Cumbres Pass to Pagosa Springs

I reached Wolf Creek Pass yesterday afternoon (ahead of schedule) and caught a ride into Pagosa Springs for an unplanned day off, as the hike from Cumbres Pass/Chama was more tiring than expected. 

This was a low snow year, but as I am still fairly early, so the north-facing slopes and forested areas still had significant snow.  The nighttime temperatures were not low enough for it to refreeze overnight, so I postholed much of the time I was on snow, making for slow progress and long days.  Additionally, when I was not on snow, the wind was a steady 20 mph most of the time, gusting to 40 mpg.  The pictures do not do the conditions justice, as I was not in the mood to photograph myself stuck waist-deep in snow on a steep slope.

When I was able to forget about my exhaustion, the scenery was beautiful.  I also saw my first porcupine and what I believe were two wolves (they were far off and ran away quickly).



Trailhead at Cumbres Pass.

Bark beetle damage.

Sunset at camp.



Rock windscreen.

 

Entering the South San Juan Wilderness.

 

The trail comes down from there.

Porcupine.

Snowy pass.

The trail came from the saddle to the left across the snowy slope.



South-facing slopes were relatively snow-free.



The trail goes across the left side of the valley and back up the right.



The trail goes over that somewhere...