With a four-day weekend and early fall weather on the horizon, we decided to go to our favorite local-ish mountains – the high country of the San Juans in Colorado.
Arguably the best mountains in Colorado, we never tired of seeing the nooks and crannies of this fabled range. And only three to four hours away.
The high passes, the broad and distant views, and the exquisite scenery make up everything we love about the high country.
We used the Continental Divide Trails and the Colorado Trail as a backbone while we did side trips to nooks and crannies along the way.
And if the cool weather up high with a bit of nip of air in the night did not indicate autumn soon on the way, the pikas grabbing hay for the upcoming winter certainly seemed a sign!
We meandered, walked, and strolled along the alpine delights for most of the time out there.
And we could not help but notice a bit of Colorado’s long mining history.
A bit of a “DOH!” moment occurred when we realized we had forgotten the tent body to our tent. For better or worse, I schlepped in our trusty but heavy, three-person, 7.5lb car camping tent that seemed downright luxurious. It gave me perhaps more of an upper-body workout than anticipated for the weekend.
I’ve long maintained an excellent car camping tent is a budget backpacking tent. This Chaos 3 served us well over many nights of pre-backpacking camping. The extra space seemed cavernous to us at 12k ft. And I got to play pack mule!
The light shows from our camps did not disappoint, either.
And I tried not to disappoint Joan and indulged in her desire for a “selfie” –
“Mountain” season will come to a close sooner than we expect. But I sure am glad we made it to the San Juans this fall.
