Embargo Creek

We hiked on Monday morning on snow (in some places)— all of 1-3 inches.  An old (closed to vehicles) logging road (closed to vehicles) was our path.  The beauty of the valley of Embargo Creek was peaceful and pleasant.  Thanks to Linda for suggesting this route.

 

Next Monday, Wayne and Linda will have another hike (or snowshoe trek), leaving the Visitor Center at 10 a.m.

Bring your visitors and friends.

—Doug Knudson

 

Rock on the ridge above the Embargo Creek parking site.

 

Sign that requires study.

 

Two ladies in an ancient piece of real estate

Lunch on logs

Munching lunchers

 

Unusual form with what may be a musical heritage

 

Cliffs above the trail.

 

Monday hike—East Fork of Alder Creek

Wayne picked a nearly windless trail.  It was hard to believe the weather on Dec. 8—50ºF, sunny, and no snow up to 10,000'.  Life is good, but water is scarce.  This trail was unusually rocky—the only drawback.  Good views southward toward Del Norte Peak.  Four miles round trip.

 

Forecasts suggest that next Monday's hike will be shy of snow, too.  We'll see you before 10 a.m. at South Fork Visitor Center. 

[If you see snow stacked high (feet, not inches), bring your snowshoes.]

 

Eleven hikers found a flat spot to park and headed up the trail. Out front here is Cathy McCurdy, an experienced hiker joining us.

Scenery of rocks and limber pines

 

One of those limber pines

 

Mountain-mahogany and it's fall regeneration equipment.

 

Tis a rocky and steep trail, Tim got back in high-altitude shape

 

Then he found a lunch spot.

 

Dec. 1 Hike

Ten hikers took the familiar trail to the Lost Lake area, had a scenic lunch, and then kept going South-West-North on animal trails, ridges and valleys.  A red truck awaited 4 drivers to complete the loop back to the starting place.  It's rather hard to believe that we're trekking on snow maybe 2 inches deep and about half the time on bare ground.

 

No snowshoes needed

 

Douglas-fir root–ancient, serpentine, on-the-rocks of the lookout where we ate lunch.

 

Neighboring stump

 

Pat's hobbit gate--two other ancient Douglas-firs.

 

Can you find Lost Lake's home ground?  As dry as any of us have seen it. Not every tree has been "bugged". Spruce submitted;

healthy Douglas-fir, aspen, bristlecone pine (left foreground), limber pine, two species of fir frame Del Norte Peak.

 

We followed animal trails down the West side of the cliffs that arise W of the "lake."

 

Trail blazers

 

Aha--our ride awaits.

 

At the present time, our plan is to have a hike or snowshoeing regularly on Mondays, meeting before 10 a.m. at the

South Fork Visitor Center. 

We may add other hikes during Christmas break, as we have requests by visiting hikers.

Check with the Visitor Center 719-873-5512 or Doug Knudson 719-873-5239.

Wednesday Hike Photos

A pleasant Wednesday with bright sunshine and deep shade took four fortunates up a remote road for a couple of miles. The ladies led out with vigor and caught up on their current events reports, with no huffing, puffing or stopping.  On the return, scenery and trees and special colorful sunshine effects got our attention and several attempts to record the multi-colored "rings around the noon-day sun."

(This area produced the Christmas trees for the Chapel of the South Fork—to be put up on Saturday morning.)  The diversity of various tree species side by side got our attention on the hike.

 

 

Nice, wide path

 

Clear sunshine lit up the aspens

Nice views of distant westerly peaks

 

Same peaks with a better frame, said Marilyn

 

Sun and clouds played rainbow-type tricks; we had to stop down the exposure, as in the next two photos.

 

Sometimes we could see three sun circles

Then along came a  transportation vehicle high in the sky.  We wondered whether the passengers could see the colors.

 

We wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving.  There is a special community Thanksgiving service at Emmanuel Chapel at 7 p.m. tonight.

We'll start hiking again on Monday at 10 a.m.  Could be snowshoes or hiking boots. 

--Doug Knudson  873-5239

Hike Schedule

After Thanksgiving, we'll switch to 10 a.m. start time on Monday.

--Doug Knudson 873-5239

Farmer's Creek Hike

We were an even dozen who trod along the lovely Farmers' Creek Trail, near Creede.  It was a crisp, clear day. Numerous jets left attractive vapor trails across the blue sky. Black cows and a few muscular bulls walked the shores of the Rio Grande, across from our trail.  We paused for lunch at 9,200' elevation, sitting on dry ground, surrounded by light snow cover in the shade.  Plenty of bristlecone pines beautified our passage.  Our machine experts claimed a round trip of 4.8 miles--each of them pleasant. Thanks to the hikers who cheerfully followed this narrow trail and said they hope to come back.       

 

Next week:  Monday at 9 a.m. (maybe snowshoeing if we get more snow: otherwise hiking boots will do).  Wednesday at 9 a.m. (same thing, different place).  If forecasts are correct, we may have no new snow for the next week. We plan to switch to Mondays only and 10 a.m. start time after Thanksgiving. --Doug Knudson 873-5239

 

11.5 of the 12 appear here

 

Rio Grande from the trail

 

The Sparkling Rio Grande from a little farther from the trail.

 

Once in a while we got separated by a few yards.

 

Ozzie found his way to the lunch stop

 

One of the formations above our trail

 

Things are calm and pleasant for the cattle lying in the snowy grass--it's amazing how much these animals bear the cold of winter.

 

Back to the cars, still with enthusiasm!

 

Meeting Minutes

Click link below for October meeting minutes

http://www.silverthreaders.org/Pages/MeetingMinutes.aspx

1st snowshoe hike of the season

Monday, November 17: Eleven of us had a rolling hills hike in fresh snow, a route packed down a little by snowmobiles. Our snowshoes seemed to function efficiently, even though some were old and others were new and untried.

 

Wednesday, Nov. 19, we'll go back to simple hiking shoes at a lower level.  So far, two voters have selected Farmer's Creek Trail, near Creede.  Meet before 9 a.m. at South Fork Visitor Center.  Creede hikers can join us at the trail-head at about 9:30. --Doug Knudson  873-5239

 

Mush, ye huskies!

 

Sparkling snow, 2 feet deep--fun for walking; beautiful to behold

 

View from our trail on the Western Slope 

 

This is the turn-around spot, he said.

 

We walked in the high watershed of Wolf Creek, where it is still a series of rivulets

 

More of the Wolf Creek high watershed. The creek collects, plunges over several falls, then joins the San Juan River

11 snowshoers got to try out their well-rested equipment. Remarkably, it all functioned properly after a little organization.

 

 

Monday hike

There is snow on the Continental Divide.
Let's try out our snow equipment (snowshoes)!

Wayne Moulds is hoping that we'll have a group equipped with snowshoes for tomorrow's (Monday) hike.

He wants to challenge the new snowfall before the place gets too crowded with skiers. We'll park on or near the Great Divide on U.S. 160.

So--get your long johns and ski pants on and polish up your snowshoes. We'll then start working on our big-foot techniques.

Monday at 9:00 a.m.— departure from the Visitor Center in South Fork. We'll greet the new/ancient mode of travel.

(Wednesday, we'll plan on a return to hiking boots for a lower altitude easy hike--unless we get snowed in unexpectedly.)

--Doug Knudson

November Silverthread Club Meeting

The Silverthread Club Meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 18, pot luck meal, 6;30, Meeting 7 PM. This will be the last club meeting this year. We only have the Christmas Party in December. Hope to see you there.

 

 

George Powell, president

Silverthreaders Club

Silverthread Outdoor Recreation Club

 

 

Agua Ramon

Six smart people took advantage of a nice hike from the village church of Agua Ramón up to the "Easter Cross" where South Fork church members traditionally greet Easter morning sunrises.   It was a beautiful, somewhat blustery day. All around us, we watched storm clouds of the statewide arrival of winter ice and snow, while we enjoyed sunshine and relative warm (40 degrees). 

The smooth hiking on a nice road enticed Judy to join us after a long absence.

 

We'll continue to hike until snowshoeing is required.  Mondays and Wednesdays, leaving at 9 a.m. from the Visitor Center.  When hunting seasons are open, we'll focus on safe places.  When there are in rest days, we'll aim for more forested public areas.

--Doug Knudson   873-5239

 

Note:  If you know Dr. Paul Williams, you might give him a "thanks" for his part of a Veterans Day program about the 10th Mountain Division (US Army).  On Tuesday, he was featured at Adams State University as a member of that military group. After the showing of an excellent film about the Division's ski training (in Colorado) and the group's  decisive role in ending WWII, Paul mounted the stage to cheers and applause.  He answered questions from the 300+ attendees and told several stories of his experiences as a young warrior in Italy. 

 

Part of the Agua Ramón Mountain complex

 

plumed seeds of Mountain-mahogany--long considered as the best firewood of the area.

 

Pinyon pine and the ancient cross--a place for Easter Worship

 

Well-dressed hiker obviously not to be lined up in the gun-sights

 

Cross and beautiful clouds

 

Descending from the heights

West Alder Creek

Eleven hikers set out on a sunny, breezy, cool  Monday in November.  We walked up lively West Alder Creek, the canyon John C. Fremont ascended in December 1848 (according to all but one historian). We had no mules to pull, no wish to get to the top of Pool Table Mountain, nor to find railroad routes.  So, we walked a couple of miles, had a candy bar, and turned around.  It was a lovely day, cool enough and breezy enough to make it sprightly.  

We expect cooler weather in Colorado, but maybe not in South Fork.  Wednesday's hike (9 a.m.) will be a short one with orange (hunting starts again).  We'll walk through a rural area with a few homes and wonderful views, hopefully ending up at the Rio Grande. --Doug Knudson

The intrepid troops

 

Up a hill to the gentle trail

 

Alder Creek and a little beaver pond

 

Three shapes of trees--spiral, leaning, and pretty erect.

 

Looking back upon Del Norte Peak

 

The meandering creek

 

Into the "mouth" of the narrow canyon

 

Drapery of ice

 

Ice teeth

 

The texture of a large cottonwood