Kent and I spent the first week of August in Southwestern Colorado. It was great to revisit one of our favorite spots--Pagosa Springs. If you've never soaked in the hot springs, you ought to give it a try, there are 23 mineral pools! We traveled over 125 miles of gravel roads through the South San Juan Wilderness & Rio Grande N. F. to Platoro, an old historic mining community. We stayed in a rustic log cabin for 3 nights complete with warm water and a kitchenette. It was a nice place to stay. The area provides hiking and fishing opportunities galore! We definitely plan to return someday and explore more of this beautiful high country. I love to take pictures along the way and use web albums as a travel journal, they bring back a lot of memories. Hope you enjoy a peek at our Colorado adventure!
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| On the way to Colorado storm clouds were all around us, but not over us! |
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| We visited an art gallery in Mancos |
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| We drove around Vallecito Reservoir |
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| We saw a rainbow after dinner |
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| Our cozy cabin in Pagosa Springs |
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| Driving up Hwy 160 towards Wolf Creek Pass |
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| Foliage along the trail to Treasure Falls |
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| Treasure Falls |
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| The beginning of our 125 miles of gravel roads |
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| What's left of Summitville ghost town, a gold mining area |
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| The old remnants and the new modern gold mine . . . there's still gold in these hills!! |
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| Looking towards Elwood Pass |
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| South San Juan Wilderness |
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| So many flowers . . . |
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| Mountains in every direction |
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| Colorful flowers . . . |
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| Leaning sign, a sign of heavy winter snows |
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| Lookout Mountain |
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| A cute doe just enjoying the day |
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| More flowers . . . |
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| Where we drop down into the Platoro Valley |
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| Looking towards Platoro as a storm approaches |
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| We have arrived and the rain has gone away!! |
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| The lodge where all the locals hang out |
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| Our home sweet home for 3 days |
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| Day 1 Adams Fork hiking and fishing |
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| Starting up the trail |
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| This snowshoe hare blends in well with his surroundings |
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| We hiked 4.5 miles roundtrip |
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| Summer monsoons bring colorful mushrooms |
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| Waterfall along the trail |
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| Arrow points the way to the creek . . . |
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| Adams Fork Creek, where we fished |
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| Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout |
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| Pretty fish and fun to catch! |
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| Score 1 to 1 |
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| More mushrooms |
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| Coming down the trail looking towards Platoro Reservoir |
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| Day 2 Bear Lake Trail |
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| Yes, we hiked clear up to 11,600 ft. before dropping into Bear Lake |
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| Saddle Creek flows along the beginning of the trail |
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| Views from the meadows up on the trail to the valley below |
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| Crossing a meadow |
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| Approaching Bear Lake |
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| Colorado Blue Columbine, what sight! |
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| Bear Lake 11,500 ft. elevation |
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| We made it!! |
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| The wildflowers were a sight to see! |
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| Such a pretty high mountain lake |
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| Awesome colors! |
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| Another view of the lake |
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Wow!
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| Aerial view of the Bear Lake Trail |
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| This guy and his buddy packed enough stuff for a month, it's obvious they've never backpacked before . . . the other guy had a cooler on wheels! |
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| Saddle Creek |
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| Another Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout |
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| Coming back to Platoro after a day of hiking and fishing |
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| The next morning . . . mist rises in the valley |
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| Conejos River flows through the valley, Skyline Lodge in the distance |
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| Day 3 hike and fish along the South Fork Trail |
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| Heading towards the South Fork of the Conejos River |
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| Over the bridge . . . |
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| and through the aspens |
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| One of the few Brook trout Kent caught |
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| Brookie |
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| Kent likes to get wet sometimes . . . |
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| Looking towards South Fork |
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| The Springs Resort where we stayed and soaked in the hot springs |
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| The Hot Springs at Pagosa . . . ahhhh!! 23 of them to be exact!!! |
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| Our last morning in Pagosa Springs |
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| We were almost to Kanab, Utah when this guy following us went off the road, over corrected and flipped his boat. Thankfully he was okay. We called 911. |
