Water: not enough to too much

The region surrounding Pagosa Springs never disappoints, from the Continental Divide Trail at the top of Wolf Creek Pass to the rivers - the Piedra and San Juan - and numerous streams trickling or gushing down the mountainsides through forests lush and green, but sometimes beetle-killed, to meadows this year unbelievably grass-thick and flower-strewn.  What a contrast to our last sojourn in that country!  Treasure Falls had slowed to a trickle and meadows were sere and brown.  It was exhilarating to see the countryside come to life.

With prices increased past comfort level, we spent only one day at The Springs, savoring the tranquility of soaking in the pools and finding lots of interesting conversations.  One entrepreneur we engaged with is a small specialty publisher on his way to creating his booth at the San Diego Comic-Con event for the first time.  Novel enough that, but to add to his story, he had purchased a small acreage outside town and he, his wife and two pre-teen youngsters are semi-camping out full time in a yurt.  They use The Springs for showering.  And I thought we were roughing it in our little Wolf Pup trailer . . .

By mid-afternoon, the stretch of the San Juan through town was bumper-to-bumper with tubers, fun to watch their antics when they run aground in rocky rapids.  Last year, the water level was so low that they could have waded the entire river.  In the midst of our soaking, we took the plunge into the river's 50-degree water - wonderrfully refreshing!

I love the formations created by the mineralized water - Yellowstonesque.

 

 

 

 

 

At our riverside RV park, it was a relief to see the San Juan come back to life; we feared for it on our previous visit.

Ice fissures!

Who knew there was such an unusual feature that had been lurking just uphill from us whenever we hiked along one of our favorite places - the Piedra River.  

Our friend Susan drove up from her summertime perch at Bayfield to join us for a day of whatever suited our fancy.  As it turned out, our fancy was suited for an explore of a previously unknown-by-us trail to a place where the solidity of a gigantic mountain doesn't hold a candle to the force of gravity.

The three of us enjoyed being together again and appreciating the forest beauty that we had all to ourselves.

It was a bit of a climb, enough to require a couple of breather stops, but not at all difficult.  We were astounded at what we found high on that slope!  The earth is giving way and sliding inexorably toward the canyon below.  Although far too warm for ice to be within the chasms, the numerous deep crevasses covered a huge area.  Some were extensive in length; all were deep enough that peering over the edge revealed no bottom.  I kinda understand now why the powers-that-be have not marked the trailhead: the openings are dangerous with perilously gravelly/slidey edges that would be very easy to slip on, especially because we found it compellingly necessary to continue peering into the depths.

Bowing to impending thunderstorms and choosing not to be out and about as lightning neared, we made our way downhill, all the while thinking about the rumbling that will be occurring when that mountain makes its inevitable move downward.

All of us got good looks at several American three-toed woodpeckers flitting through the pines.

After stopping at an overlook high above the Piedra River canyon . . . 

 

 

 . . . we opted for a safer-than-hiking follow-up with a loop drive around the area.  The vistas were breathtaking, made even more dramatic by the stormy conditions.

What would a visit to Pagosa be without a climb up to Treasure Falls . . . once again roaring down its spectacular 105-foot plunge after the trickle we encountered there last year.

 

 

There were bunches of families who had also hiked up to the viewing platform at the base of the waterfall; watching the carelessness with which they allowed young children to clambor around that slippery-wet environment where a fall could result in serious injury made me a nervous wreck. 

Music & birds . . .

We met several people in the RV park who enjoyed Chris' evening concerts.  Our feeders were out and popular with swarms of hummingbirds - the rufous guardians did not want to share with the broad-tailed or with each other.  Bullock's orioles also helped themselves to the nectar, while black-headed grosbeaks enjoyed the offerings in the seed feeder.

We stopped by Pagosa Lake to watch a lone trumpeter swan.  Other birds identified here and there to finish off the trip list were American crow, black-capped chickadee, song sparrow and a belted kingfisher winging purposefully over the San Juan.

 

Our straight-through drive home from Pagosa Springs hit quite a bit of a weather glitch as we approached Flagstaff.  We encountered strong winds and rain, and dead-stop traffic in miles-long lines - the result of work to clear flash flood debris flows on the highway.  I expect the danger of that will be ongoing for quite a spell: two huge destructive wildfires on San Francisco Peaks and the region have left the slopes denuded of vegetation that can hold back cascading rainfall during monsoon season.

Returning home to extensive critter destruction in my gardens was discouraging and annoying, but was put in perspective when I saw some of the damage to Flagstaff neighborhoods by the flooding.  Very sad indeed.