Rocky Mountain High 9800 feet

Just returning from an epic adventure into the Rockies. We took 4 adults, 5 kids, 2 horses, and 3 mules into the San Juan Wilderness. We were in the Rio Grand National Forest and hiked the Elk Creek Trail. We hiked a total of 20 miles up to 9800 feet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Alright, let me get this out of the way. I'm extremely jealous. The San Juan area is a favorite of mine. How cold was it this time of year?

That looks fantastic and what memories for those kids! Gotta ask what the logistics was like getting all the stuff, kids, and animals from here to Colorado though. What an adventure!

It was cold at night, below freezing (30 degrees +,-) The trail we were going to take
(Red Lake ?) which was higher up, had 2 feet of snow and was not passable. I had a crappy sleeping bag and froze my ass off. I prayed for daylight every night as it got into the 70's everyday. It was a valuable lesson learned. As far as logistics go, I was fortunate to go with a good friend who has done this many times, so for him it was somewhat normal to haul this amount of people, horses and gear half way across God's green earth. From my view point it would be over whelming to do this plus the cost would be more than the beeman could afford. He has been collecting gear, horses and mules for awhile as he is planning to go into the outfitting business when he retires. He should have been born 150 years ago. On the other hand you don't need all of this stuff to go where we went. The trails are pretty easy to follow and if you pack light you can easily haul all you need to have a good time. My wife and me hauled all of our gear in just to prove to ourselves we could do it. Like most people find out we could have taken a little less gear as we had some stuff we didn't use. It helps if you are in good shape ( I'm above average as far as being in shape )as the altitude ate my lunch especially on the way in. Bring a good trail map, GPS, and a damn good sleeping bag and you won't have many problems.

Nice!!! Looks like the area we hunt in Pagosa Springs. The San Jaun National Forest. Love that part of the country. Like Paddle007 said, I'm jelly too. You just have to make the time to do these things or life will go right by.