Stewart Creek – Wild Wanderer

13,308 and 12,580

RT Length: 31.68 miles

Elevation Gain: 6041’

I drove to the Eddiesville trailhead the night before, and was up and on the trail at 4:30am. I’ve been in this area for over a week, and was fairly confident I wasn’t going to need microspikes or an ice axe (I didn’t). The trail starts at the south end of the parking area, and follows the Colorado Trail.

I followed the Colorado Trail for 8.25 miles, all the way to the San Luis Peak/13166 saddle. This was a very well-marked trail, which made it difficult to get lost. Also, there weren’t many trail intersections, also making it easy not to get lost. I crossed several small creeks and downed trees on my way, and passed through two gates (latched, not locked).

Here are some pictures of the terrain, which followed Cochetopa creek up the basin.

After hiking for 7 miles, I crossed Stewart Creek

I was now above treeline, and could see the 13166/San Luis Peak saddle.

The Colorado Trail nicely brought me there.

I would now lose 255’ of elevation as I headed down west, towards another pass, still following the Colorado Trail

Here’s the route

It was all pretty easy, class 1 hiking

I arrived at the next pass, and lost another 460’ of elevation, once again, on a nice class 1 trail. This one took me through Bondholder Meadows

Here’s the route

After hiking for a total of 12.5 miles, and at 12290’ of elevation, I saw this cairn, and turned left, leaving the Colorado Trail. I headed south a short ways to the ridge. There was a little bit of snow here, but spikes (etc.) were not needed.

Once on the ridge, I turned left again and followed it southeast. Here I stashed my backpacking gear and started hiking with a daypack with just the necessities. Please keep in mind, what you see here is a false summit. This was all easy class 2 on tundra.

At the false summit, I could see the true summit of 13308. I would need to descend about 135’, and then re-ascend another 335’ to make it to the summit. This area was a mix of tundra and rocks. I followed the ridge southeast.

Once I reached the top of the rocky ridge I was greeted with Alpine tundra. I headed east towards the summit.

When I got there, I was unsure if I was at the summit, or if it were the pint further, so I climbed up and down (still class 2) to the summit further east, but when I got there, the first summit looked higher. When I checked my altimeter, both summits had the same elevation, but when I got back to the first summit, there was a summit register, so there’s no need to climb back and forth. Here’s the view looking at the second summit

And a view from the second summit looking back at the first

I summited PT 13308 at 11:45am

PT 13308:

I headed back down the ridge to where I’d stashed my gear, first descending, then reascending, then descending again.

Here’s looking at that rocky false summit

From that summit, I could see my next peak, 12580

This is where the wind picked up. Forecasted winds were 20-25mph, but I’m sure these exceeded 50mph. I had to hold onto my bandana, as it kept getting blown off my head. I made my way back to my stashed gear, then back to the Colorado Trail.

Once on the Colorado Trail, I continued following it northwest for about .75 miles

I rounded the side of a hill, and PT 12580 came into view. I left the trail, and headed towards the summit. This was all class 2 on tundra, then class 2 on rocks

There was a summit register, which hadn’t been signed in over a year, so I’m thinking this isn’t a very popular peak. I summited PT 12580 at 2pm

PT 12580:

Now to head back down the trail. I took the same way out as I did in. I wanted to sleep close to Bondholder Meadows, but preferably in the trees.

I ended up hiking further than intended, because the campsites I found were full of very dead trees, each placed perfectly to fall on me wherever I chose to sleep. With the current wind gusts, I didn’t want to chance it, so I hiked to the very end of the trees, and found a place to camp surrounded by willows, near a creek that still had a little bit of snow.

I set up my bivy, ate dinner, and bedded down for the night. It was an uneventful and warm night, except for the purring I heard around midnight and the thundering hooves I heard when I woke up. I never saw either animal.

The next morning I was up and on the trail by 6am, headed northeast along the Colorado trail. Here are the two passes I needed to go over

At the top of the last pass, now all I had to do was follow the class 1 trail back to the trailhead.

Here are some pictures the rest of the way back to the trailhead. I saw a couple of bull moose munching in the willows, but that’s common for this area.

I made it back to my truck at 10am.

This was a 31.68 mile hike with 6041’ of elevation gain.

On to the next trailhead!

13166

RT Length: 17.29 miles

Elevation Gain: 3120’

I drove to the Eddiesville trailhead the night before, hoping to get a good look at current conditions in the mountains. On the way in I saw an old, 1980s brown Tacoma parked on the side of the road, and a man sitting on a rock, watching a herd of sheep. All the sheep were facing the opposite way (I’ve become a pro at animal butt shots at this point).

Both creek crossings were manageable, and all the downed trees had been cleared off the dirt road.

There was only one other vehicle in the parking area, which fits about 10 vehicles if everyone parks nicely. No mosquitoes, but tons of flies (they didn’t bite, they were just annoying).

I threw 3 socks full of moth balls under my truck, wondering where the 4^th one went (maybe a marmot absconded with it?) and went to bed. I was on the trail at 4am. The trail starts at the south end of the parking area, and follows the Colorado Trail.

Here are some pictures of the terrain, which followed Cochetopa creek up the basin.

After hiking for 7 miles, I crossed Stewart Creek

and saw a moose. I have him his space, even though he was directly on the trail.

I was now above treeline, and could see the 13166/San Luis Peak saddle.

The Colorado Trail nicely brought me there.

For those of you looking for the current conditions for San Luis pass, here they are. Still areas of snow on the trail, but passable.

At the saddle, I disturbed a small herd of deer.

Deer:

From the saddle, I turned left and headed southeast, gaining 525 feet of elevation towards the summit. This was easy tundra to navigate.

Until I saw this. Hmmm… I was going to have to go and investigate. I headed to the east side of the formation, dropped all my gear except my camera, and headed up. Sorry, no helmet, as I wasn’t aware this was more than a class 2 hike.

This was easier than it initially looked, nothing worse than rainbow climbing at the gym. The rock was all grippy, sturdy, and had lots of hand/footholds. The rock was solid, like in the Crestones, but with more and larger hand holds. I’d call this 30 feet of vertical climbing exposed class 3.

Here’s the route I took up, following the orange rock to the ridge, turning left, and crawling on hands and knees to the summit because it was windy (and exposed, and I didn’t have a helmet, etc.).

I summited 13,166 at 8am

13166:

Now to head back down. I actually just did this feet first, no need to turn and face the wall. There are plenty of hand and foot placements to use for support.

Back on firm ground, I grabbed my gear, and headed back to the saddle.

Back on the Colorado Trail, I followed it back to the trailhead

Oh, and I saw another moose. This one was curious, and kept walking towards me, so I didn’t stay long.

Here are some pictures the rest of the way back to the trailhead

Back at the trailhead, I noticed a chipmunk under my truck, seated atop a sock full of moth balls. So I’m guessing they don’t work with chipmunks. Oh well, at least it wasn’t a marmot. I made it back to my truck at 11am, making this a 17.29 mile hike with 3120’ in elevation gain in 7 hours.

I’d say “on to the next trailhead!” but I’m staying here.

San Luis Peak – 14,014

RT Length: 13.8 miles

Elevation Gain: 3600’
I’ve never had a traffic ticket in my life, but I was pulled over by two different police officers on the drive to the trailhead this morning. I left at 12:30am for this hike, and at about 1:30am I saw police lights flashing behind me. I knew I wasn’t speeding. I never speed when driving in Colorado at night. I’ve had too many rabbit, deer, elk, bear, fox, porcupine, bear, squirrel, etc. dart in front of me at close range to drive over the speed limit. It’s a death sentence for both you and the animal. I actually drive slower at night than I do during the day. Confused, I pulled over into a closed Sonic and looked for my license and registration. The officer was very nice, and let me know I had a headlight out. After making small talk for about 10 minutes he gave me his card and let me go.

About an hour later I saw flashing lights behind me again, and once again pulled over to the side of the road. This time I was prepared (I hadn’t put away my license and registration yet, so it was still in my lap). The officer walked up to my car:

Officer: “Do you know why I pulled you over?”

Me (as nicely as possible): “Yes, I was just pulled over a little while ago. I have a headlight out”

Officer: “Nope, you were speeding”

Me (a bit shocked): “Isn’t the speed limit here 60mph?”

Officer: “Yes, but I clocked you coming over that hill at 62.”

I took a deep breath and apologized for going over the speed limit. He asked me for the card of the previous officer that pulled me over, and then went back to his truck for a minute.

You can imagine all the things I wanted to say at that point, but I just put on a smile and politely waited for him to return. When he came back he gave me his business card (and kept the other officer’s card for himself). He chatted with me for a bit about where I was going, and then eventually…

Officer: “I’m going to let you go with a warning, but from now on keep if 5 below the speed limit. Here’s my card. It has my phone number on it. See, right here (he pointed to the phone number he’d written on the back of the card). If you have any questions about why I pulled you over today, call me. If you get pulled over again for your headlight being out before you can fix it call me and I’ll take care of it for you. My number is right here (he pointed again). Call me if you have any questions”.

At this point I clearly knew what was going on, thanked him, and was on my way. I had no intention of calling him.

I’d started the drive with a full tank of gas, and planned on getting gas before the turnoff to the dirt road that led to the trailhead, but unfortunately I drove for over 75 miles and never saw a gas station. It was going to be tight, but I thought I could make it. Note to others driving from the North: The last gas station is in Saguache, and it’s closed overnight, so you need to get gas in Salida.

I drove down 27 miles of 2WD dirt road in the dark to the trailhead. The conditions were actually pretty good. There were a few downed trees in the road, and the creeks were pretty low for this time of year. Here are some pictures from the way back (note, the creeks rose about a foot during the day)

There isn’t actual parking at the trailhead, you just park on the side of the road. So I parked, got my gear together, and was on my way at 5:15am.

3 Trail in Dark

This trailhead has signs! Woot! I love a trailhead with good signage.

I followed the Stewart Creek for a couple of miles on easy terrain

Eventually coming to an area with a lot of beaver dams.

I saw a beaver swimming in the pond in front of me and decided to take a quick video. The birds were chirping, the sun was rising, and the beaver was swimming peacefully from his den when all the sudden: Whap! This happened:

https://youtu.be/frKwkqjOevY

Hmmm… is it mating season? I continued on, noting how most of the trees were dead here. It was really quite sad.

I passed the remnants of a cabin

And started seeing tracks. Lots and lots of tracks. I’d been seeing deer and cattle tracks (and scat), but these were different. These were moose tracks. It made sense: The creek/willow area was prime moose habitat. I’ve seen moose in the San Juans before, so I decided to keep a lookout for them. Oh, and there was moose scat too. Lots of it!

9 Moose Tracks

The trail was very easy to follow for most of this hike. The only time it was challenging was when it crossed the creek and came back. There were so many dead trees on the trail there wasn’t a clear path to follow. It was obvious people had broken branches and climbed over logs to try to make their way back to the trail. This will not be fun when the trees here get their summer leaves…

I exited the trees and was immediately deposited in the willows.

10 Willows

It was here I saw the moose. Or, well, what I thought was a moose. I only saw it for about half a second, bounding away from me. It looked too light colored to be a moose, and I couldn’t tell how tall it was because I only saw it’s ears above the willows. I walked around a bit to see if I could see where it bounded off to, but was unsuccessful. I rationalized it was probably a moose, because elk don’t usually travel alone and I’d seen moose tracks. I spent the rest of the hike wondering if I’d seen a moose or an elk.

Well, here I was in the willows, so I decided to try out something. I teach outdoor survival skills, and I’d recently learned you can eat willow buds, the inner bark, and leaves (remember, this is in a survival situation: in reality this doesn’t offer many calories, but when there’s no food, it’s an option). I like to actually try out the stuff I teach people before teaching it if possible, so I took off a few buds in varying states and ate them.

This is what I learned:

The small buds were actually not too bad. They tasted a bit nutty. The only problem is it would take tons of them to make much of a dietary difference. They could be picked and put in your pocket to chew on though and to keep your spirits up.
As you can probably imagine, the catkins are terrible and fluffy. Stay away from them.
I didn’t take apart the plant and try this, but I’d probably boil the inner bark before eating it.
The leaves were bitter. Stick to the buds.
In the end I didn’t get sick, so I’m considering this experiment a success.

Shadowselfie with the willows!

12 Willows 1

Back to the trail. I looked ahead of me and saw what I assumed was the peak. It wasn’t. The actual San Luis Peak is behind this peak (which is unnamed because it’s not really a peak)

From here the trail had a little bit of snow in places. It was consolidated and limited, and more of a minor annoyance than anything. No traction (except shoes) needed.

Another shadowselfie because I do that kind of thing

The trail was actually very well maintained.

I made it to the saddle and took a look back down at the basin

Ahead of me I could see the actual San Luis Peak. The trail was very easy to follow, and full of talus.

I summited at 8:30am.

19 San Luis Peak 14014

I love the summit marker! So few peaks still have them.

Video from the summit: https://youtu.be/wP-qS_WAG4Q

The summit wasn’t that cold, so I spent a few minutes doing yoga before heading down. OK, I stood on my head and balanced because I was the only one there and could.

When I was hiking down I looked up at that peak that looks like it’s San Luis Peak but isn’t, and saw something there that wasn’t before. It was far away and I couldn’t quite make it out. It was either a person or a goat. I hadn’t seen anyone else today, or any other vehicles, so I assumed it was a goat. It was! (Sorry it’s not a great pic… I was pretty far away when I took it).

The entire way back I looked for that moose. I was positive I was seeing moose tracks and scat, and this was the perfect area to see a moose! Also, I didn’t want to be surprised by one. I saw a grouse who didn’t like her picture taken…

And when I was exactly 3.3 miles from the trailhead I heard a rustling, looked up, and there she was! A beautiful cow moose! This was not the same creature I’d seen before. She trotted over to the opposite side of the creek and tried to hide in the trees by shielding her face with a trunk. I found this comical, as the trees did little to actually hide her.

Without saying a word it was obvious we both wanted to adventure alone today, so we made a silent agreement: she’d stay on her side of the creek and I’d stay on the other. I let her win the staring contest.

I did my best to steer clear of her, but was able to get a few photos and a quick video. I’ve seen moose while hiking before, and I understand their body language. If this was a fight or flight decision, this moose would definitely have chosen the flight option. She was skittish and wanted nothing to do with me. She watched me carefully until I was gone. I thought it odd she didn’t have a calf and was obviously not pregnant. She looked fully grown.

https://youtu.be/ZNJfGE6x5ug

All in all it was a great hike today! I made it back to my truck at 11am and checked my pedometer: 13.8 miles in just under 6 hours with lots of picture stops and summit playtime. Total success!

I didn’t see anyone on the 27 mile dirt road drive out, so maybe no one knows the trailhead is open? Oh, and my GPS stopped working on the dirt road and wouldn’t re-load, so I had to try and figure out directions in the daylight from the route I’d taken in the dark. I had print directions, but they just didn’t seem right, so I didn’t use them and went by memory: dangerous because I was very low on gas at this point. I ended up choosing correctly, and made it to the Saguache gas station with about a gallon of gas to spare. Next time I’ll fill up in Salida on the way to the trailhead, as apparently that’s the last stop for gas….