A walk in the Park of Sneffles Wilderness, Uncompagre National Forest, a ramble with Jay

 I was enamored by the allure of the hiker's huts in Europe and on my ride down this rabbit hole, I came across huts in US, specifically San Juan Huts. Hiking at an altitude of 10,000 feet with evenings in a hut sounded great and sometime last October, I reached out to my hiking buddies to gauge interest. Soon, we had a group of 4, picked dates and made the booking for end of July this year, almost one year away! Plenty of time for research, dreaming, falling deeper into the said rabbit hole.

As the date got near, unfortunately Aruna couldn't make it due to a family situation, so it was down to 3 of us: Gaay, Prabha and me. Tickets booked, food dehydrated, hotels booked, it was finally time to start our trip. As all great adventures do, our trip started with a 3am wakeup to catch a 6:30am flight from SFO to Grand Junction. Gaay was my companion on the flight, and it felt like the flying time was just the blink of an eye. Prabha joined us from Kansas in Grand Junction, and together we drove to Ouray on the eve of our hike.

Ouray is at an elevation of 7,792', the highest town in the vicinity, and so was an ideal town for us to acclimate in. Of course the fact that it is dubbed the Switzerland of America added to the allure factor. We arrived at Ouray early evening, and after quickly re-distributing food in our packs and shedding some items, we set off to explore the small town. We settled on Maggie's kitchen for dinner, and their beet burger and fries were amazing indeed - living up to the claim that they had the best burgers. We were also hoping that the beet would help us to acclimatize better, since we had to start hiking at 10,000 ft the following morning.

There are 2 exit points for this hike, one is in the town of Ouray and the other is at East Dallas trailhead, and they equate to 9 or 5 miles of hiking on the last day respectively. Since we wanted to have some time to soak in the hot springs and explore the million dollar highway, we decided to end at East Dallas trailhead. We met Tim the driver in Ouray, followed him to the ending trailhead to park our car there, and then started the ride to the Last Dollar Pass. It was my first experience of truly off-roading, it was like riding a roller coaster with some bumps thrown into it for fun. By about 9am, we were at the trailhead ready to start the hike, already surrounded by mesmerizing views!

A sample of the views to come

Day 1 Hike:

Our mileage for today was about 8.5 miles with 1100ft elevation gain, but a net elevation loss to our hut of the first night. At the very outset, it was a beautiful hike, we were surrounded by wild flowers, the trail was blanketed with pine needles which made the hike easy on the feet - but most of all, we were hiking through aspen groves! How beautiful they were? For a California hiker, I must say that this was one of the highlights of this landscape, the aspens intermingling with the pines. There were abundant butterflies and bumblebees feasting on the nectar, and the Indian style little squirrel with stripes on its backs scurrying along merrily. We even saw quails, which I first thought was a chicken! For a moment, I was thinking that this hike is not as difficult as it's made out to be (Gaay did serious research and shared videos and blogs with us), but that lasted only until the altitude got the better of me.. By lunch time, I had a headache and no appetite. Lunch was idli molaga podi, thanks to Prabha. Although this is one of my favorite foods, it was an effort to send any food down the throat.. Each step uphill, even a gradual uphill sent the heart pounding. It was like the heart would leap right off the body. Soon, we came upon a meadow with a stunning view of the cimerron mountains, blanketed on either side by aspen groves. Here, we made the wise decision to set down our packs, soak in the view and take a nap. This long break for views and nap became a much awaited feature of our days, and each one was well cherished. To be able to stretch out in a meadow with exquisite views at 10,000 was a reward we were happy to reap.

The weather was pretty amazing too.. We were supposed to have scatted showers and thunderstorms on the first 3 days, but other than a hint of rain at lunchtime which didn't even prompt us to take out our raingear, we had great weather.

Since I was hiking faster than Prabha and Gaay, I would frequently sit down and wait for them to catch up. At each of these rest stops, I was jolted by the beauty of the place. At one place, I sat by a creek with haphazard fallen logs off the trail. This turned out to be a squirrel highway! I was delighted to watch their antics as they would scurry across with their acorns, and sometimes play with each other. At another of the rest stops, I was marveling at a single Aspen tree in a grove of Spruce. Never a dull moment. 

Thanks to an aspirin and the nap at the meadow, I was able to recover from the altitude sickness and feel a bit more like myself in the second half, but all the uphill stretches still kicked ass. Prabha had a fall and hurt her face and knee, and I can only imagine her struggle with the added burdens. At about the 7 mile mark, I hiked ahead and we decided to meet at the hut. By about 4:45, after hiking / resting for over 7 hours, the North Pole hut was finally in sight! 

The huts - they were the reason we booked this trip in the first place, but I must say they completely exceeded our expectations.. I was expecting a dusty rustic hut with creaky old utensils, what we had was a neat wooden cabin with 8 beds (4 sets of bunks), mattresses, a fully stocked kitchen with cast iron skillets, kettle, pour over coffee filters, shelves of books and games all surrounding a central fire place. It was blissful! We had large propane tanks for endless cooking, none of the tiny pocket fuel of our backpacking trips. I made soup and took it to the "patio" which had an amazing view of the Sneffles mountain range. Even the outhouse had a million dollar view! 

Prabha and Gaay had not arrived and I was beginning to get worried. I decided to wait until 6pm and then go check on them, and just before 6, we saw the sweetest sight of them hiking in! Turns out they had a mini mis-adventure with Gaay's phone and GPS tracking dying on them, and them panicking about having missed the turn to get to the hut. They tried contacting me on the Garmin, and much to our disappointment, Garmin inReach could not send / receive messages from the hut. Thankfully, this mis-adventure was short lived. 

Since the huts had 8 beds and we had reserved 4, we were to have hut mates every night, and to be honest, I was a teeny bit anxious. But the Keeble family turned out to be the best hut mates we could have hoped for! The mother Holly was 60, amazingly spry, an avid hiker, mountain biker and reader. She was very friendly and great company. The father, Les was nice company too, and he our official water fetcher when the son was off hiking. Lance was 25, and as would be expected of a 25 year old, he was off on his own adventures after full days of hiking. He was very nice company too, respectful but reticent - who wouldn't be when surrounded by people at least twice their age! All of them were intrigued by the Indian food I had dehydrated for the hike, and Lance would help to finish off the meals when I had inevitably made too much. We discussed backpacking trips, Indian culture, Arizona trails, historic fiction and all topics in between. They were great company.

We had Maggi with paneer for dinner the first night, and went to sleep before the sun went down, me with the aid of zandu balm that Gaay had in her backpack pharmacy.

Day 2

Today's hike was supposed to be easier and rewarding from the description, and it didn't disappoint. We woke up to aspen glow on the mountains, and made the most of the morning with lazy pictures. Breakfast was guacamole with tortillas, and coffee / tea. In return for the Keebles bringing water to the hut from the creek / beaver pond each day, we decided to take up the dishwashing duty, and frankly, we got a bargain. After a quick clean up of the hut, we were ready to start hiking by 9am.

The trail was gradual, and I had acclimatized to the elevation and we had an enjoyable hike. The creeks we had to cross today were deeper, like shin deep, so we broke out our water shoes grateful to have not packed and lugged it for nothing. The creek crossings were fun, and the scenery was more of wild flowers and aspens and spruce with the peaks poking out periodically to break the monotony. There was a moment when we thought we were going to get caught in rains, we donned our rain jackets and put on the pack covers, but the rain lasted only about 5 minutes. Nevertheless, the dark clouds made for some very interesting photos. We took lots of breaks along creeks and meadows but our break-of-the-day was at Cocan flats, a large meadow framed by the Sneffles peaks. We lazed here and got caught up on a nap too. 

We were at the hut by 4pm, in time for our daily tea and snacks. Since we didn't have to carry our usual backpacking load, we decided to weigh down our packs with Indian snacks - Bakarwadi, madras mixture, even Grand Sweets Thattai! Dinner was vegetarian Chili which I had dehydrated. I was very happy with how it turned out, and it was well appreciated by the hut mates too. When bed time came around, I couldn't sleep - I was in an agitated state of happiness and contentment. Today's hike was mellow, the views were great, the weather perfect. Prabha was doing much better after the fall yesterday, the hut was cosy, I had great company in a beautiful spot. My cup was overflowing. 

Day 3

Today was supposed to be the toughest hike we had, climbing to an elevation of 11,000ft with a strenuous uphill climb. Total mileage was supposed to be only 5 miles, but due to some work in the area, some of the trail was closed, causing us to take a detour which added about 3 miles to our route. We were mentally prepared after an easy day 2, and the fact that the most scenic view in the state of Colorado awaited us gave us a good push too. 

The trail started off beautiful as we had come to expect in this region. A gentle uphill climb with great views followed by a steep downhill climb. Soon we were at the point on the trail we should have been at if there was no diversion and here's where the actual climb began. All along the trail, we had a stream bubbling along calming our thumping hearts us with it's soothing melody. We crossed meadows of daisies which made me happy - how could anyone not be happy at the sight of these cheerful flowers?! We crossed many creeks, either by wading through shin deep water or by butt shuffling along the log bridges. These bridges were usually where I waited for Gaay and Prabha to catch up, and I allowed the bubbling creeks to penetrate my consciousness and provide me sense of calm and belonging in nature. We came across a majestic waterfall, that originated from the Blaine Basin. The last 2 miles or less of the climb was steep, with switchbacks and narrow ridges, and this was a brutal test of our endurance. I was thankful for each switchback we encountered, considering what a steep climb we would have had if there wasn't the switchback.. In some places, it was so steep that if we didn't put one foot in front of the other quick enough, we would slip back, and this was scary.. Eventually, we came to the junction that was the Wilson Creek Summit and the Sneffles Overlook, dubbed the most scenic viewpoint in the state of Colorado, was a meagre 0.25 miles away. We left our packs and made our way to the viewpoint, and it was breathtaking! The entire Sneffles range was in front of us, flanked by a huge field of aspens and spruce, and the towns nestled in the valley far below. The sky was also picture perfect, with clouds placed just so to enhance the beauty of the landscape. This was the highest point on our hike, 11,000ft! We spent some time relaxing here, taking pictures, shooting videos and generally being content and grateful. 

The descent to the Ridgeway hut was just 2 miles, and we were able to get to the hut by 5pm to wind down, stretch our tired legs and prepare for the next day. The Ridgeway hut was the least well kept of the huts on this trail, though even this hut exceeded by original expectations.. We had a visitor that night in the form of a mouse, gnawing through a ziplock bag to get to the peanut butter sachet that we had kept for trashing. I guess nature didn't want us to wish we had more adventure on our trip! We had more desirable visitors too, there was this cute buck which decided the grass around the hut was its favorite meal ground and it kept us company for quite a while. 

Day 4

After the strenuous day 3, we were ready for some mellow hike again and that's what Day 4 entailed. With a mileage of only around 4 miles, and hardly any elevation, we had an easy relaxing day. We found a beautiful aspen meadow to claim for our rest and nap and that was a highlight of the day. This was the day we encountered most people on the trail, and lots of dogs too.. There were a few intersections on the trail which had access to dirt roads, and hence the day hikers we encountered. I wanted to add more mileage and so decided to hike up a spur to the Miller Mesa, which had a few camp sites along the way, but no great view of the mesa. Since this was a short day, we reached the Burn hut by 2pm and decided to have a substantial lunch of thepla roasted in ghee - oh what a treat that was! With hot soup on the side no less, this was FIVE STAR dining! 

The Burn hut was in a very scenic setting too, and the view from the window was of the Ridgeway and Teakettle peaks. I was excited to find a picture in the coffee table book that was in the hut that matched the view in front of us. After some rest, we hiked up to a creek to clean up for the day. It must be noted that this is where I learnt to ignite the cigarette lighter, thanks to Lance! I upped my backpacking skills - Hooray for me!

In the evening, we decided to hike up to Moonshine Park, which is an area from which we can see the San Juan mountains across vast meadows. Happily for me, this added more mileage to our day, and we sat and marveled in the beauty of this landscape without the rush of completing the hike, considering that we would be hiking along this same route the next day. We also went on a side trail which had an awesome view of the peaks, and sunset, surrounded by Aspens. Holly and family were our company at this spot, and it was nice to hang out with them. We got some beautiful pictures of the sunset and headed back for our final bitter sweet night at a San Juan hut.

Day 5

Our final day was here, and I was content. This trip felt just right, not too short, not too long.. Not too easy, not too (too too) hard. I was really happy with how the trip panned out, and ready to take on the final day. 

There were 2 routes we could take for the final day, and we decided to take the shorter one, of about 5 miles, so that we would have some time to explore the hot springs and the million dollar highway. I was a little wary of the steep downhill climb as they are not my favorite. But for the most part, the trail was gradual and with good footing. I did decide to add a detour to the Corbett Pass as I wanted to add some mileage to the day. During this section, there were some areas where I had to butt shuffle down the steep slope as standing and walking in that loose gravel was not an option for me. I was rewarded for my effort on this side hike with a bounty of blackberries that I happily feasted on. Until about the last mile to town, our trail was uneventful. I must have heaved a premature sigh of relief because that's when the red rock slate trail started, which also adorned the walls of the mountain we were descending. Heat radiated from the earth and the walls, as the slate made the trail slippery and treacherous too. There were narrow ridges that I passed on the strength of the prayers I sent up, and thankfully, without a fall, we managed to reach the trail head. The sigh of relief could finally be heaved at the sight of our parked car - what a sweet sight!

We got lunch at a cute restaurant in Ouray, stuffing ourselves with pizza, mozzarella sticks and salad, our well deserved due after 5 days on the mountains. After purchasing magnets and stickers, we headed down to the hot springs, the real treat for completing the hike. The Ouray Hot Springs pools gets water from the hot springs piped to its pools. In addition to having showers and changing rooms, it has 3 hot springs pools of increasing temperature, and soaking our tired limbs in these pools was so relaxing and pleasurable. The final pool, called the overlook pool, not only had stunning views all around, it even had a waterfall which was a delight for our tired shoulders as we had a soak. After a lovely hour at the pools, we felt clean and civilized and ready to take on the real world again. I hope these hot springs have not spoilt me for all my future hikes, I felt rejuvenated and not tired in the following days too - they were absolute magic!

After that, everything moved at fast forward speed, the drive up the million dollar highway which would have vowed us with the views if we hadn't spent the last five days up there in the mountains surrounded by even more stunning scenery. We drive down to Grand Junction, and headed to an Indian restaurant for Biryani, because Someone wanted biryani and the rest of us were easily convinced. Soon, we were at GJT airport, and then at Denver airport, ready to say our good byes to Prabha, and soon after that, at SFO, back to our real lives.

This trip was perfect in every way - the weather cooperated beyond our expectations, Prabha and Gaay were awesome hike buddies for me, the scenery was constantly breathtaking, our hut mates Holly, Les and Lance were perfect, and the difficulty and length of the trip hit the sweet spot for me too. Only thing that could have made the trip better was if Aruna was able to make it too.. I'm counting my blessings which made all these things come together and create this experience and memories for me.

Until next time!

Photos are here.

Our meals:

Day 1

Breakfast: Idli molaga podi from Prabha

Dinner: Paneer Fried Maggi

Day 2

Breakfast: Tacos with Guacamole 

Dinner: Vegetarian Chili

Day 3:

Breakfast: Quinoa Pongal

Dinner: Bisilele Baath

Day 4:

Breakfast: Ready to eat Rava Upma

Dinner: Minestrone Soup

Day 5

Breakfast: Oats / Thepla roasted in ghee