Miners Creek Hike

Wayne & Linda led us up the Miners Cr. trail, a great and easy hike. We went up for about 2.7 miles to a sunny hillside for our lunch and then came back down the trail. The wildflowers are almost all gone at this lower elevation but the Fall foliage colors are starting to show up, so the beauty will continue!!

Wayne & Linda will be leading you on Thursday, come to the VCPL by 9AM, bring your lunch, water, ORANGE VEST, and a friend........

Dennis

 

Monday’s Hike: Miners Creek near Creede

Tomorrow’s hike will be at Miners Creek.  It is a very pleasant hike which Wayne and Linda tried out yesterday.

They did not see any hunters in the area, but it is a good idea to get out your orange vests and hats and start wearing them, as bow and black powder hunting season has started.

Meet at the visitor center at 9 AM for the hike.

B. Thiesfeld

Tuesday ATV ride

The Friday ride was cancelled because of the weather, so they will try it again Tuesday, Sept. 13. Meet at the visitor center at 9 AM and go to Cross Creek to do some maintenance, but mostly a fun ride.

George Powell, president

Silverthreaders Club

Silverthread Outdoor Recreation Club

 

Hope Creek hike

A pleasant stroll, with no rain, took us up Hope Creek. Christa and Denise--Bill's guests--came back to South Fork and graced us with their presence. We missed some of the regulars.

We still found many flowers and fruits, fungi and their mushrooms. Two hunters cleared fallen trees when they couldn't get their horses around them; they'll be back to seek out Rocky Mountain Sheep.

Next week the Monday, Tuesday, Thursday schedule continues. Unless you're notified otherwise, we'll depart each day at 9 a.m. from the South Fork Visitor Center.

Hunting seasons are starting soon; dig out your colorful clothing.

--Doug Knudson

Linda,Bill,Denise,WayneO, Christa ,Wayne M.

Hope Creek and hikers

Dwarf or Hairy Golden Aster ?

•Parry's Gentian blooms/buds

Fireweed

Lunch in an avalanche path.

Mountain harebell

Twisted Stalk/Liverberry S. amplexifolius

Moonlight hike

The full moon is next Monday, so lets have a moonlight hike on Sunday the 11th.  Mary & I will bring the hot dogs and fixings (if you want something other than hot dogs, bring it and we will prepare it over the campfire), hot & cold drinks, s'mores and paper products.  Susan is bringing chili so please bring some dish you would like to share with the group.

 

The campfire will be at Shaw Mesa, the same place as we have been previously; we will go up at 630 to get the fire started, come on up about 7 pm and we will eat at about 730 pm.  Bring chairs & a jacket, it will be a little chilly..........

 

Dennis

Thursday’s Hike on September 8th

Wayne and Linda Mould’s will be filling in for Dennis this week and will lead a hike along the Hope Creek Trail near Big Meadows. This is a beautiful hike that follows Hope Creek and leads into the Weminuche Wilderness.

Meet at the visitor center at 9AM tomorrow morning.

Wayne and Linda

Hike to San Luis Peak

Photos of our day long hike to San Luis Peak. I logged 11.4 miles on my GPS. We started out at the trailhead at 6 AM and returned to the cars at 2PM.  I reached the summit at 10 AM. It was very cold and windy and we did not stay on the top very long.

The first part of the hike along the Continental Divide Trail.

A view looking towards Gunnison.  It is about 40 miles from us.

Our first look at San Luis Peak, in the clouds.

A view from the top of the peak.

A view to the west from the top.

Wendy, Doug & George at the top, we did not stay there for long..

Doug coming off the peak.

Barbara and Doug with San Luis Peak in the background. We twisted our way along the ridge to the top.

Hiking back across a basin.

Our last climb to get back to the cars. No rain, just a cool overcast day that was perfect for hiking.

The round trip looked like this.

San Luis Peak climb (14,014')

San Luis Peak reaches above all its neighbors along the Continental Divide Trail, just north of Creede. 5-7 miles of access routes lead to this imposing mountain, among deep valleys and dozens of other peaks.

Guest Wendy Pickering (in from Chicago), almost-guest Del Peckumn, Barbara Thiesfeld, George Ameel, Linda and Wayne Moulds, and D. Knudson trudged through beautiful mountains and valleys to ascend the narrow ridge that crests this massive peak.

Clouds, but no rain; wind but no freezing; millions of loose rocks, but no falls; Flowers still struggle to bloom in high places. Old spruce struggle to live, but bark beetles are winning.

This portion of the Continental Divide/Colorado Trails was new to several of us. It stretches across miles and miles of alpine and subalpine lands high upon the Colorado hills.

Young runner/swimmer Wendy expressed her admiration of the fresh vigor of her senior companions. Next week on Tuesday, we'll take a shorter hike, seeking some fall colors. 9 a.m. at SF Visitor Center. Bring your camera, a friend, a lunch/snack, and a willingness to look up at what's beautiful.
--Doug Knudson

Reminder for Tuesday Sept 6

Yep--we still plan on going up San Luis Peak (14,014' high near the Continental Divide Trail), just north of Creede, on early Tuesday morning.

I know of six "goers" and one "thinking about it." (We'll be missing Bob Seago, due to a running event over the weekend. He wants to visit the doctor to see what popped in his knee as he was on his sixth mile.)

If you want to join us, for this 13-14-mile hike, please be ready to leave the South Fork Visitor Center parking lot at 4:30 a.m. or meet us at the Creede Repertory Theatre at 5:00 a.m. That way, we'll beat the 50-60% chance of rain in the mid-late afternoon. Of course, you know that 50% chances around here aren't exactly an even bet.

Bring water, boots (quite rocky), warmth, raincoat, and good sense. We'll take precautions should the weather indicate unsafe conditions; we ask that determination not overrule common sense.

See you in the morning! --Doug Knudson

Tuesday ATV Ride

There will be an ATV Ride Tuesday, Sept. 6 to Heart Lake and Carson. Meet at the visitor center at 9 AM.

 George Powell, president

Silverthreaders Club

Notice: Monday Hike Canceled

 

The Monday hike on Labor Day has been canceled.

Enjoy this day with your friends and family. We will resume our Monday hiking schedule on September 12th.

Wayne & Linda Moulds

Tewksberry Hike

Today we hiked the Tewksberry ATV trail with the Creede hikers. The trail was about 6 miles long one way.

The 1st flat part of the trail, hikers are in the background.

It was a pretty rough trail. Lots of ups and downs.

View of Aspen grove.

Trail about 1 mile from the finish line.

Tewksberry hike

Our hike today was a "multi-tasking" event; One group (Northenders) hiked from the north end to the south end; another group (Southenders) hiked from the south end to the north end. The last group (roundtrippers) hiked from the north end to the south end and back to the north end( they were moving so fast I didn't get a picture of them)..............

The trail climbed 1800 feet in elevation from the north to the south and about 800 feet from the south to the north.

The trail was 5.6 miles to 6.1 miles long, depending on whose GPS you looked at. It was a grand hike and lots of fun for everybody, we even found some puffball mushrooms to collect.

We will hike Thursday, meet at the VCPL by 9AM, bring your lunch, water, raingear, ORANGE VEST, and some friends.

Dennis