly and we de-camped to higher ground a quarter miles up the trail.  No further encounters were experienced.

PassCkCaveAll in all the weather was superb, since the summer monsoons hadn’t begun and at that altitude it was cool enough to enjoy hiking in the direct sun.  We covered about 19 miles in two days with a couple of planned route variances, including a visit to a limestone cave we’ve always heard was in the vicinity.

Love to show you this trail. It is mostly level with only one climb in the middle.MarmotCamp

 

 

Castle Rock

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smgNeedlesA friend of our’s is often quoted as saying, “I can’t believe I get to live here!”  Guess we’d like to remember to say that more often.

View of the West Needles from atop Castle Rock on the Elbert Trail.

Elbert Trail HIkeAs a part of our training for the Haute Route this Fall we knocked off a local favorite just north of Durango overlooking the upper Animas Valley just shy of Purgatory (Durango Mountain Village Ski Area).  Just a morning hike of 2.73 miles but the views are outstanding and you’re home in-time for lunch.

I was testing the Gaia GPS app – http://www.gaiagps.com -for my iPhone to see how well it takes and transfers GPX tracks and was very impressed at the ease and simplicity.

 

Project Mode

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PatchingEvery once in awhile you need to stay home and tackle the project list.  Late May has been that time for us.  Not to say the “Guilt meter” hasn’t pegged a few times, with decent hiking weather finally arriving and especially NOT riding in the Iron Horse Classic this year.

The good news is numerous projects are completed and it’s almost time to get back outdoors.  As you can see our 30 year old cataraft needed some patching, nothing serious but when you have to pump it back up mid-dayon a river trip, it’s time to find those niggling air leaks.  Two old patches had micro leaks that we never found on the river, and only after lots of soapy water and driveway conditions, did they show themselves.  The Argonaut original will be ready for the Middle Fork on June 26th.

The deck sprinkler system has been installed for the season, we’ve now got WiFi available for the Highlander, teeth have been pulled, the 4Runner has a driver door lock, insurance photos finally made it to a secure undisclosed location, and most importantly the Excel Gear lists have been updated and tweaked.  Oh and we now have a fresh decor in the guest bathroom, which has only been on the list since we purchased the condo.  That project alone took a week and tools I haven’t used in ages.

InsulatedCementAll the while we’ve been knocking off projects, the HOA has been tearing up our parking lot to install the “heated” driveway section, which will keep the new Colorado arrivals from experiencing ice on their way to the trash and recycles.  This extremely expensive upgrade is schedule to take 3 months and we are now 30 days into the project with the sound of heavy equipment beeping backwards and rumbling with various compactors.  Access across the great rubble divide has been challenging not to mention playing the urban city parking roulette on the street.  In case you’re wondering that’s 2″ Blue Board insulation placed 8″ below grade so that our new “in-driveway” heating will work as promised.

sandalsAnd just because it doesn’t fit anywhere else, I’ve included my latest MYOG* project for the ultralight gear list.  At 1.15 ounces total, these blue foam camp sandals weigh less than a pair of Smart Wool socks.  Sure hope they work as advertised!

 

 

*Make your own Gear

Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter Fail

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Seal leakInitially excited by product reviews and then by actually weighing and including the Sawywer Squeeze Water Filter system in my ultralight gear, I was disappointed and alarmed to see untreated water dripping and squirting directly into the newly treated water.  My hiking companions wouldn’t drink any on my filtered water saying, “your water isn’t clean.  I’d rather pump mine.”

Pin holesThis was the first time I’d ever carried and tried my new Sawyer Filter system.  I noticed it squirting out of two different pinholes mid-bag on the first squeeze and then saw a steady stream flowing between the nylon filler top and the bag.  Good thing we had other filters and Aqua Mira on the same trip.  The sparse weight and convenience to quickly filtering water doesn’t do any good if you still get tainted water into the filtered water.  I’ve written Sawyer and sent photos of the two separate problems with my 1 liter squeeze bag and not heard a word from the company.  A search online shows that other purchasers have had leak problems as well.  Most the forum responses suggest using other manufactures bags. Here is a link to other fails (http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=65866). If that’s the case, then paying for the system and 3 included bags in the first place for $49.95 seems like a rip-off.  Sure you can buy replacement bags but those will probably leak too since they are exactly the same.  And if you need another companies bags why should we pay for 3 Sawyer bags in the first place.  Why risk taking a system that will leak and drip bad water into good water?

Spring Arrives

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Spring MushroomAmazing how Spring can finally burst through like these mushrooms pushing thru the road base of a hard-packed forest service road.  I’ve been pushing Spring for about 6 weeks and I finally managed to find a place to get out on the newly rigged mountain bike.  With a little guidance I found a loop below the snowmelt line that was within an hour of Durango, and a wonderful place to to shake down the new bikepack rig.  We often drive by or even through the area west of Dolores, Colorado but have only hiked off of Lizard Head Pass to the north near Trout Lake.  I never imagined how wonderful this lower elevated portion of the San Juan National Forest was for a playground.  In fact I had to double take on the name of the forest since the San Juan range is east of the La Platas and this region is well west of the La Platas.BoggyDrawGEIt wasn’t until I’d selected the route that I learned they have a trail over there called Boggy Draw and to this point I’m not quite sure where that trail starts and ends, but I did follow a few Boggy sign markers along the way.  I used Garmin Base Camp software and it’s version of geodesic topos, which are literally either too old or too accurate for Boggy Drawcontemporary route selection.  Garmin will route you along the most direct road between two waypoints, but what many long haul truckers have learned is, that road may no longer be in service.  Having a mountain bike is much more forgiving than an eighteen-wheeler, when I ducked under the “road closed” sign and slid down the historic wagon road between several of the waypoints.  I only got “stymied” once Crooked Reserviorwhen the locked gate said No Trespassing and I had to abort in favor of a state highway.  Bike, body and bags held up just fine for an inaugural bash thru the backcountry.  I’ll need to add a charging cable to the list if I want to extend the battery life of the Garmin GPS.  And I found that the front harness straps loosen, and a skid plate at the bottom of that harness would save the fabric from wear.

The original route was 85 miles as plotted but I’m sure I ran a little over with that one backtrack.  As with the Great Divide route the ride was primarily on Forest Service roads, a few logging roads and a stretch of state highway.  Early on the forest was so dense my Spot Locater wasn’t picking up a satellite signal but by mid-afternoon the way opened up into vast high altitude grasslands with grazing game and reservoirs.  Keeping below 9,000′Crooked Camp was the plan so that there wasn’t any snow and camping temperatures would be above freezing.  As with most of my pre-Spring escapades this year it was great making the first tracks on most of the trails, however it also makes for soft ground for the tires which can make handling a bit tricker.  It was pure luck to have discovered this route and even better to be one of the first riders this year.  Not a single bike tire proceeded me anywhere along the route.  I did come across two separate horse riding groups as I got closer to McPhee Recreational Area but not many other recreationalists.

As is customary on these solo ventures, I truly enjoy listening to my selection of Audible Books.  Believe it or not I got thru two great books I’m eager to recommend: The One World Schoolhouse by Salman Khan and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.  Wow! both these had been recommend to me and they certainly are FSR 214worth passing on as great choices.  This was the first prolonged test of my iPhone for virtually non-stop listening and after two books (6 hours and 5 hours) plus a number of podcasts, not to mention several photos, the phone was still at 47% battery life.  Pure joy to lean against a stump after dinner watching the sun set, listening to a great book.  (I had to finish the first one after dark in the tent, it was so good.)  And those books sure made the bumpy freshly graded forest service road slip by unnoticed.  And yes the sights, sounds and sense remain unhindered.