​​In The Shadow of Longs Peak

South San Juan Wilderness

4th of July Weekend, 2011

Friday, 01 July 2011

We leave Lyons around 7:15 PM on Friday, the 1st and spent the night in Colorado Springs with Brian and Gail.
 
Saturday, 02 July 2011
We were on our way out of town at 9:30 and drove another 4 hours to the trailhead.  On the way, took a side road and drove thru the little town of San Juan, whose entrance sign claimed to be the oldest town in Colorado, which I expect was part of Spain’s exploration and settlement in the Southwest.  Need to read up on the history of Southern Colorado.

We left the trailhead at about 2:30 PM with about 2,000 ft of elevation to overcome.  The trail starts out quite manageable but steepens as you go.  There are many switchbacks so this is not nearly as bad as hiking straight up.

I figure it’s about 4 ½ hours to our destination, Ruybalid Lake, which according to the sign at the trailhead is a distance of 4 ½ miles.  That would put us at camp at 7:30, about 5 hours of hiking.  We do well for the first 3 hours then lose energy.  We struggle for another ½ hour and finally pop out on top and before long spot a little pond with some inviting flat areas so we decide to make camp. 

Gary goes to pump water while I setup the tent, unpack sleeping bags, pads and arrange food bags.  Neither of us are last long are we are asleep before we know it.  I was surprised at how warm it is overnight.

Sunday, 03 July 2011
We slept until at least 8:15 and I finally at 8:30 I crawl out of bed.  It nice to sleep for so long, even if I am plagued by work dreams (stuck transactions which seems to be par for the course lately).  We pack up and are on our way and by 10 AM the clouds are starting to roll in and there is a first ominous clap of thunder at 10:30 thought the storm system seems to be quite a bit to the east and north.  Our plan is to continue hiking and stop at a stream crossing we are approaching for breakfast.  We moving at about 2 mph so should be at the next lake between 1 and 2 pm. 

We continue to the next trail junction.  The weather seems to be moving in, although slowly, so we decide to postpone breakfast till the next camp.  At the next trail junction, there is more thunder and it’s spitting rain.  At this point, our destination lake is a mile or so away, so approximately another half hour of hiking and we continue on.  I started the day feeling spry but now I am fairly tired so I am glad it’s a short day. 

The landscape here is a wide, undulating open meadow, kind of like a groundswell and a lake could be in tucked into any of the shelves.  But, by now lightening is visible.  I am hoping our destination lake but it does not appear to be; despite that, we high-tail it for the woods.  I look to the side and there is a lake so that is good and in the trees is a nicely placed level area, perfect for a 2 – 3 night camp.  We head there, get the tent up, get in and stow the backpacks in the fly.  And then the rain started so yet again we are just in the nick of time!  We hang out then make breakfast.

I did add notes about the other lake or lakes we visited, but I do remember there were no bugs!