Before leaving Mancos we snuck in a quick hike. We hiked a little 4 mile loop of Rim Trail/Transfer Trail/Box Canyon. We rode Rim Trail last fall when we were here so it was weird to hike it now, but it made the loop complete. Transfer Trail switchbacks down to the river and then zigs and zags along a series of little waterfalls. Blowdown is heavy here and mass amounts of trees clog sections of the river and all along the trail.
Treasure Mountain Trail
After saying goodbye to our friends in Mancos, we hit the road again. Destination Pagosa Springs, CO. For the past few years off and on I’ve heard people exclaim what a cute town it is and how beautiful the area is so we figured it deserved a look. We drove straight through the town out to the forest where there are a lot of boondocking spots. The dirt road in was pretty rough in spots but no challenge for our Outdoors RV. After scoping out a couple places, we decided on a spot back off a side road on it’s own perched on the creek. We’re nestled in the pine trees with enough opening for our solar panels to power us; since we don’t own a generator we rely on solar for our needs. The morning sun peaks up over the mountains and provides enough warmth for me to sit outside by the creek drinking coffee comfortably. What a perfect place to continue social distancing.
From camp we rode up East Fork Road a few miles to the Treasure Mountain Trailhead and then continued up the singletrack about 5 miles until the blowdown got too bad. The whole ride was 16.3 miles with 2362′ of climbing. The whole way out was a climb but nothing too crazy and all rideable. The forest here is immense, and extremely thick. Everything is green green green and the rock encrusted mountains with little rivulets of snow make for a very dramatic backdrop. Blowdown forced our turnaround but it wasn’t too disappointing because the descent was a blast. The trail is fast and flowy but a bit rugged and rocky in places. I didn’t want it to end, but eventually we popped back out onto the dirt road and pedaled back to camp. Another satisfying day.
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