Monday, June 11
Over the weekend, the buzz online and among hikers was that the fire near Durango, Colorado would result in the closure of the CDT north of Wolf Creek. After picking up my resupply box at the post office and having breakfast, I stopped by the ranger station to see if they had any details on the fire and/or trail closures.
The news was that the ENTIRE San Juan National Forest would be CLOSED at midnight on Monday, June 11 (TODAY). With over 100 miles or the CDT weaving in and out of this forest between Pagosa Springs and Lake City, I needed an alternate plan. The only suggestion the ranger had was to road walk on highways to Lake City. But I had another idea...since the forest wasn’t “officially closed” until midnight, what if I hiked the official CDT in the San Juan National Forest for 14 miles to another trail called the Creede Cutoff that is in the Rio Grande National Forest. I promised to be out of the San Juan National Forest before the official closure and the ranger gave me the thumbs up! My next resupply will be in the tiny town of Creede. From there I will road walk for 12 miles and rejoin the CDT on my way to Monarch Pass. If you check the map showing my progress, you'll see that Creede is east of the official trail and avoids the San Juan National Forest.I hear there are fires north of here, so I'm guessing this won't be the last time you hear about me hiking an alternate.
By 10:30 AM I was back at Wolf Creek Pass and ready to hike out! Above is the group I hiked out with. Left to right: Medic, Bourbon, Me, 5 Star, and Smoky. We should be in Creede on Wednesday! There was a steep climb out of Wolf Creek Pass and in the afternoon the smoke was thick. I took this picture to show how hazy the mountains look in the distance.
Tuesday, June 12
The Creede Cutoff is not an often used or well maintained trail and there is lots of blow-down and dead trees to deal with. We spent a few hours in the morning bush-wacking through a burn section of the forest. It was slow going and a lot of work, but eventually a trail appeared and we made some good progress in the afternoon. We camped 10 miles from Creede and planned an early morning start to get into town by lunch time.
Wednesday, June 13
It was a downhill march into Creede and we arrived in time to enjoy a celebratory lunch! I'm sharing a room with 5 Star and since it was a last minute decision to hike to Creede, I don't have a resupply box waiting for me here. I hiked in with some extra food and will do some grocery shopping so I'll have enough for the 5 days to Monarch Pass. I'll hitch from the pass into Salida, Colorado.
For additional content, check out Flickr for images, YouTube for video, SoundCloud for audio, and the Postholer Map with my most recent location.
Thanks for following along!
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