Resupply day! Hoping to get to town in the early afternoon so I can wash clothes, buy some groceries to extend my resupply box from 6 to 9 days and go out to dinner. It is memorial day, so many services are shut down. But, I am still 12 trail miles from Wolf Creek Pass (WCP). These miles have a reputation for being full of blowdowns and snow, making for slow going.
Last night I was writing my blog while my tent was being pelted with hail. Later it went silent, but I noticed the tent beginning to sag under the weight of snow. This morning we awoke to about 1/2 an inch of new snow. The same gusty winds were at it, only the temperature was much colder. There was ice in my water bottles.
The night before, the theee of us, Nicko, Enigma and I had agreed upon a 6am start time. 12 miles thru blow downs and snow is going to proceed slowly. Scanning FarOut last night I saw a shortcut someone had posted. I checked it out on the map and it looked very promising.
Nico and I were ready to go at 6, but Enigma had slept under a tarp last night. The
Weight of the snow has pushed the tarp onto his sleeping bag making things wet. By 6:10am he looked ready so Nico and I shouldered our packs and headed out. We thought he was right behind us but he was not. Nico and I covered about 6 miles quickly, including some very exposed Slopes. We arrived at a shortcut I had read about last night. The actual trail climbs 1000’ to the ridge top of the bowl that is the Wolf Creek Ski area and traverses the entire area until it drops down the the pass outside the ski area. The alternative is to drop about 400’ to a reservoir and then walk the road out to the highway. About 3.5 miles.
So the choice was those: 1 climb 1000’ and traverse 5.6 miles of trail infested with blowdown and snow or drop 400’ cross country then walk up gentle roads for 2 miles to the highway. Seemed a no brainer to me. We left a note For Enigma describing what we did and letting him know I had found the Alpine Inn for $100, $50 each. We reached the highway 90 minutes after we left the trail. Nico thumbed eastward. I said goodbye and walked the 1.2 miles to the pass and began thumbing westward to Pagosa Springs. Mummy soon joined me and the two of us of thumbed for 45 minutes before a woman (Kelly) stopped and gave us a ride the 23 miles to Pagosa Springs. In my notes I had Andy ship the resupply box to the Alpine Inn, a disappointing theee miles out of town on the highway. Kelly dropped both me and Mummy here. Mummy my took off pursuing his needs. I went to the lobby of the hotel and inquired about my resupply packed. They said they didn’t have one. I checked my tracking with Andy at home and found it was in the Post Office. The owner offered a ride to me, but it was Memorial Day. It was closed. I debated whether to take a room because the Inn was so far out of town but it was the cheapest room by nearly half so I took a room. Once inside I gathered all my clothing, hand kerchiefs and towels and scrubbed them in the tub. Then I hung them around the room and turned up the heat to dry them. The heat felt wonderful. At the pass the wind was a steady 20mph with a 43° temperature. I was chilled to the bone. I washed all my gear and made a food list, searched for a grocery store (Walmart the closest at 1.1 miles away) and walked to the store to buy my items while chatting with Sally on the phone. After Sally hung up, Enigma called and wanted to know if I wanted to meet his wife and go out to dinner with them. I jumped at the chance. She had driven up from Albuquerque, their home town to pick him up as he was ending his hike. They picked me up at Walmart and we drove across the highway to a Thai place. They only did takeout so we had Chinese next door.
It was nice to meet Lisa his wife and get a chance to chat during our meal. They dropped me back at the Inn. I packed up and prepared to go to the Post Office in the morning to get my box.
I would always prefer to stay right in the middle of a resupply town. I want services close since I don’t have a car and must walk to grocery stores, restaurants and laundry. But, I stayed at this one three miles out of town because my resupply list stayed this is where my package was sent. I would find out in the morning I had screwed up.
In the morning the ground was lightly covered in snow. the wind was howling and the temps were cold.
The trail and last winter’s snow blocking. Climb up and over or go around.
Blowdowns and snow made for slow going
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