Day 5 - Missed it by that much...

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After today - our fifth sojourn to the wondrous place known as Pagosa Springs - one dream remains a dream. Back on Friday - as we crested Wolf Creek Pass our hopes (well - ok - Matt's hopes) were lifted as we actually saw the parking lot of the Continental Divide hike. Oh - the parking lot has always been there but it was either invisible due to mounds of snow or so muddy that we daren’t try it.

This Monday morning we ambled our way to the summit of Wolf Creek Pass. (yay – no funny smells from the engine today!) Our goal - to finally do the Continental Divide hike from the Lobo Overlook. The write-up about the hike said it’s a mile and a half drive to the top of the overlook – and that’s where the Continental Divide hike starts – with 360 degree views of the surrounding San Juan mountains.

Well – we turned into the parking area and started up the road. A sign said “Lobo Overlook – 3 miles”. Hmmm – 3 miles or 1 ½ miles – well – no problem.
Then we saw the “Road Closed” sign. What to do, what to do.

We decided to park it and hike it – hoping that the 1 ½ miles was really what it meant and not 3. We hiked up the road and found several reasons why it was closed. Trees had fallen and blocked the road. Some areas were precariously washed out. And most of all – snowdrifts went from spreading small fingers out onto to the road to “where is the road?”. OK – we get it.

Wolf Creek Pass is already pretty high up there (9,000+ feet) and this hike just goes up from there. Wow – what a terrific workout and view. We were stopped after the 2 mile mark (probably a quarter mile or so) by two things. One – we couldn’t see the road anymore. It was all snow. Two – the sky was darkening and thunder ominously rolled. We just read in USA Today that morning about how all but one of lightning fatalities last year happened outdoors.

So – time to abort the hike - short of the 360 degree views and head back down. There were some pretty spectacular photo ops anyway – where you can definitely see that we’re above the snow line. And the thunderstorm held off – so we walked in sunshine all the way – it was a refreshing 65-70 degrees up at that altitude and sunscreen was a must.

So – the Lobo Overlook remains on our list of “things to do” in Pagosa Springs. Perhaps next time?

We returned to town and definitely felt (literally and figuratively) that we had just done a great workout.

There was supposed to be a mini-golf tournament today but it was called on account of pending thunderstorm. The rain did eventually come and was very welcome – it cooled things down and reduced the fire danger to boot.

We heard a siren go off a couple of times. Not sure what it was. It just started – went through about 4-5 cycles and stopped. Maybe a volunteer fire department or something? The weather didn’t seem to warrant a warning – it wasn’t that bad.

The boys are going to the rec center to lift weights and swim in the pool each evening. Amy and Matt are reading books and doing crossword puzzles. To each their own!

Time to go for a walk and enjoy the post-rainstorm weather.