Moments in Dirt and Ink

Uncompahgre National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6 Today will mostly be road walking to get back to my parking at the trailhead on the East Fork. It is sort of like a small payment for a great hike, and may not be all that "expensive" anyway, since the area is so nice. I think I am within a mile of the trailhead, but did not notice the trail up Porphyry Basin, which might have been an excellent spot to camp, yesterday. That would put me quite a bit further up the trail than I think. Down by the Middle Fork Cimarron River and down in the trees. The wilderness boundary follows the river along here and so signs dot it in the middle to say so.

Uncompahgre National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6 Wetterhorn Peak also has fairly close access from the road and sitting up on the hill, I can watch them wandering up the trail. One group seems to be moving a little oddly, dawdling here and there and popping up on rocks waving their arms about. They pass by the junction as I finish breakfast and I am sure they are past by the time I have everything cleaned and packed, but end up startling them a bit as I pop out from behind the trees. We chat as we attempt to navigate the creeks without getting wet feet. It seems I have fallen in with some famous climbers out showing a brother and his son some class 3 climbing. Up on the edge of the basin, there is a pair of skittish elk. We pass by large number of marmots who are not skittish as the green meadows yield to snow. Climbing up Matterhorn Basin to Wetterhorn Peak. The target for t...

Uncompahgre National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6 Things are wet in the morning from a few brief rains overnight. Today is an short day starting with a day hike attempting Uncompahgre Peak and I can leave the camping gear to dry while I do that. A couple posts can be seen climbing the hills, marking where the trail passes. The trail climbs very steeply to the first one along a couple tracks. A couple elk on it last night took the less steep one, and I agree with them. The snow is fairly solid when I hit it, sometimes a little too solid. The snow fields around Wetterhorn Peak look difficult to deal with leading to worry about getting up this slightly higher peak. The section of the San Juan Mountains to the south start to reveal themselves. Snow fields are under Uncompahgre Peak, too, but now I can see the trail avoids much of it. One day hiker is along the ridge ahead. ...

Uncompahgre National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6 The night was cool, but not freezing. Today, I will find out if it is too early to get out of the canyon because of snow. It is all melting just about as fast as it can. A little breakfast, a little packing, and I am set to really start the trip. I drop back to the trail below and start up the gentle slope beside the East Fork once again. The crags across the river from camp in the bright morning light. The few columbines along the trail are the least frilly I have seen. A glance up the East Fork.

Uncompahgre National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6 The Colorado backpacking loop I found last year was stunning, so now I am out for another. This year I chose a loop mainly in the Uncompahgre Wilderness following different forks of the Cimarron River up and back down connecting over the ridges to the south. This gives me access to two 14ers with trails most the way up. All this depends on the snow, of course. It is a little early in the season and a late snowfall may mean I cannot get out of the canyon, much less climb a mountain that is 14,300 feet high. I have been casting my eyes toward the San Juan Range for the last few days, and they do look very snowy. It seems unlikely that I will get out of the canyon and I am a little resigned as I collect everything together. The day hikers who went up to the Silver Jack Mine do not offer much hope. The trailhead says "no camping" so I stu...