Colorado Wilderness Expedition

Day 1

Transfer from Colorado Springs to the trail head. This route takes you from the eastern plains below Pikes Peak, traveling back into western history up Hardscrabble Pass through the Wet Mountains, across the Wet Mountain Valley, to the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. These locations are aptly named. Hardscrabble is just that - a narrow, steep, twisting canyon. Over 12 feet of snow fall on much of the Wet Mountains in a typical winter, and riders in the Wet Mountains may encounter rain, hail, and snow in the mountains on any given afternoon - all summer long.

As the pack string is loaded with duffels and supplies, one of your two wrangler-guides will give detailed instructions on riding, saddling and the care of your mount. Setting out around midday, you will wind up through Aspen groves, Gambel Oak and Lodgepole Pine, up and into a long glaciated valley. You will ride for about four hours to our first camp in a lush meadow amongst the aspen at the base of the valley that will lead you up and over the Range tomorrow. Set up tents, picket horses, and soon the scents of a mouthwatering feast mingled with wood smoke will entice you to gather round the fire for drinks and dinner. (L,D)

Day 2

After breakfast with a bracing cup of cowboy coffee, saddle up, load the packhorses, and begin the ascent up South Brush Creek. The trail winds through low-lying bogs, across downfall timber, through dark groves of evergreens, past fields of wildflowers, and ultimately above timberline to the craggy and windswept pass. Here you may hear strange whistling sounds warning others you're coming. If you look closely you may see this whistler - a rotund, waddling funny-looking fellow known as a yellow-bellied or mountain marmot. He's a friendly rodent who lives in the rocks, subsists entirely on the greens of summer, and then hibernates through the harsh winter. (That's "marmot", not "varmint".) It's an incredible day of riding over a 13,000 ft. pass to your first glimpse of the vastness of the San Luis Valley framed by each peak and ridge line descending sharply below us. Ask your guide to point out our route for the next four days from this incredible vantage point. Ride down and establish camp amongst the aspen in Horse Thief Basin for a well-earned restful evening, another gourmet feast around the campfire, and a peaceful night. (B,L,D)

Day 3

Morning breaks and while easing a few stiff muscles you work as a team to break camp after enjoying a traditional pack trip breakfast and lots of cowboy coffee. Today you're riding totally on the west side of the range. Depending on the Forest Service permit, you will either cross another 13,000 ft. pass above Cotton Lake and make camp along Rito Alto Creek, or go over two passes to settle in San Isabel Creek. Keep your eyes open, and you may find more signs of other Rocky Mountain mammals. When you drop into Elk Valley, you may see the larger cousins of the mule deer spotted earlier. Unlike mule deer, who are more territorial, the elk are nomadic - constantly searching for food and a warm thicket to bed down in during the day. A bull elk, who stands about one and a-half feet taller than a mule deer, can run up to 35 mph, and during the rutting season you may hear them "bugling" as they call to their potential mates and warn off other bulls.

Where there is so much wildlife there are bound to be predators, and deep in the mountains you might cross paths with both cougars and black bears. Like the marmots, the black bears have a very short season to store enough fat to feed them all winter while they snooze in some dark den, so they munch all summer on whatever they can find. It's not unusual to see tracks or scat of these fat, lumbering old fellows where they have stepped in some mud near a creek for a drink. If you're very, very lucky, you may see one from a distance casually crossing the trail on a path of his own. The cougar, or puma, are even more reclusive, and few guides in these mountains have yet to see more than sign that one of these big cats have passed - but, you never know. . .

The smaller predators, such as bobcats or coyotes, are more often seen and heard, and the coyotes have been known to gives a thrill when they howl as you tell tales around the campfire after delighting in a delicious classic pack trip dinner. (B,L,D)

Day 4

You will lay over for the day to allow time for hiking, fishing, or just relaxing - enjoying the day basking in the beauty to be found around camp. A hiking trip allows you the time and opportunity to enjoy the wildflowers close up. There are an amazing variety of wildflowers, especially at the peak of their seasons if there's been sufficient water. In addition to the ever-present small yellow composites, you may find larkspur, elk thistle, monk's hood, mountain bluebells, scarlet gilia, Colorado blue columbine, Parry primrose, wild roses, wild geranium, and hare bells, or if you're truly fortunate, a Calypso orchid, also sometimes called a fairy slipper, Venus slipper, or lady's slipper. If you climb above timberline, look closely at the Indian Paintbrush. Something unequaled at lower elevations happens here; often the paintbrush bloom in startling shades of fuscia or even a delicate off-white.

If you choose to fish, in these high waters it is a true delight. There are indigenous trout, but the State also stocks many of these alpine lakes and streams with Pikes Peak Native fingerlings, a hybridization of Greenback and Yellowstone or Colorado River, and purebred Greenbacks. You may also find Brookies or a Rainbow in some of the creeks and beaver ponds. These waters are not specially restricted, so pack your favourite gear: flies, lures, or hooks for bait, and come prepared to enjoy and share your catch for dinner if there's enough! That night, after a sumptuous dinner, as the fire dies down and you drift off to sleep, you may hear the calls, hoots, and flight sounds of some of the spectacular nocturnal birds of prey: great horned owls, screech owls, and night hawks. (B,L,D)

Day 5

After breakfast, break camp and cross over the last two passes (or three! depending on where you had the layover) and descend back to the trail head, arriving by 4 - 6 p.m. This is truly the most spectacular day yet. These breathtaking, lofty views are perfect for watching airborne predators: large, swift, powerful hawks and eagles who swoop to dine from the skies. You may see Swainson's hawks, red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, and, most majestic of all, golden eagles. Imagine what it is like to look down from your perch on high to see a golden eagle soaring with a wing span of over seven feet below, or to see him perched standing 3 feet tall! Deeper in the trees you may see a sharp-shinned hawk, a Cooper's hawk, or the northern goshawk. You feel you are back at the road too soon. Talk and reminisce about the adventure as your horses neigh softly, awaiting transport home. You'll be driven back to Colorado Springs in time to meet the late evening flights. (B,L,D)

ALTERNATE ROUTE:

Between May and early July we offer an alternate Sangre de Cristos Route because there are times when the snow is so deep at the top of the Sangres that the horses' bellies would drag through drifts.

The alternate route traverses the eastern slopes of the Sangres in the San Isabel National Forest. The description of this trip closely parallels that of the Standard Route, but this trip runs from south to north instead, and you ride and explore on the sun-facing slopes, leaving the deeper snow in the darker, hidden valleys for warmer days.

The trip takes place in the lower elevations of the Wet Mountains and canyons of Grape Creek and allows for a spectacular trip when the Sangre de Cristos' are still clogged with snow. Days 1 & 2 are spent up amongst the peaks of Tanner and Curley in the San Isabel National Forest. Laying over at one camp allows for a great day - ride with spectacular views of the canyons and the front range peaks covered with snow. Day 3 moves from the peaks to Grape Creek along a scenic and little known valley trail. You momentarily pop out onto the remote Grape Creek access road, a point at which you may meet others coming in to fish. Spend the next two days crossing and re--crossing the creek and exploring the canyon (now a BLM designated wilderness area) with its stories of old west mining and homestead history. There is time to fish and relax in the contrasting lush green of the creek bottoms and the wild craggy country towering above you.