Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, Rio Grande National Forest, CO

Dates

Jul 8th - Jul 14th 2012

Service Project

Trail maintenance

Free Days

Day hikes up into Sangre de Cristo range, photography, fishing

Accommodations

Car and tent camping

Trip Rating

Active : Car camp, short day hikes, clipping, sawing, digging, bending

Leaders

Carter Bland
Robin Bland

Equipment

The 1.86 million acre Rio Grande National Forest is located in southcentral Colorado, about four hours south of Denver and four hours north of Albuquerque, and remains one of the true undiscovered jewels of Colorado. The Rio Grande begins its 1800 mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico high up in the San Juan Mountains in the western most part of the Forest. The Continental Divide runs for 236 miles along most of the western border of the Forest and the jagged tops of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains form the eastern border. In between these two mountain ranges sits the San Luis Valley which is the largest agricultural alpine valley in the world. The Forest is composed of a myriad of ecosystems ranging from high elevation desert at 7600' to rocky crags at over 14,300' in the majestic Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The United States Congress designated the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, Colorado's third largest, in 1993 and it now has a total off 220,803 acres. The Sangre de Cristo Wilderness is bordered by the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve to the south of our project area.

Sangre de Cristo is Spanish for "Blood of Christ," but no one is quite sure why the region was given this name. Of the long and colorful Spanish influence in these mountains and in the San Luis Valley below there is no doubt. Unlike most of Colorado's mountains, the high and magnificently rugged Sangres were uplifted suddenly in massive blocks, creating a range of dramatic vertical proportions. Four fourteeners are clumped together in the midsection of the Wilderness, including Crestone Needle at 14,197'. Melting snow feeds many creeks and small lakes, and nourishes a forest of oak, aspen, and spruce. Black bears and a few mountain lions live here, along with elk, deer, and bighorn sheep.

Our service project is located on the west flank of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, along San Isabel Creek, just north of the town of Crestone, CO. We'll camp at the end of a dirt road adjacent to San Isabel Creek for the week, and make daily forays up into the wilderness where we'll give back to a trail in dire need of maintenance. The project consists of brushing or cutting back overgrown vegetation, sawing and removing downed logs from the trail, and improvement of drainage structures as needed.

These photos are all from the immediate area where we'll be working. Join us for our inaugural visit to the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness!