Piedra River Gorge

Sat, 8/15/09

West Fork NF CG,Pagosa Springs, CO: Well, last night’s movie outing was a bust. We headed to Pagosa at around 7:00 so we could catch the 8:00 movie, “Public Enemies”. We got there and the movies had changed. So, we ended up seeing “The Ugly Truth”, a chic flick of questionable merit. I ate a huge bag of popcorn and some oreos and had an upset stomach most of the night. Tossed and turned all night. By morning I was okay though. This morning was pretty cloudy. Was expecting bright sunshine. So, I thought it would be a good time to take the mini-blinds down and wash them. The last time we did that was three years ago at this very campground. Was a test to our marital harmony then. They’re not exactly easy to get down. We did the bedroom and one of the ones in the living area. Figured that was enough for now—especially since the weather was getting better. So, cleaned up the mess from this little chore, went and pumped water and transferred to the holding tank, changed clothes, and headed to Pagosa for the duck race and picnic at the town park. This event was put on by the Knights of Columbus. They don’t really race ducks, but you buy a plastic floaty duck (or several ducks) and they put them in the San Juan River which runs right through the park and the one that gets to the finish line first wins. We didn’t stay for the “race”. Had a couple of burgers and then drove back over County Rt. 600 past all those fancy ranch properties to where it turns into an unpaved forest road. Drove up that for several miles which was a beautiful drive up this beautiful valley with the rugged San Juan Mountains all around. We passed this pretty canyon, gorge, or whatever where we plan to hike the Piedra River trail which goes into this gorge following the Piedra River. We drove past the beautiful Williams Reservoir high in the mountains and then continued on to where the road dead-ended at an equestrian campground. The Williams Creek trail starts at this campground. We thought about hiking part of that trail but decided it was getting late, so we headed back to town. Stopped at City Market and picked up my prescription and then had dinner at a Mexican restaurant next to City Market. We both had a great meal. Back to our site with the setting sun shining on the beautiful mountains. Think it hit 78 in Pagosa today. It was in the 60s up high. Played Aggravation again. Mike won.