Wolf Creek Colorado, Thanksgiving 2000-XC skiing
by Vann Schaffner
We left Albuquerque at 5:00 pm and
made good time to Pagosa Springs, only four hours. We had no problems with the
weather, but amazingly only a couple of hours after we went through a winter
storm hit, closing portions of our route. That night it snowed a couple of
inches in Pagosa Springs. All right!! Fresh snow!
Thanksgiving morning dawned with
breaking clouds, new snow and moderate temperatures. I had not had a chance to
check out trails, so we stopped by a ski shop. The only thing they knew about
were the groomed trails at Alberta Park, which is at the ski area. Perfect for
the first day.
WWe made the 20-30 minute drive to
Wolf Creek, I dumped the boys at the ticket booth and drove to the other end of
the parking lot to the trail head. The trails were in great shape. Recently
groomed, with a dusting of new snow. The high temps were in the mid 30’s. I
wanted to get off trail so I took my backcountry touring skis and a full
daypack. I got off trail some, but found no skiable through routes except the
groomed trails. I skied there all day and saw only two people in the distance.
Later in the afternoon I traded my touring skis for my track skis and went for
a workout. I picked up the boys at 4:30. They also had a great day
snowboarding. The ski area was 100% open with about 60 inches at the top, 40 or
so midway. We headed back to town for Red Chili-Turkey Burritos, Avalanche beer
(not the boys), beans and posole. Ahhhhhhh….. Betting on snow for Thanksgiving
at Wolf Creek, the plan had paid off. This was the best early season snow in
Colorado or New Mexico!
A friend of mine, Bill, from
Albuquerque happened to be staying with friends at their cabin in Pagosa
Springs Thanksgiving weekend. He cross country skis but they don't so he was
anxious to get out. I had a tip from somebody on Outdoorsclub.org about a place
called Lobo Overlook, and what do you know, Bill had been there before and
wanted to go back. It was only a couple of miles from the ski area so that
worked out great. Dumped the snowboarders again, met Bill at the trailhead at
1000 sharp.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=37.4962&lon=-106.7986&size=s&s=50
I had been warned to bring my climbing
skins, and boy was I glad. The parking area is almost at the pass, we were one
of the few groups there at that time. A few telemarkers were taking off at the
same time. Some hiked, some used snowshoes some climbed on skins. The trail
climbed steeply from the parking lot, using a short cut that met with a forest
service road further up. The trail then followed the forest service road to the
picnic area and radio towers. There are some great backcountry downhills very
popular with snowboarders and telemark skiers. The only downside was the
snowmachines (sorry, after Alaska I just can't say snowmobile-mtngrl
understands). At the top the views are spectacular. Bill had troubles climbing
without skins even though he had waxless skis and was pretty tuckered out so we
had lunch when we reached the top around 1130. It was another spectacular sunny
and relatively warm day. After lunch we skied back down the road and it only
took us 30 minutes! That was a fun ride on my 210 Fischer E-99's! By now the
parking lot was full of people there to sled, snowmachine, snowboard, ski and
just play.
Bill had enough so he took off. I
wanted to ski some more so I turned around and went back up. This time I
explored the top more and found some even more spectacular views. I sat in the
warm sun, had a snack and headed down again. Even then I had an hour to kill
before the boarders were off the mountain so I went back to Alberta Park, got
out my track skis and went for a few K spin.
On Saturday I was up for a change. The
weather held up all weekend. After dropping the boys off I sped back to Pagosa
to find an outdoors shop for some advice. They turned me on to Wolf Creek Road,
which is at the BM 10129 mark on this map (I think).
This road is also a multiuse road so
there were some snowmachines around but not as many as Lobo Overlook. The road
ascends to a ridge via several switchbacks with great views north and west.
Very few people were out and it was very quiet. I spent most of the day here,
but then couldn't help a loop or two at Alberta Park.
There are numerous of these forest
service roads that are closed in the winter and used for skiing/snowmachine. A
couple are at lower altitudes and didn't yet have enough snow, but there were a
few that had plenty of snow.
Sunday we needed to leave mid
afternoon, so I headed back to Lobo Overlook. I explored a couple of the
steeper hills, explored the top heading west towards the wilderness boundry,ran
into a dead end, turned around, went down another steep hill etc. I can't
teleturn my long skis so I make long traversing runs, but it was great.
All in all it was a great trip. I'd go
back there again to explore in a heartbeat.