10    Chama - Pagosa Springs    133 kilometers

Chama

Pagosa Springs                           133 km

Decisions, Decisions.... The first one is made, getting a warmer sleeping bag. I got the Magma from REI and sent home the old bag. The second and far bigger decision was how to continue the hike. The snow requires snow shoes or even ski. I am here to hike. Winter sport I can do at home in the Alps. But how to solve this challenge? The answer is a Flip Flop. Five of us agreed to drive north to near the Colorado / Wyoming state line and then hike Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Once reaching the Canadian border I plan to return to Colorado. Said, done.

While the others staid in Chama I hiked to Pagosa Springs. First part was along forest and ranch tracks as shown on my maps but that hardly to not at all existed in reality. Finally I made it to US 86. Without compass and GPS it would have been hard to do. Once reaching the road rain and hail set in. After waiting it out I continued until dark to stealth camp next the road. Following morning everything was frozen. My new sleeping bag had kept me really warm. The second day was road walk only. Once arriving at Pagosa Springs I got different directions to Enterprise car rental. When finally locating them it turned out to be closed for Memorial Day. So I had to spend the night in Pagosa Springs. Contacting the hiker's who staid in Chama I learned that by now we are seven going north. They had spoken with Enterprise and reserved a Van. Next morning I got the car and drove to Chama.

And later it started raining hard

Nosy cows

San Juan River in Pagosa Springs

Hot springs in Pagosa Springs

Hikers in Chama in front of Van I picked up in Pagosa Springs to be driven to Denver

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