Colorado in the Rain!

This year we decided to wait until after the forest fire and the monsoon seasons were over before heading to Colorado. Well, we got one right! Thankfully we were in Pagosa Springs and not the Boulder area. It was hard to watch the devastation nightly on the news; what a mess. Anyway, we did get in two hikes that were on Kent's bucket list; one didn't go as planned, but it all worked out in the end. We covered roughly 20 miles on foot in some amazing country. We enjoyed getting together with Fred & Debbie Sutton. Dinner always tastes better when dining out with friends. Our condo was the perfect "Home away from Home" place to stay. We ended our week with a long soak at the Hot Springs. The best part is visiting with people, this year we met a nice couple from Pueblo. It is a long drive to Pagosa, but we shall return....Quartz Lake is still on our bucket list and the Hot Springs are calling!

It's starting to rain and we're still in Utah

I think we've left the rain behind us!

We stayed in a condo at the Wyndam Pagosa

Sunday afternoon we took a walk up Reservoir Hill

A nice view of the town and the mountains

Nice wood carvings at Festival Meadow

A wise old owl and a sly fox

Another view of the San Juan Mountains

There is an 18 hole Frisbee golf course on the hill

Pagosa Brewing Company is a unique place to eat

We sat outdoors and enjoyed our lunch with homemade Root Beer

Heading through town early Monday morning

An hour and a half later we arrived at the Crater Lake Trailhead 11,700 ft.

Setting the GPS, also the last time our 4Runner was clean

Near the high point on the trail at 12,179 ft.

The trail drops in elevation

What goes down, must come back up!

Now we can see where we are headed

Crater Creek flowing out of the lake

Our first glimpse of Crater Lake 10,900 ft.

Kent's Penrod Goliath is all of 8.5 inches and the reel

Remove the cap and attach the reel

It really is a fishing pole and 63 inches long

What a sight . . . beautiful!

We got up here early to avoid the rain

Red currants

Lush vegetation

Elderberry bushes

Kent fished his way around the lake

It was nice to see wildflowers still in bloom

We had to make our own trail

Long Trek Mountain is in the distance

So far, the fish are avoiding Kent

Looking back to where we started from

One quick picture before we head back down the trail

We are thankful for the trail

Looking towards Quartz Ridge

We are definitely up high in the mountains

Rain makes interesting things grow

Hiking along near the Continental Divide

We are just about back, 7.5 miles in all

An aerial view of our Crater Lake hike

For $50 a night, this could be your cabin

I've never seen a mushroom like this before, very pretty

Make a wish!

Down the road we stopped at Park Creek

A feisty brown trout

Kent often likes to rock hop to a better spot

Uh oh!  Now how do I get back?

I'm the one behind the camera

Shuttling a truck up the First Fork Road for tomorrow's Piedra River hike

Pagosa Junction, also known as Gato

Thistles

This old railroad bridge spans Cat Creek

The railroad was started in 1881 by Pagosa Lumber Company

Denver Rio Grande Western Railroad took over and operated until the 1950's

Previous churches were washed away by floods, this church is located on a hill

The church is in good shape and out in the middle of nowhere

Pretty stained glass windows

The freight car has seen better days

Remnants of old

Old boiler building

Rainy day gear for the Piedra River hike

We started out on "a" trail, not "the" trail we wanted

Trick or Treat . . . here I come!

Ice fissures along the Ice Cave Ridge trail

Now we are on the "right" trail hiking along the Piedra River

The river is running clear despite the rain

Pretty box canyon area along the trail

So far, so good

Good signage is always helpful

The cows thought we looked a little odd

We encountered a lot of muck and standing water on the trail

The rain stopped, but the trail remained wet

The trail was easy and followed the river

No bridge at Sand Creek . . . now what?  We were forced to turn around

Sand Creek is running high and fast, due to a forest fire last year

Thankfully the other creeks had footbridges

It turned out to be a pretty day after all

It was so quiet walking through the forest

Back into the canyon area

Almost back to the trail head

A little bit of water and mud never hurt anyone

The road to Quartz Lake was very muddy and slick so we had to turn back

Buckles Lake will have to do for now

The clouds are hanging low over the mountains, the lake looks more like a pond

The geese were enjoying the water

Time to head back to town and wash away the mud, not the memories

Friday night we spent a couple of hours soaking in the "Clouds in My Coffee" hot spring pool . . . fabulous!