We made it to the great state of Colorado! It is a new state for all three of us and one that has a lot of hype so we were really pumped to cross the state line. We spent a few days near Taos, NM before heading to Colorado.
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| Caught an Albuquerque Isotopes game and went camping with the Eastburn family. |
We went on an overnight trip in the Taos ski valley.
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| Camping spot before taking off on the hike. |
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| Campsite had a nice view of Wheeler Peak, tallest point in NM. |
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| Went to some hot springs along the Rio Grande for some relaxation after the hike. |
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| Em and Misha celebrating the border crossing! |
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It was sad to leave northern New Mexico. Taos Mesa Brewing ended up being one of our fav spots we visited.
Our first stop in Colorado was Pagosa Springs. This town was pretty special and in the end we spent a good bit of time here, more than we initially planned. |
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| Pagosa Springs skate park |
With plenty of snow still left at the high elevations we abandoned our plan of hiking in South San Juan Wilderness and decided to go to Weminuche Wilderness instead, where there are more options at lower elevations. The weather hasn't been in our favor, though the local farmers are happy. There was some late snowfall and since then there has been a lot more rain than usual. The creeks are high and the wilderness is wet. We made the best of it.
Our first hike was a 4 mile overnight trip to Shaw Lake.
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| Campsite at Shaw Lake after a 4 mile backpacking trip. The fish weren't biting unfortunately, but the site was stunning. |
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| Misha offered to drive but was quickly rejected. |
When we arrived at Williams Creek in Weminuche we delayed our backpacking trip a day due to rain. Instead of hiking we spent the day reading in the tent and fishing from the creek.
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| We nicknamed our campsite 'The Backyard' because of the awesome view from up on the hill nearby. |
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| Home sweet home |
Despite the less than ideal conditions we did do a 25 mile 2 night backpacking trip from Poison Park Trailhead to Divide and Granite Lakes. The landscape was stunning and we had an amazing moose sighting. We saw a bull moose as well as a female drinking from a pond in a meadow, maybe 50 yards away. Misha broke in her new backpack by rolling around in fish remains. She still stinks!
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| Aspens |
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| Divide Lake |
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| Granite Lake |
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| Pine River valley |
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| Moose |
Finally, the weather wore us down and we headed for a motel in Pagosa Springs. The town is so nice and our little roadside motel so comfy, that we decided to stay a second night. You just can't beat a hot shower, a bed, a brewery within walking distance and a hot tub!
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| Disc golf in Pagosa Springs |
We are getting very excited for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival later this week. Misha will be staying at doggie camp on a ranch in Redvale while we enjoy some bluegrass and get down at the festival. First, however, we are headed for Emerald Lake in Weminuche Wilderness on an overnight today, Colorado's 2nd largest natural lake.
