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Wheeler Geologic Area, Colorado

July 18-20, 2008

Author and Slide Show: Francesco Grilli

Participants: Tianshu Li, Francesco Grilli

Wheeler Geologic Area Access Information: click here

On Friday we left Los Alamos at 8 am heading to Colorado and to the trailhead of the Wheeler Geologic Area, situated near the town of Creede.

The origins of the Wheeler Geologic Area are to be traced back to 30 million years ago and to the volcanic explosion of the La Garita Caldera. The subsequent erosion created an amazing series of pinnacles and spires, which make this place look like as a landscape of a fantasy novel.

Not only are the rock formations spectacular,  but also the trail to access the boundary of the Wilderness is very scenic, crossing very large meadows, forest and small canyons. The Wilderness can be reached also by a 4WD road (14 miles long), but apparently it is pretty rough and it takes almost the same time as hiking the access trail (which is 7 miles long and fortunately shares with the road only the last mile).

 

We started hiking at 12:50 pm and it took us about 3 hours to get to the Wilderness Area. We set camp immediately after the fence, just before a thunderstorm hit the area. After the rain was over, the sky turned blue again: we cooked dinner and we went out for the loop trail of the Wheeler Geologic Area.

We hiked up 0.4 miles until meeting the two branches of the loop, and we took the left one. The left branch offers probably the best views, whereas from the right branch one can get closer to some of the rock formations. The length of the loop is 2.8 miles. From the point joining the two branches it is possible to continue up to Halfmoon Pass and to numerous trails. We completed our hike just before darkness.

The night was unexpectedly frosty.

The next day we started early to enjoy the view of the rocks with the morning light. We did the loop again in the opposite direction and we came back to camp for breakfast. Then we packed our stuff and went back to the trailhead, with a lunch break near the crossing of the East Bellows Creek.

We then drove to Pagosa Springs and soaked in the springs, had a good dinner at the Ole's Miner Steakhouse (good steaks, slow service) and spent the night in town. On Sunday morning we drove back to Los Alamos.

Note for campers: just after the fence of the Wilderness there is a small creek with several camping spots nearby. Some camping spots with better views of the rocks are available along the left branch, but there is no water available.
 


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