The San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado have some of the most breathtaking scenery in the country. The views are filled with high peaks, beautiful waterfalls, scenic valleys, and prolific wildflowers which call to you to explore! I have spent several vacations in the area over the years, and was long overdue for another visit. This trip was with three of my hiking friends from the flatlands of Oklahoma and Texas – Craig from Houston, and Ward and Joel from Oklahoma City. We all live at low elevations, especially Craig, so acclimation to the elevation of our trip was of some concern.

The backstory of this trip is that many years ago, I was a student at the Bowling Green State University geology field camp in Durango, Colorado. A fellow geology student (Craig) and I have birthdays one day apart, so we celebrated by having ice cream sundaes at the local Dairy Queen. Last year on our birthdays, we wished each other “happy birthday” on Facebook. My wife suggested that we meet in Durango for ice cream again, so we decided to make it a hiking and backpacking trip, with ice cream again, of course.

Our schedules did not allow for the trip to happen exactly on our birthdays, which turned out to be a good thing. In June and into early July, the 416 Fire was burning in the mountains north of Durango, and for a while the San Juan National Forest was even closed (for the first time in history). As things turned out, the fire was mostly extinguished by firefighters and “monsoon” rains that started falling in early July. The fire damage is quite widespread, and is visible for quite a few miles along the west side of Highway 550 north of Durango.

The Plan and Into the San Juans

Our plan was to hike part of Segment 25 of the Colorado Trail (CT) starting at Molas Pass with connections to other trails to loop around to Coal Bank Pass. After a couple of days taking day hikes in the area to acclimate to the elevation, we set off to the beginning of our hike. We had two cars and left one at Coal Bank Pass and the other at Little Molas Lake near Molas Pass. The morning of the beginning of our trek was a beautiful, warm, and calm day. We recruited a guy in a bus (painted appropriately with the words “Happy Trails”) in the parking lot to take our group picture – in case we didn’t return perhaps? And away we hiked.

Starting from Little Molas Lake gave us a slight advantage, in that we would end up at a lower elevation at the end of the trip. Any advantage for us flatlanders was welcomed! Still, our starting point was at about 10,900 feet, and we almost immediately felt the elevation. From the trailhead the trail takes an immediate upward turn, gaining around 700 feet over the first two miles, after which it levels off somewhat, followed by a series of ups and downs. The scenery was amazing, and the wildflowers were putting on quite a show. There were several species of Indian paintbrush, fireweed, sunflowers, asters, coneflowers, daisies, and many more in bloom around every bend.

Parts of the area in which we were hiking were burned in the Lime Creek fire of 1879, and the area still shows evidence of that fire in slopes that only have scattered live trees, some fallen trees, and some dead-but-still-standing tree trunks. On the plus side, the views are quite spectacular and far-reaching. From the top of the first climb, the bald-topped Engineer Mountain, which we would pass at the other end of our hike, was visible in the distance over the meadows of flowers. Continuing on our hike, we passed the miles taking in the ever-changing scenery and, of course, shooting scores of photographs. We came to Lime Creek after about five miles.

For day hikers this is often their turnaround point, and for backpackers it is an area where there is a reliable water supply and numerous spots to set up a tent. There was a large group, including several llamas, already set up there, so we decided to continue on for a bit further. As the day went on, clouds built up on the horizon, and at one point we became concerned that we were going to be caught in a downpour, but it turned out to be just a brief light rain. We had taken cover in a thick grove of conifers where we had a rest and lunch. After hiking a couple of miles past Lime Creek, we chose a spot about a hundred feet off of the trail for our first campsite. It had obviously been used before, as there was a fire ring. It was a nice cool evening, so we made a small campfire and enjoyed the great views of the sunset. Our tent locations, however, turned out to be less than ideal as there was not a truly flat spot anywhere – we all spent the night fighting gravity as we continually slid to the lower ends of our tents. This first day totaled 8.0 miles of hiking with 1,339 feet ascending and 786 feet descending.

Day two dawned, a cool and partly cloudy start. We had a simple breakfast, broke camp, and continued on our way, knowing that we had to climb to the highest point of our hike coming up later. After passing what would have been a much flatter place to camp about a half mile beyond where we had spent the night, we crossed several nice small creeks and some swampy areas and then began climbing. We were still on the Colorado Trail at this point. After hiking a little over three miles we came to a trail junction where the upper end of the Engineer Mountain Trail meets the Colorado Trail. We turned right at this junction to continue on the CT. After another mile we reached our high point for the hike. This spot is called Rolling Pass at an elevation (by my GPS) of 12,438 feet. During the long climb, I found myself counting steps – “one, two, three…fifty” then stopping to catch my breath and get my heart rate back down a bit, and then repeat. It was all worth it, as the view from Rolling Pass was amazing – mountains, spruce-covered hillsides, and wildflowers everywhere!

As we were resting, a group of three younger mountain bikers arrived at the pass (hardly breathing heavily – ah, youth). As the mountain bikers took a break, we started down the switchbacks on the other side of the pass. Part way down they whizzed by, one of them yelling “woohoo, my first time in Colorado!!!!” From the pass, we had spotted a small lake in the distance and thought that we should go check it out if we got close enough. Sure enough, after passing a herd of cattle, we found the lake only a tenth of a mile or so from the trail. This was around noon, and the plan was to eat lunch and take a break before continuing for another couple of miles. BUT, we all had pretty much the same idea at the same time – “wow, this is beautiful, we should camp here!” kind of a group mutiny.

It turned out to be a very relaxing afternoon in perhaps the most beautiful place that I’ve ever camped. The weather was alternately warm and chilly, depending on the proximity of the scattered clouds. This was a great camping area, plenty of flat spots for tents (much welcomed after the previous night of fighting gravity), a beautiful view, and tons of wildflowers. We also noticed that there were a plethora of salamanders living in the shallow water along the edge of the pond, so naturally we called it “Salamander Pond”. Day two consisted of 5.8 miles hiking with 1,394 feet ascending and 1,135 feet descending.

To say the least, scenic views are abundant in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

Back to the Trailhead

Day three started with a thin layer of fog on the pond, orange sunlight on the mountains, and “moos” in the distance, getting louder by the minute. As we broke camp, the herd of cattle that we had seen yesterday decided to check us out. They wandered right up to our campsite, discovered the ashes from previous fires, and began licking the ground. Must be some mineral that they need, but it was a weird sight to see! A deer wandered into the campsite at about this time, and she was perfectly content to let me take her picture as she munched grass and we broke camp. Breakfast eaten, cows “mooved” on, morning pictures taken, and backpacks loaded, we headed back to the trail. Immediately after getting onto the Colorado Trail, we came to an intersection with a lesser-used trail to the left. We said goodbye to the CT and headed south on the White Creek Trail (this trail is not shown on some maps).

The trail pretty much follows the 11,400 foot contour line, with just minor ups and downs along the way. We were getting closer to Engineer Mountain all the time. After several miles on the White Creek Trail, we came to the intersection with Engineer Mountain Trail (about a mile and a half south of where we had seen it yesterday), and turned right. Several times along the trail we stopped and through our binoculars we could see people on top of Engineer Mountain (elevation 12,968 feet). After a little more than three miles on Engineer Mountain Trail, we turned left onto Pass Trail.

At this point in the day there were some dangerously dark storm clouds building up, and thunder was getting louder by the minute. We grabbed a quick lunch while watching several climbers scramble back down from the mountaintop. The ominous clouds continued to darken and get closer, so we hustled back down the last 2.5 miles to Coal Bank Pass. We were fortunate to have missed the rain, until we arrived at the parking area where we were hit with heavy rain, sleet, and pea-sized hail. We felt fortunate that in three days of hiking during the summer “monsoons” this was the only rain that we encountered. Our third day consisted of 9.3 miles hiking with 1,004 feet ascending and 1,951 feet descending.

Although as flatlanders we all noticed the distinct lack of oxygen at the higher elevations, the scenery of the San Juan Mountains more than made up for this minor distraction. Around every bend, new and spectacular views unfolded, what I sometimes call “a photographer's nightmare" i.e. so many photographic targets that it is hard to choose. Such a wonderful dilemma! Our total for the three days: 23.1 miles hiked with 3,737 feet ascending and 3,872 feet descending. As for the after hike ice cream, yes we had some…twice. And it was delicious.

Need to Know

Information

The trails hiked are all within the San Juan National Forest. No permit is required. Mountain biking and horses are also allowed on these trails. We found water in several creeks and small lakes along the hike. Much of the hike is above tree line and very exposed to UV rays from the sun, storms, and lightning. The nearest town for supplies is Silverton, about five miles away.

Getting There

From Silverton, drive 5.5 miles south on US 550, or from Durango drive 44.5 miles north on US 550, then turn west on Little Molas Lake Road (0.4 miles north of Molas Pass). Follow the road for 0.8 miles to the parking area beyond the lake. There is a Colorado Trail sign in the northwest corner of the parking lot.

Best Time to Go

Mid to late June through October, with July and August being the best. The rainy season is mid-July through August so be prepared with proper gear.

Maps & Books

USGS 1:24,000 topo quads: Engineer Mountain, Ophir, and Silverton. The Trails Illustrated 140 map details the areas hiked as well. There is also a Colorado Trail Guidebook as well as a Colorado Trail Databook available. For getting to and from the trailhead and planning hikes, an atlas like the Delorme Colorado Atlas & Gazetteer can be useful.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Issue 39 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here for additional photos and content.