One day is not enough, let alone two or four hours.
In fact, our two days of exploring the mountain trails in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado wasn’t even long enough.
Much of that time over those two days last fall we stood or sat staring at the jaw-dropping views of the mountains. How on earth could you take it all in in just a few hours?
It’s simple. You can’t
Our guide, Matt Entz, owner of Mountain Skillz and the only guide who has a motorized permit (summer or winter) for the Divide District of the Rio Grande National Forest, did his best to show us the highlights of the mountainous terrain but it was a lot to take in.
So we’re breaking up our two-day ride into two stories just to try and cram it all in in a few words and pictures. This story will focus on our riding around Creede, which is surrounded by mountains, and in the next issue of Dirt Toys Magazine we’ll hit the South Fork area.
The two and four hours comment refers to the length of tours Entz offers through Mountain Skillz. He also offers full-day rides, which is the one we opted for both days. Entz categorizes his tours into two groups: scenic, which takes the vehicles along smooth, well-maintained forest roads; and adventure, where riders are treated to narrow, rocky roads that lead to remote locations. We experienced quite a bit of both over the two days we rode with Entz.
High And Getting Higher
All trails/roads are in the mountains with riding elevations starting at 8,000 feet and going up to 13,000 (yes, 13,000) feet. We were oh so close to that magical 13,000-foot mark when we rode to the end of Forest Road 505 1B, which takes you to the top of the Continental Divide. We were sitting at 12,870 feet and yes, the views are everything you might imagine when you’re on the top of the world. Actually, in nearly every direction you looked, there were still mountains taller than where we were sitting. And that includes 14,022-foot San Luis Peak.
To get to that lofty height, Entz took us north out of the historic mining town of Creede (elevation 8,799 feet) and past the Commodore Mines, where there are still several mining structures still standing. The Creede Visitor Center and Chamber of Commerce has a great pamphlet that has a map and interesting information about the mines and interpretive stops. It’s all part of the Bachelor Loop Historic Tour. The former silver mines are non-working now but the history of this area is still very rich.
Soon after leaving the parking area north of Creede we passed the Commodore Mine, Black Pitch, Weaver Town Site, Amethyst Mine and Midwest Mine. As you approach Commodore Mine the canyon walls seem to shoot straight up and you continue up the scenic canyon, following West Willow Creek, for several miles, passing the interpretive sites and other points of interest. We rode up to the gates of the Equity Mine, a former gold mining operation that was most recently worked in 2013. Interestingly enough, the Equity Mine is on the same vein as the Commodore Mine but is gold at the top of the vein and silver farther down.
We were on the historic Bachelor Loop until we left that trail to go to the Equity Mine. There we picked up the Rat Creek Look and turned north on Forest Road 505 1B to get to the Continental Divide. On the north side of where were sitting is the La Garita Wilderness.
