Pagosa Springs

Pagosa Gravel Ride

What better way to see the mountains and forest surrounding Pagosa Springs then by bike? Our gravel loop was 49.3 miles with 3677’ of climbing. We started out from a park in town and road pavement up into the neighborhood hills a bit before heading out into the forest. First observations? There are a lot of people from Texas here, and there are a lot of rich people with big houses.

The gravel roads are all pretty nice on this loop and as we got further outside of town to the North, we were happy to pedal along through the forest and admire the views. After passing the Turkey Creek Trailhead the little bit of traffic there was died down and we celebrated being in the mountains alone. The climbing was pretty gentle and wound up and around O’Neil Hill with views of Pagosa Peak.

Back at camp we relaxed by the creek and enjoyed the peace and quiet. There is no cell reception out here so we’re saving up blog posts and will update on days we pass through town.

Elwood Pass Ride

Calling this a road is misleading. From camp we rode out and back on a jeep “road” towards Elwood Pass. The ride was 24.5 miles with 2907’ of climbing. Back in 1877 the Army Corp of Engineers surveyed the area for a possible route and recommended AGAINST building a route here because of the severity and challenge of the landscape. They began constructing the wagon route anyway.

The road starts innocuously enough with rough gravel and pretty quickly it turned to full on deteriorated path with rocks, steep, steep sustained climbs, river crossings, alligators….We had to hike some parts because it was too steep and loose to ride. All the while, the East Fork San Juan River was rushing full force down from the peaks. I don’t know how much use this “road” gets, we didn’t see anyone after the first 5 miles and even then, we saw only one jeep.

When big thunderstorm clouds started seriously threatening, we decided to turn around and head back. I’m not sure we would have made it much further anyway as we were both tired.

Back at camp I soaked my tired legs in the icy cold water of the creek. Ahhhh.

Quartz Ridge Hike

Our spot is about a mile from the wilderness boundary and there are a few hiking options. We knew we couldn’t do the entire Quartz Ridge hike because it’s 15.2 miles on way, but decided to hike for a few hours. From camp we hiked out and bike for a total trip of 7 miles.

The trail starts with a very cold river crossing! Pretty quickly we switchbacked up on a rocky forest path and gained elevation constantly. Quite a few trees are down on the trail, some larger than others and the going was slow in places. The shade from the giant trees kept the temperature perfect for a hike in the woods. Several times we popped out into a meadow and then continued on up. The forest here is VERY thick! The variety of bushes, trees, flowers, and grasses is overwhelming. At one point a big elk came crashing through the trees and scared the crap out of me! We found a nice little rocky outlook and stopped to admire the views and take a break before turning around.

The icy river soak was rejuvenating after a warm hike.