Colorado Camper Trip (2022)

The plan was four nights in Durango, CO, then three nights in Curecanti, CO, with a night in Texas there and back. Circumstances led to abandoning the last night in Curecanti.

Durango

Durango! Our first day here, we decided to send an epic hike: Ice Lake. An easy hour and a half from the campsite, the trailhead was amongst a nice camping area at the end of a dirt road west of Silverton. We knew it was going to be hard with an elevation gain of 3,000 feet in the supposed 4 miles to the lake, but we were gobsmacked by this hike. We'd done long hikes, hard hikes, and high hikes, but I guess this hike's combination was just tough. It was well worth it, however, reaching diverse views along the way - wooded forests, fields of flowers, waterfalls, rockslide graveyards, homey meadows, and finally the radiant blue lake at the end, encompassed by high-reaching mountain walls. Bravely (or perhaps just boldly), we attempted to continue on higher to Island Lake, despite noodle legs and incoming dark clouds. Yet the path was sketchy and it started raining, so we turned back and headed down the way we came. About halfway down it started hailing. Haling big ol' chunks of hail that hurt, but we put our hats on our heads and hands in our pockets and it was too fun to care about the pain. We proceeded to run down the rest of the path, narrowly avoiding slipping in the icy mud. Soaking wet and cold, we learned we should always bring a change of clothes in the car when doing hikes in Colorado...

One thing about the mountains in Colorado in the summertime is that it always rains, it seems. You have about till 2pm if your lucky to get a hike done without getting drenched. Knowing this, we debated to head to Mesa Verde National Park in the early afternoon, and decided it was worth the try. It worked out great: we hiked about 2 miles to the lookout peak and witnessed the stormy clouds rolling in from the distant mountains, seeing sheets of rain frozen in space and time cover chosen patches of land, and distant iridescent flashes of lightning perform for us. On the way down, it started to rain on us, of course. It wasn't too bad, though, and after making it to the car we drove the long stretch of the park to see the Pueblan ruins. They were so cool! Tucked away into the great canyon shelves stood multiple-story buildings. I can only imagine the scene of a lively community, trading and socializing and living it up in the fertile canyon. As a final blessed moment, an epic double rainbow stood bright through our whole drive out of the park. It was late in the day so after making it back to the camper we did laundry and made dinner before zonking out.

Day 3 of Durango was set for our longest hike, so we set out early - stopping in Durango for some of the best lattes we've ever had - in an attempt to avoid the afternoon showers. The drive to the Indian Trail Ridge trailhead wasn't too long spatially, but temporally was a different story. The final 10 miles was an unpaved road strewn with rocks, which we had to take super slow even in our truck. Eventually it got bad enough we just parked on the side to walk the remaining two miles. Once we made it to the trailhead, the actual hike led us to a solemn lake, up a steep slant, and across a narrow ridge to an encompassing view of what felt like all of Colorado. We could see multiple 14ers in the distance that I don't remember the names of. A lunch break as we took in the views replenished our energies and we turned back the way we came, briefly visiting with some chubby gophers that were out spelunking. At the trailhead, there was an option to hike a road in the opposite direction up to a ridge in the adjacent peak, so we started up it. Yet there was a group of rowdy Jeep-drivers, racing down the mountainside, spooking us and almost splashing us. This didn't deter us completely, and we kept going until the rain started and we decided to book it down to the truck, once again mostly running! It started hailing, of course, and the drive back the rocky road was even more slow and treachorous than the way in. Despite (or perhaps because of?) the immense trouble it took to get here, Indian Trail Ridge is an awesome hike with a stunning view, and I highly recommend to anyone with a vehicle that can get you down the road.

The rest of the day we explored the town a bit more before resting up in our camper and making some tasty dinner, and packing up to prepare to depart Durango in the morning.

Part 3: Curecanti

An early start bid Durango goodbye as we drove North towards Curecanti National Recreation Area, a great dammed lake in the Coloradan valley.

Part 4: La Veta and Caprock Canyon

Major stops of the trip!

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