In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Picketwire Canyon
Picketwire Canyon in the Comanche Grasslands in South East Colorado
Friday, 25 Nov 2016
We drove down from Colorado Springs today to the Withers Trailhead and Picketwire Canyon.
This was a hike I found on the AllTrails.com while looking for something to the south and less of a drive than Utah. It looked interesting but I could not find much information on it. We decided to give it a try as a long weekend trip over Thanksgiving. Being is Colorado Springs for thanksgiving made the drive 2 hours less than it would have if we started in Longmont.
On Friday, we get up and are underway. Our first stop is whole foods for our supper of sushi with added supplies of coffee and syrup. Then we head south on I-25 to Pueblo where we will pick up US 50 East to La Junta.
I did not revisit any western expansion history but I think US 50 has some significance in the development of the Santa Fe Trail. We pass thru Fowler, Rocky Ford and other small agricultural / railroad towns and on to La Junta which is a bigger with motels, fast foods and other necessities…
At La Junta, we turn south on CO 109 and into the Comanche Grasslands and the Withers Trailhead. According to the Forest Service, there will be camping with an outhouse (always a nice feature) which turns out to be very clean and well-stocked though we always bring our own toilet paper.
We find a spot for camping and get ready to hike. There are actually 2 trails here, the Withers Canyon Trail and the Picketwire Canyon Trail which is our choice. ( I need to check this…where does the Withers Canyon trail go?)
We wanted to follow the Purgatoire River as it heads north, but as it turns out, we are quite a distance from the river so we head south on the trail for a bit then bushwack toward the river and head north for a ways. It’s a pretty small river but flowing. I take some pictures and wonder what is in all the side canyons in view.
At one spot, I spy a mound of dirt and investigate, wondering if it’s a midden pile but digging in slightly, there does not seem to be any sign of trash. There are a number of these mounds and wonder if they are naturally occurring (as they are in that place in Washington). Investigation for another day.
We find a nice spot and take a break and then retrace our steps. A nice walk!
Saturday, 26 Nov 2016
This is our long hike day in Picketwire aka Purgatoire River Canyon.
Our goal is 5.7 miles (one way) to the Dinosaur Tracks. According to the phamphlet, this is the largest concentration of dinosaur tracks in North America.
After a fitful night of sleep for both of us (normal for the first night out) we get up around 8 am. I make coffee and Gary makes waffles for breakfast with his new Yodder Stove waffle iron and then get ready for today’s hike.
We head down the same steep track as yesterday which reminds me of an old wagon road and I wonder if it is an old wagon road. At the bottom, some spots of grass are frozen in place…so the temperature did go down below freezing.
It seems like we are at the first mileage sign in hardly any time at all but we’ve come less than a mile. It’s .9 back up to the trailhead, 3.5 to the mission and 4.7 to the dinosaur tracks.
Purgatoire is one of those flat curvy rivers that seem so prevalent in the west. We are going upriver, but there is hardly any elevation gain. This trail looks even more like an old 2-track and is pretty sandy and very nice for walking. The landscape and colors here are my favorite: large expanse of open space and monochromatic coloring. I will need to see if any are enhanced by being converted to black & white or sepia.
Up ahead, I can see the road climbs up a steep grade and wonder why. As we get closer, I see the riverbed cuts pretty close to this side of the canyon and the road moves upward, above the river basin.
Up I go and down the other side where I see Gary hanging and waiting at our 1 hour appointed waiting time. He has a nice spot above the bank of the river and I wander over.
He’s been looking at something up the hill and thru the binoc’s we can see it’s a surveyor tag.
I muse that we are not yet at the misson. Up ahead there are 2 house-sized rocks and further back, I wondered if they are the mission. But turns out, they are just 2 house-sized rocks.
I have been keeping an eye out for pictographs as we walk but see none. Though quite frankly, most of the one’s we’ve seen in other places are mostly in canyons and alcoves…not out in the open as we are now.
Soon enough, we are at the mission and churchyard. The chapel, partially caved in, is made of stone, the same type that are all around. There is a cross with crucifix attached that I photograph. And it seems like all the gravestones are 2 sided, with a different name on each side.
According to the info at the trailhead, 11 families from Mexico migrated here after the Mexican American War. They eventually build the chapel and adopted a priest from Denver.
We continue along. Another 1.5 miles or so to the dinosaur tracks. When we get there, they are really cool, a large area of many tracks, frozen in limestone, on both sides of the river. We chose not to wade over to check out the ones on the far side of the bank, as it is not quite that warm today.
We turn back at 2:15 and arrive at camp at 4:45, 2 ½ hours for nearly six miles, not a bad rate. We have a supper of canned chili and tortillas and I am ready to turn in…12 miles is a long way to hike.
Sunday, 27 Nov 2016
In the morning comes the pitter-patter of rain on the tent. The clock says 50 degrees inside, so it is not too cold. It stops after an hour or so. We decide to skip breakfast, and pack up and leave. It’s not raining at the moment, but there are rain clouds headed our way both from the west and south.
On the way out, we spy the ruins of another building and stop to check it out. It’s on a nice rise but there’s no protection from the elements.
We also check out Vogel canyon and decide its worthwhile to come back and explore as there is another old ranch and more pictographs.
We turn and head back toward LaJunta.
This was a very nice outing. Not nearly as spectacular as the canyons of Utah nor Canyon of the Ancients but has the advantage of being closer to home.