SE San Juan Mountains, CO & NM: Part 1

Part 1 of 3

August 20-26, 2023

It had been an unusually hot and dry summer in the middle Rio Grande Valley that I call  home. I needed a break, perhaps in the cool Colorado mountains. However, I seen myself in previous years that many, many others will have had the same plan. I thought if I visited lesser known locales I might find respite. I'd camped along the East Fork of the San Juan River, east of Pagosa Springs, twice before. It has many dispersed campsites along the scenic river. In search of additional options in the same general area I began a thorough search using online satellite imagery. 

I found two excellent prospects both west and east of Pagosa; Hunter Piedra and Quartz creek. I also thought I'd go back up into an area I'd briefly passed through—the Summit area on the other side of the Continental Divide. OK, I had a rough plan.

Remember to click a photo for a larger version which opens a screen you may arrow through

Sunday, August 20

I finished loading my truck and camper and drove north on I-25 from the Albuquerque area. Took the Santa Fe by-pass and stopped briefly in Española for tacos. The day was quickly heating up. The drove to Pagosa Springs on US-84 where I filled the gas tank. I drove west from Pagosa on US-160 to First Fork Road that parallels the east side of the Piedra River.

Hunter Piedra Campground

Twelve miles up the good, gravel road is a small, primitive campground which I had found in the satellite view and confirmed via the San Juan National Forest map. As I drove in I was passed twice by trucks pulling medium-small camping trailers (and also a big truck pulling a long stock-trailer). I was hoping they were on their way home and there would be sites available for me. I was also expecting the temperature to drop with elevation, but it didn't seem to.

There is deluxe concrete bridge that leads to the First Fork Trailhead. Before the bridge you can turn right, upstream, and the road leads you to a stock-trailer parking area and a loop with a vault toilet. There appeared to be a group camped there with a number of tents and vehicles.

Piedra River

If you turn left before the bridge a track takes you to several dispersed campsite with views of the river. There was only one truck in the area with two men preparing to fly fish in the Piedra River. No one was camped so I had my choice. I went all the way to the downstream end to set up. It was close to 90º, not the cool mountain air I'd been hoping for, so after setting up I found a nice piece of shade for my chair and watched the river flow.

My campsite at Hunter Piedra dispersed campground

Yellow flowers along the river bank

I saw lots of butterflies on some yellow flowers next to the river. While trying to get a photo a young woman walked up the river in shorts and water shoes. I said hello and we spoke for a few minutes. She lives in Pagosa and comes up to this area regularly for day hikes and to enjoy the river, including kayaking when there is enough water. I mentioned the butterflies and she said that actually they were "Cop Car" moths (as they are black & white.) She knew the scientific name, but that didn't stick in my brain. I wasn't able to get an in-focus photo of one of the moths this afternoon, however.

A fuzzy bee is gathering dinner

The truck and stock-trailer was a regular commuter heading out, then about a hour or so later driving back in. I finally figured out that the trailhead up by the bridge was the terminus of guided horseback rides. Folks would ride from the other end of the trail, finish here then the wranglers would load up the horses and clients to drive back down the mountain. That kept up until dusk, but fortunately wasn't too disruptive.

A bit of color in the evening sky

It cooled off some in the evening. There wasn't much of a sunset, but there was a photogenic sliver of moon.

A hand-held photo of the moon using my wildlife lens

Monday, August 21

Hunter Piedra Campground (continued)

My campsite at the downstream end of the camping area

It was a beautiful morning. There were three wild turkeys grazing in the meadow next to my camper, but of course they fled when I tried to get a photo. I enjoyed a relaxing morning watching the chipmunks feeding on the chokecherries and other berries along the river. There were birds feeding, too, but they didn't pose for photos. I got an insight into nature when I noticed the critters didn't just grab a fruit, but would carefully examine each bunch and only pick the ripe ones. This is why the bunches look so picked over—because they are!

The chipmunk would forage in the bushes then return to this boulder to eat

Chokecherries thinned out by the squirrels and birds

Finally a half-way decent photo of a Cop Car Moth (and a couple of bees)

Here is a spherical panorama of the area:

It warmed up quickly, but was about ten degrees cooler than the day before. Still, it was too hot to hike and I quickly abandoned my walk up the road past the bridge and returned to camp. I enjoyed more relaxing in the shade and a good book I'd brought along. I had the campground to myself most of the day. Late in the afternoon an occasional car would park next to the bridge and a family would splash around in the river for a while.

An aerial view of my campsite along the Piedra River

Early that evening I heard thunder and dark clouds were building. It cooled off then. While preparing dinner it rained a little bit. After which I noticed a double-rainbow which I attempted to photograph.

Double-rainbow = two pots of gold or simply a delightful sight

Tuesday, August 22

Hunter Piedra Campground (continued)

The previous day I'd learned the camping area was shaded by the ridge to the east until around noontime. Consequently I was unable to fully charge my batteries. I thought I'd return to the highway and head to the Quartz Creek camping area I'd also selected via online maps. I hit the road about 9:30am, stopping briefly to take a photo back up the valley.

Looking up the valley on my drive out

When I was a mile or two from the highway I noticed several dispersed campsites along the river. They were not as nice as Hunter Prieta, but would still be nice, especially for those traveling though. I also took a slight detour to explore the USFS Lower Piedra developed campground. It's about a mile off the highway on the west site of the river. It looked very nice and about half the sites were next to the river. There were a few folks camped there.

Pagosa Springs

I stopped at City Market in west Pagosa Springs for a few fresh provisions (and lunch) on my way back to the east. Then drove through town and north on US-160 to East Fork Road.

East Fork Road

Readers who frequent backroads in the west are familiar with the staging areas provided for visitors who bring their ATVs up on a trailer. The staging area up East Fork Road was filled with many and various wildfire fighting trucks and personnel. I hadn't heard of any fires in the area and there was no evidence of smoke. Puzzling. I'd not seen this before. As I continued up the road I had to pull over for a red FIRE tank truck spraying water on the road and a bit later a red FIRE grader resurfacing the road. Stranger yet. Something else I'd never seen.

A few miles in just after the road crosses the river is a popular dispersed camping area. First time I'd driven by with no one camped there. A dispersed camping area that I've used a couple of times begins when the road again crosses the East Fork of the San Juan. At the first large site I saw multiple FIRE trucks and young adults in their uniforms of yellow long-sleeved shirts and green pants. The fire fighters were standing around the river bank and waved as I drove by. There was a day-glo red sign which read FIRE CAMP. I'd not seen this before either, but realized the various Hot Shot teams from around the west would need camps to stay between fires or when rotated off the fireline.

I noticed a few of the other dispersed sites I drove by were similarly occupied. Though this area is very scenic and I've camped here twice before, this trip I was going several miles farther up the road to an area I'd never been along Quartz Creek which feeds the river. The road farther up has some very rough sections, but nothing technical.

I'd thought also of stopping at the Silver Falls trailhead as I'd read that was a pretty spot. However as Silver Creek ran across the road I noted there was very little water. There were more FIRE trucks and horse trailers at the trailhead so I decided to explore the falls on a later trip, perhaps early summer when the creek would have more water.

I few miles farther up the road forks. A 4WD road, which I heard is suitable only for ATVs, climbs up to Elwood Pass at the Continental Divide and to the right a gravel road follows Quartz Creek for a couple miles to a meadow where I'd hoped to camp. There was, however, a FIRE brush truck parked at the junction. I asked about the road and was told the road to Quartz Meadows was closed due to wildfire, not that I could see any evidence. I turned around and drove back down the rough road.

Unfortunately, I never thought to stop and take photos of any of the FIRE trucks or fire fighters. I'm sure no one would have minded and it would have made a nice addition to this post.

East Fork Dispersed Camping Area

I didn't like the selection of open campsites in the usual area and considered continuing on out to go somewhere else. I stopped and looked at my map. I also thought about my admitted weakness for searching for the perfect spot which sometimes causes me to spend too much time and effort driving around and rarely results in finding the ideal. So I returned to the established dispersed camping area and found a "nice enough" spot next to the river. It was actually a pretty location. I was concerned as there were several other sites situated very close by, so hoped if I got neighbors they would be quiet and well behaved. The other issue was that these sites were within the trees and didn't get much direct sun for my solar panels. 

A nice spot to sit and enjoy the river and the trees

I got out my deployable 100W panel and placed it in the sun (and moved it the shade moved.) It was at least easy to find a shaded spot for my camp chair. I relaxed and read. I tried to photograph a few birds that came through. Only one other camper came to the area, a fellow with a hard side, slide-in camper, but he took a site as far away as he could. I like minded soul, I guess. 

An Evening Grosbeak checks me out as I take his picture

A little color in the evening sky before the rains move in

After dinner I could hear thunder. I took a few photos of the clouds, then retreated inside when the rain started. It rained until dark, but not heavily.

Continued in Part 2