On the Road with Maya: Wilderness Hikes near Lake City, CO

One of several falls along Cataract Creek in the Handies Peak WSA

As I mentioned in my previous blog, the area around Lake City is incredibly rich with things to do if you like the outdoors. Lake City is located in the middle of three national forests (Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison N.F.) and then the Rio Grande N.F. is a few miles away across the Continental Divide. Also the Continental Divide Trail & Colorado Trail run through the area. There are four wilderness areas nearby (Powderhorn, Uncompahgre, La Garita and Weminuche Wildernesses) and two wilderness study areas (Redcloud Peak and Handies Peak Wilderness Study Areas) that may someday become full-fledged wilderness areas. Then there is the varied and rugged Alpine Loop Road with its Ghost Towns, mines, history, beauty and oh, I almost forgot – San Cristobal Lake, the second largest natural lake in Colorado and the reason for Lake City’s name and location. And probably, I still left something out! Lots to do for sure…

David signs us in the 'book' as we enter the Handies WSA

Columbine girls...

We spent seven days near Lake City and hardly scratched the surface in our explorations. You know us, we mostly hiked, but we did drive as much of the southern part of the Alpine Loop Road as our car allowed. We also enjoyed a nice rest/town day where we strolled around Lake City and had dinner out. Two of the hikes we took, one in the Redcloud Peak WSA and one in the Handies Peak WSA, had trailheads along the Alpine Loop Road which gave us more opportunities to check out the sites along the road and look for moose. The Lake Fork of the Gunnison River and San Cristobal Lake are next to the Alpine Loop Road and moose are often sighted here. Luck was with us and one day we did see a moose as we were driving back to our campground in the Gunnison N.F.

Moose with antlers in velvet

Along Silver Creek in the Redcloud Peak WSA

Sunshine Peak, one of the '14,000 footers' that we could have

climbed from the Silver Creek Trail if we had been 10 years younger.

While we hiked in the Uncompahgre Wilderness and the Redcloud Peak WSA we learned a little about an endangered butterfly that is only found (as far as anyone knows) in these two places. The Uncompahgre Fritillary Butterfly is extremely rare, lives at or above timberline and uses the snow willow as its host plant. Research is being conducted in both areas to learn more about this illusive butterfly.

We didn’t get above timberline in the Uncompahgre Wilderness but we sure did in the Redcloud Peak. Though we saw many butterflies we were unsuccessful in spotting the endangered Uncompahgre Fritillary. But we did see pikas. They were ‘whistling’ and darting around and for a change, we actually spotted them. We counted over 13, although it is possible that we may have counted the same one twice as they tend to pop up and then disappear and then pop up again in a different place. As I have said, pikas are well camouflaged in their rocky habitat, so it was a real treat to see 13! I didn’t fare as well getting photos of them. I snapped a few, but I’d have to circle where they were in the photos or they couldn’t be seen. But seeing the pikas made the long, rocky hike in the Redcloud Peak WSA well worth the effort.

Pika habitat, near timberline on rocky, talus slopes

The only pika photo I was able to get that you can kind of see a pika in it.

Though we wanted to stay longer, Silver’s (our RV) brake light had come on while we were driving to Lake City. We checked our manual and called the nearest Sprinter dealer which was in Santa Fe. It appears new brake pads are needed. We have more than a few mountain passes between us and Santa Fe but the dealer assured us we weren’t in imminent peril. Still, we didn’t want to push our luck and decided to slowly start making our way towards Santa Fe.

Entering the Uncompahgre Wilderness on the Big Blue Trail

Along Big Blue Creek, Uncompahgre Wilderness

We saw a moose here too, but it was a far away.

From Lake City, we drove about 40 miles to Silver Thread Campground near Creede in the Rio Grande N.F. Our brake light did not come on during this drive and that was encouraging, but it was a short drive and David drove slowly and carefully. There were two nice waterfalls nearby, one of them just a short walk from our campsite. We saw them both and made it back to camp just in time for a noisy thunderstorm that cooled temperatures considerably. After Maya calmed down and the thunderstorm was over, the rest of our night was blissful…

North Clear Creek Falls in the Rio Grande N.F.

South Clear Creek Falls in Silver Thread Campground, Rio Grande N.F.

David’s Stats:

Days Hiked   4
Total Miles Hiked   18.42
Ave. Miles per Day    4.61
Total Elevation Gain  4,009
Ave. Elevation Gain per day 1,002