After my sunrise hike, I left the park and got on the road toward Durango. I was officially on the home stretch now.
I didn’t spend too much time in the town. I took a walk around the historic downtown district but there wasn’t much of anything that caught my eye. I drove up to the Lion’s Den which had a shelter and offered a great view of the mountains to the west. I posted up there for a little while and did some writing.
The main draw in Durango is the Narrow Gorge Railroad which is an old-school style train that brings you through the mountains into Silverton. My parents took a ride when they were here last year and they loved it.
But I decided against doing it this time around. I missed the earlier train and the timing wasn’t going to work for me later in the afternoon. I haven’t been to Silverton or Ouray yet and I would like to spend more time than a few hours. Maybe I will come next summer and pay it a visit.
Back on the road again by the late afternoon. My original plan was to stop by Chimney Rock National Monument. Another archaeological site. But the monument was closed for the season. I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly.
Were the rangers not around but I could still hike up to the site? Or was the entire area inaccessible? I decided not to take a chance and I moved on toward Pagosa Springs.
That night I found a campsite right along the Piedra River and I did a ton of reading. I also set up the slackline and played around on it for a while. It has been a bit since the last time that I was able to. I managed to make a turn on the line for the first time ever. I was fairly proud of myself.
Pagosa Springs was a much smaller town than I was expecting. It’s only a couple of streets long but it has a beautiful riverfront park. The town is famous for its hot springs and there are a few spa resorts lined up along the river.
There are also a few springs inside the park that are free for the public to access. It’s great that they make those available to the people that might not want to pay for the spa. Perfect for a quick dip on a sunny autumn day.
I thought it was a really great place. It didn’t seem super touristy. I’d like to come back in the summer and check it out during peak season. Probably less crowded than other hot spring areas like Steamboat and Glenwood Springs.
The next day was pretty quiet. I made it over Wolf Creek Pass and took some time at the lookout to check out the surrounding area. The views were really great, even though it was a bit cloudy. The leaves were still in the process of changing here. Pockets of yellow and orange littered the mountainsides in the distance.
Wolf Creek Ski Area is near the pass and I really want to pay a visit sometime soon. It is known for getting tons of snow. Some would say it gets the most snow of all the ski areas in Colorado. And that’s saying something!
I would love to get out here on a powder day. It’s kind of in the middle of nowhere. so you know that it’s not going to get very crowded either. Sounds like a dream.