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After less than an hour's drive from the west side of Pagosa Springs, we arrived at the trailhead, at nearly 9650 feet elevation. Some scattered snow, but a pretty day in store. Susie and Sue wait patiently while Andy is out in front.
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Clearly, not from an avalanche.
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The other perspective.
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Here is Susie looking thru a really twisted tree.
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Arbor-glyphs, dating back over 80 years. Amazing.
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Our first scenic stop is a grove of twisted aspen trees. And the color was pretty good too.
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Squaretop mountain, to the north.
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The route climbs fairly steeply, once it starts climbing, at nearly a thousand feet per mile. The snow was better than mud to hike on, for sure.
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Still quite cool in the woods, but breaks made for good warming and scenery.
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OK, finally, we are topped out. So what are Susie, Andy, and Sue looking at?
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The mountain in the distance looks like the prow of a ship.
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Of course, our "destination," Geode Hill, is still a mile or so away, but over rolling terrain.
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Lunch.
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OK, final climb up Geode Hill, so named because of tiny geodes one can sometimes find on the climb.
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The view from the north side of the hill. Nice fall colors at lower elevations.
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Andy striking a pose.
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A last look at the sweep of mountain peaks to the north.
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Back across the "rolling" terrain to where we start back down.
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Just to show we really WERE in the South San Juan Wilderness Area, a place we had visited previously: http://www.twohikers.org/WesternMtns/SouthSanJuans03/Ssj03_intro.htm
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Back down the flats, in the midst of great fall color.
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Heading down, attempting to avoid the mud.
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This. The view from the topping out point. I think the snow-capped peaks make things look better.
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One shot from the previous day's hike, into the Weminuche Wilderness. We had been hiking and came across two cinnamon colored black bear cubs in a tree. One was curious enough to spend a lot of time watching us.
