2001 Venture Trip to the Continental Divide Trail in Colorado's Weminuche Wilderness

The Idea...    In the fall of 1999, Assistant Scoutmasters Jody Woods and Shane Hoffman were talking about the different places they had camped at as kids, when Jody's eyes lit up and he began talking about spending the summers at his grandparent's place near the Weminuche Wilderness...

The Plan...   We set up the trip to include 2 acclimation days at a "base camp" at the 30 Mile Camp Ground on the Rio Grande Reservoir (elevation 9500') and 5 days spent in the back country including 2 days on the Continental Divide Trail.

The Preparation...   We began preparation for our trip in March, 2001, with a shakedown campout at the Ray Roberts State Park Johnson Branch Unit.  We had two more shakedown campouts - in April at Dinosaur Valley State Park and in June at the CrossTimbers Trail at Lake Texoma.

The text below is the complete trek journal of Mr. Hoffman.

Saturday, July 14, 2001
Arlington, Texas to Lathrop State Park (near Walsenburg, Colorado)

It's finally here!  18 months of planning and 6 months of preparation for this day.  Nine Scouts and five adults, along with Richard & Fran, met at the church at 4:30am to finish loading the trailer and take some pictures before starting our adventure at 5am.  We had about 750 miles to go, going first to Philmont for a quick look around, then onto Lathrop State Park.  We traveled in three vehicles:  a 15-passenger van we rented, Elmer's GMC jimmy pulling the troop trailer, and Richard's ford explorer.

We made good time for a  group of 17 on the road.  We made stops for gas & bathrooms, and ate "sack-breakfasts" and "sack-lunches" on the road to cut down on driving time.

We arrived at Philmont just after 3pm Mountain time.  After a little tour of base camp, we turned the boys loose in the trading post.  We got the group back together at 4pm, then decided that an ice cream cone sounded really good, so we sat on the snack bar patio for a while eating ice cream.  After everyone was through, we drove down near the Tooth of Time for some pictures, and then we got back on the road.

We drove into a HEAVY rain near Raton.  There were times, driving up the pass, with near-zero visibility.  The rain stayed heavy until just south of Walsenburg, and quit altogether as we drove into Lathrop State Park.

Camp was set up quickly (about 30 minutes), an amazing feat considering we had to unload most of the trailer.  The boys worked fast because it looked like it could start raining again at any moment.  It didn't.

After some clowning around, and looking around the camp, everyone got into their class "A" uniform, and we set out to find a restaurant for dinner.  After driving through town, it was decided by a majority vote that Pizza Hut would do.  We took over the small dining room, and overworked the waitresses and cooks, but dinner was great - anything would have been after the day's long ride.

After dinner, we went back to camp (except for the three of us who made a small detour to the local hospital) where a "Thorns, Buds, and Roses" was held, then everybody hit the sack.  The weather had turned PERFECT - starry skies and a moderate breeze that made it a perfect night for sleeping after a very long day.

We had planned on getting up at 6am, but I woke up at 5am, so I borrowed Richard's explorer and drove down to the showers for one last shower before the trail.  We got the boys up a little before 6am.  They worked well, and we had camp broken down and the trailer re-loaded by 6:45am.  Jody lead the boys in a chapel service, and we pulled out of the park at 7am.  We went into Walsenburg for breakfast at Carl's Jr..  It was surprisingly good.  While there, the manager gave us ice to refill our ice chests in the trailer.

We started west around 8am, stopping in Alamosa to try to find some dental wax for Matt, and for some gas.  We then went on to a beautiful rest area just east of South Fork, where Fran's mom, dad, aunt, and uncle were waiting for us.  They had some home-made cupcakes and sodas for the boys.  From there it was a beautiful drive through South Fork and Creede, and on into the Rio Grande National Forest and 30 Mile Camp Ground. 

We arrived at 30 Mile Camp Ground a little before 1pm, located our campsite, and began setting up our base camp during a mountain shower (Jody had to get his rain gear out - he was afraid he would melt - yeah, right!).  Camp elevation was right at 9,500 feet above sea level, and camp setup was a chore.  As we were finishing setup, Jody got lunch out and we ate.

After lunch we geared up for a day-hike taking us a little way up the trail to Weminuche Pass.  The views were great, and we walked right past a small beaver pond.  In all, we walked a little over 3 & 1/2 miles, and the group did really well.  We wanted to keep the boys active to help  the acclimation process, so they played Frisbee in the large open area adjacent to camp, while the adult cooked Jody's famous "SOY BURGERS!"

After dinner, we had some free time.  The group went down to the Rio Grande to look around while Steve fished a little.  While at the river, we saw a huge beaver slowly working his way upstream on the other side of the river.  Across the river the land climbed steeply up to a bluff about 1,000 feet above the river.  The boys decided they wanted to climb it the next day, so Hampton and I started up it that evening to see if it was doable.  We went about a quarter of the way up, and decided that we could try to climb it the next morning.  On the way down, we ran into David on his way up.  We went back down to the road by the river and enjoyed the view at dusk.

Back at camp, the boys had built a small fire, and we sat around and ate s'mores before our thorns, buds, & roses.  Steve and I played guitars a while, then everyone hit the sack.  It got COLD that night, and so did I.

This was a great, if busy day.  The group really did well, staying active and helping each other.  Jody did not feel well, and was not sure if it was a stomach virus or altitude sickness.

I woke up COLD!!!  It was so cold, I didn't want to get out of my bag - ON JULY 16 - THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER!  I began wondering if I had brought enough warm clothes.  There was frost on the dining fly and chuck box when I got out of the tent.

I got out of the bag at about 5:45am, and started some charcoal to bake the cinnamon rolls in the Dutch ovens.  As soon as I had coffee going, the other leaders got up.  We got the Scouts up a little before 7am and ate breakfast.

At about 8:45am, Hampton and I took the boys over to the bluff across the river to start our climb up to the top.  Steve and Matt stayed back so they could run into South Fork, and Elmer and David opted to hike up the Big Squaw Trail.  Jody was still not feeling well, so he acted as our radioman back at base camp.

The climb up the bluff was very steep and the going was slow.  The total distance of the climb was only a little more than 3/4 mile, but the elevation gain was almost 1,200 feet to the top.  We reached a spot about two-thirds of the way to the top that was almost impassable.  I would have stopped there, except that 2 of the boys were already past and on up the bluff.  We stopped the rest of the group there, and Hampton and I went on up.  I topped out about 10:30am.  Hampton stopped just below the top.  We stayed up there about 20 minutes, then began our decent.  It was even harder than going up.  we finally got down about 11:40am.

Jody had lunch out for us when we returned.  We ate, then the boys played Frisbee.  At about 1:30pm, we all went down to the Rio Grande to get our feet wet.  The water was icy-cold snowmelt, and it took some time for the boys to get more than their feet wet.  After a while, most were in at least knee-deep. 

We skipped rocks for a while, then I walked  back to camp to find Elmer sawing logs in his chair (He said he was working on a wood badge ticket item).  As the boys returned from the river, another game of Frisbee broke out.

Steve and Matt returned around 3:15pm.  David and I had asked Steve to pick us up a couple of polar fleece hats while he was in town.  What he brought back became known as the "cool hats" - light purple toboggans with ear flaps.  I thought Steve would die laughing when he brought mine out.  It might be funny looking, but it sure is warm!

Steve and Matt wanted to go hiking since they were in the van all day, so Hampton and I took them up the Big Squaw Trail.  We walked for about an hour, stopping often for pictures, then turned around and went back to camp.

Jody started dinner while we were out - his delicious Dutch oven beef stroganoff.  We ate, and while our stomachs were settling, we started two cobblers.  While the cobblers baked, we split up the trail crew gear, and worked on our packs a little.  When the cobblers were ready, the group "inhaled" them.  After clean-up, we broke down as much of base camp as we could, and loaded the trailer.  Around dusk, we started a small fire and had our thorns, buds, & roses, then everyone gradually went to their tents to finish preparations for tomorrow's hike.

Jody did not ever get to feeling better, and decided he would not be hiking with us.  The decision was very hard for him, for Scott, and for all of the leaders.  I hurt for him.  He and I started talking about this trip in the fall of 1999.  He hoped to be well enough to meet us on the Weminuche Pass for our last night on the trail.  He was constantly on our minds while we walked...

Hampton and I got up about 5:15am and cleaned out our tent, and got the group up about 5:30am.  Everyone helped to break down base camp, then we all divided up the trail food and finished loading our packs for the trail.

Jody walked up the trail with us for about 10 minutes, and we stopped to say our good-byes.  Chris had gotten to feeling bad during the night, and was not well at this first stop, so we decided to send him down with Jody so he could see a doctor - tonsillitis.  We hated to leave them behind.

After splitting up the gear and food out of Chris's pack, we started up Squaw Valley, passing many falls along Squaw Creek. The forest was mixed pine and aspen, and it was beautiful. 

We stopped for breakfast at 8:30am along the trail, and everyone changed into some cooler hiking clothes.  After breakfast, we continued on through the mixed forest for about another mile, then we hit the meadow that runs up the valley another 7 miles to Squaw Pass.  We hiked in and out of the trees, generally following Squaw Creek up the valley.  We stopped for lunch at 1pm, only about 1/2 mile from our campsite - or so we thought...  We finally got to camp at 3pm. 

Our camp was located on a bench just up the Squaw Lake trail from its junction with the Squaw Pass trail.  The site had wonderful views both north and south along the big squaw valley.  We got camp set up and tried for over 2 hours to hang our bear bags - without success.  The pine branches could not hold that much weight without breaking.

We had dinner at 6:15pm, dessert after, and clean-up was finally done by 8:15pm.  We had a small campfire for our thorns, buds, and roses, and everyone was in bed by 9:30pm.  A very hard but great day on the trail.

After today's performance, the leaders decided to shorten our intended route - going to squaw lake instead of squaw pass tomorrow.  Our plan would then have a lay-over day at Squaw Lake with a south-bound CDT day hike, then down the CDT to the Weminuche Pass, then back to 30 Mile Camp Ground.  The plans would change again...  Today we saw mule deer, grouse, and a white tailed doe.

The leaders got up about 5:30am, and got the Scouts up about 6am.  We broke camp, then had breakfast - hot chocolate & oatmeal, before our hike up to Squaw Lake.  We hit the trail at 8:30am.  Elmer & David, and Steve & Matt left a little ahead of the group to get a head start.  I left about 10 minutes after everyone else, just to enjoy one last look at our pristine campsite and enjoy a little silence in the wilderness.

 The trail up to Squaw Lake was a seemingly endless succession of long switch-backs.  They kept the rate of ascent down but turned a 3 1/2 mile hike into a 5 mile uphill marathon.  I overtook Steve & Matt before long.  About 30 minutes later I caught Elmer & David, and hiked with them for a while, then went on ahead, looking forward to hiking alone in this  beautiful place.  I caught Hampton and the crew some time later - they were stopped for a pack break.  I stayed at the back of this group for the rest of the hike.

We got to Squaw Lake at about 11am, and after looking around for campsites, decided on a site in a grove of pine trees about 250 yards from the lake.  I have never camped in such a beautiful spot.  We began setting up our camp.  Steve & Matt arrived about 11:30am, and Elmer & David arrived a little later.  We ate lunch a little after noon, then had a little rest/free time.

Hampton & I took the crew on a hike up out of the Squaw Lake basin to the junction of the Squaw Lake Trail with the Continental Divide Trail (CDT).  There were many stops along the way up, with an occasional snowball fight breaking out.  We ended up topping out at the highest point of the CDT in the Weminuche Wilderness (12,800 feet).  The views were unlike anything I have ever seen.  Words cannot begin to describe the scenery.  This is the reason we planned the whole trip.

We turned around and went back down to camp, and the boys fixed dinner, while I stalked a white tailed doe across a meadow for a picture.  We ate dinner, then Hampton & I walked to Squaw Lake to watch the sunset over the ridge and to take some pictures. 

The bear threat was very light, according to some forestry service workers camping near the lake with their wives.  I believed them, because they were cleaning trout right in their campsite - not a very smart thing to do whether bears are around or not. 

After KP, all crew gear and food was passed out and packed, then packs were hung in anticipation of an early start for a long, hard hike tomorrow.  We had a thorns, buds, and roses, and everyone was in bed by 9pm.

After the hike up to the CDT, Hampton and I decided that it would be prudent to change our plans yet again.  The climb up out of Squaw Lake was almost comic in just how steep the trail was.  We decided to pack up to the CDT, and follow it to its junction with the North Fork Pine River - a hike of about 7 miles with a total of 3 killer climbs. 

This is the kind of day that people put backpacks on for.  The chance for some solitude in the back country, the pristine camping areas, and the high elevation vistas are things that very few people today ever get to experience.

Thursday, July 19, 2001
Squaw Lake to North Fork Pine River crossing of CDT
Days Statistics:  6.5 miles, Elevation 11,500' to 12,500' to 11,500'

After yesterday's day-hike, we decided to press on to the North Fork Pine River crossing of the CDT, instead of trying to go from Squaw Lake to Weminuche Pass in one hike.

The leaders got up at 5am, and got the boys up at 5:20am.  We were a little slow breaking camp, hitting the trail at 7am.  Again Elmer & David, and Matt & Steve left before the group.  We did not catch them until we stopped for breakfast at the top of the first climb.

The trail up out of Squaw Lake is by far the steepest hiking trail I've walked, and after yesterday, I was expecting it to take about 2 hours to get past the steepest part with packs on.  We did it in less than 45 minutes!

We stopped at a  flat spot about half-way to the CDT junction for breakfast at 7:45am.  The views were spectacular, with no clouds in the early morning sky.  Matt said grace this morning - "God is great, God is good, now we thank Him for our food."  Considering our location, a more appropriate blessing could not have been said.

From there, everyone moved at their own pace up the trail to the CDT junction at 12,580 feet.  We were now backpacking above 12,000 feet, and speed was not an option.  I reached the junction first at about 9am, and dropped my pack to wait on the rest of the crew.  As other members arrived, they dropped their packs, and either stayed there to rest and enjoy the view, or went on up the CDT to the highest point of the CDT in the Weminuche Wilderness (12,800 feet).  The view was unimaginable, with snow capped mountains, frozen and thawed ponds, and wildflowers everywhere.

While we were stopped there, Hampton & I broke out the M&M's we had been saving, and when the crew was finally all together we posed for some crew pictures with the Rio Grande Pyramid and the Window in the background - none of which came out!

This shot is from Hampton's digital camera.  We ran into 2 guys at the CDT marker, and they agreed to take our picture.  The camera's timer was on, the guy didn't know the timer was on, and this is the scene after he said he had taken the picture.

We hit the trail again at 11am, first losing then re-gaining 500 feet of elevation as we topped out  on the next ridge.  We stopped at the top of this climb for lunch at about 12:15pm.  By then, it had gotten very windy, with rain in our future, so we hurried lunch a bit.  David actually got cell phone service up there, so I tried calling home, but got the machine. 

From there the rest of the hike was supposed to be downhill, and we continued on in short rain showers.  We bottomed out in a high meadow with many ponds, and we looked for moose, but saw none.  This is where we hit our unexpected third climb of the day - a sometimes steep, sometimes gradual climb up to the CDT junction with the Snowslide Canyon Trail.  From there, the CDT entered pine forest and went downhill. 

We reached the Pine River crossing at about 3pm and decided to camp in the meadow since a fire-ring was already there.  There were no flat places with tree cover in the area.  The stragglers got to camp at about 3:45pm.  I would guess the hike today was 6 to 7 miles long with elevation changes totaling more than 3,000 feet.

We got camp set up, putting up the second crew-fly to stow packs under, and tried to start dinner at about 4:15pm.  We got hit by a big thunderstorm, so everyone retreated to their tents.  After a three hour storm/nap, everyone got back out of their tents around 7:30pm.  We decided it was too late to try to cook, so we ate Saturday's lunch instead.  Everyone had some hot chocolate, we had our thorns, buds, & roses, then everyone went back to bed.  It got COLD early that evening.

The crew was stellar today, in what was a treacherous day's hike.  Our hiking elevation never got below 11,500 feet, and almost all of the hike was above timberline.  The thunderstorm this afternoon was a blessing in disguise, letting everyone who wanted catch up on much needed rack-time.  We decided to sleep in in the morning since the rest of the trail was downhill from here.

Friday, July 20, 2001
CDT at North Fork Pine River to Weminuche Pass
Day's Statistics:  5 miles, Elevation 11,500' to 10,500'

What a beautiful day!  Hampton & I got up at 6am to a frost-covered world.  Everything was white.  The inside and outside of our tent fly was frozen solid with frost.  It was COLD, so we started a stove for some hot chocolate and enjoyed the quiet beauty. 

We got the boys up at 7:20am with the idea  of starting our hike at 9:30am after eating breakfast.  At 8:15am, we knew we were going to get rained on.  The boys hadn't yet finished taking down their tents, so we hurried them up a bit.  The rain hit at 8:30am.  The boys & Hampton got under a crew fly while the other leaders stood around drinking hot chocolate.  The rain stopped around 9am, and we had breakfast and finished breaking camp.

We started hiking at 10am.  By that time, it was warm enough to hike in shorts and t-shirts - quite a variety of weather in just 4 hours.  From camp, the CDT followed the Pine River down the valley, with many small falls, and then left the river and went through pine forest down to the meadow that runs the length of the Weminuche Pass.  The view across the meadow towards the Rio Grande Pyramid and The Window was magical.  As we reached the meadow, another rain shower blew through, so we retreated back into the trees for about 15 minutes waiting for it to pass. 

We crossed the meadow, and a couple of creeks, and found the Weminuche trail on the far side of the meadow.  We left the CDT here, and turned north on the Weminuche Pass trail.  The trail was generally flat and we stayed in the meadow for the rest of the hike.  A little way down this trail, we heard Jody on our radios.  He was on his way up Weminuche Pass to meet us.  We continued on, reaching the Weminuche Creek, and the Skyline Trail junction after noon.  Scott & I walked dropped our packs at the campsite we chose there, and went on down the trail to find Jody.  After a nice reunion, we returned to camp to finish set-up and have some lunch.

After lunch, a big Frisbee game broke out in the meadow, then we went exploring around the area.  There are numerous beautiful campsites in the vicinity of the Weminuche Creek at the Skyline Trail junction.  the boys took advantage  of a log laying across the creek, and soaked their feet for a while in the cold snow-melt.  We started dinner at about 5pm, and another Frisbee game started while Elmer cooked the quinoa. 

We built a fire after dinner & KP, and had a special time together with a TB&R for the day, and for the whole trip.  After the fire, the leaders spent some time talking while getting ready for bed.  Everyone was in bed by 9:30pm, so we could get an early start down to 30 Mile Camp Ground and cheeseburgers in the morning.

Today was about as perfect as a trek day could be - from the weather, to the beauty, to the laughter of the crew...  What a day!

Saturday, July 21, 2001
Weminuche Pass to 30 Mile Camp Ground
Day's Statistics:  6 miles, Elevation 10,500' to 9,500'

The alarm woke me at 5am, after the warmest night of sleep on the trail.  The leaders got up, and woke the boys at 5:20am.  Since crew gear and food were packed last night, breaking camp should have been quick.  At 7:15am, the boys still weren't ready, so the adults, except for Jody, started hiking.  

At the first stream crossing, we found a log bridge just off of the trail, so we waited to show the rest of the crew.  The boys showed up, so we showed them the bridge.  The rest of the hike was downhill and beautiful.  Hampton & I got in front, and soon left the rest of the group behind.

A bridge crossed the Weminuche Creek about 2 miles above 30 Mile Camp Ground.  At the bridge, a small stream came falling down from the east to converge with the Weminuche Creek, which was falling in the same spot.  We decided that these converging falls were the prettiest falls we had seen on the whole trip.  We stopped for pictures, then continued on.  As we approached the Rio Grande Reservoir, we met Steve on the trail (He came down the afternoon before to get some fishing in before the trip ended), and he joined us.

We walked out of the woods and off the trail at 9:15am.  After changing clothes and shoes, we went back to the trailhead to get pictures of the crew as they came off the trail.

When everyone was down, we unpacked the trailer, and emptied our packs of crew gear and food.  We had the trailer repacked, and drove out of 30 Mile Camp Ground at 10:45am.  

We drove to Freeman's General Store & Bunkhouse for $3.00 showers and a cheeseburger and ice-cream feast.  Freeman's is a great rustic business west of Creede, with good burgers and ONE hot shower.  The leaders showered first, while the boys began eating, and we rotated through the feast and showers.  While the leaders were sitting around waiting for the boys to finish showering, we decided to marathon drive back to Arlington, instead of stopping at Lathrop State Park again.

We finally got on the road about 1:15pm Mountain time.  It was an uneventful drive home.  We stopped in Raton, New Mexico, for gas and dinner at Denny's.  We stopped in Clayton, New Mexico, for a rest stop, and stopped in Amarillo and Wichita Falls for gas and coffee.  To stay awake, we played a trivia game on the radios between vehicles.

We pulled into the church parking lot a little after 6am on Sunday, July 22, 2001.  We unloaded the packs and personal gear from the trailer, and cleaned out the van, then everyone went home.