Weminuche Wilderness, Rio Grande National Forest , CO

Dates

Aug 12th - Aug 18th 2012

Service Project

Trail re-construction

Free Days

Day hiking, fishing, photography, wildflower viewing, relaxing

Accommodations

Backpack camping

Trip Rating

Strenuous : 5 mile backpack, 1000' elevation gain, digging, bending, moving rock. Pack animal supported.

Leaders

Deborah Northcutt
Ashely Northcutt

Equipment

The Weminuche Wilderness lies in the San Juan and Rio Grande National Forests of southwestern Colorado and is the largest designated Wilderness in the state at nearly half a million acres! Fifty miles of the Continental Divide, the geological backbone of North America, bissect the Weminuche, diverting its headwaters to either the Pacific or Atlantic oceans. Of our two projects in this wilderness in 2012, this one is on the Atlantic side, the lesser-trafficked side, with water flowing into the Rio Grande River and down to the Gulf of Mexico!

The Weminuche contains the headwaters of dozens of major streams and rivers, feeding both the Rio Grande and San Juan rivers, two of the Southwest's most ecologically and culturally significant waterways. Its immense size encompasses broad and diverse environments: cascading rivers swollen with snowmelt; immense glacial valleys; windswept ridges of the Continental Divide; and the seemingly unreachable summits of skyscraping granite. Collectively, the Weminuche offers spectacular examples of dramatically different mountain landscapes. Above our camp are ragged peaks and sharp cliffs, formed over millions of years as volcanic eruptions covered the landscape. Later glaciation created the dozens of cirque lakes that dot the high country. One of these, Black Lake, is nearby our base camp, providing access to area trails, passes and peaks.

Our service project is on the eastern side of the divide in the Rio Grande National Forest, just southwest of Rio Grande Reservoir. It involves a backpack of 5 miles, with elevation rise of 1000' up Ute Creek into the Weminuche Wilderness where we'll set up a basecamp at 11,000' adjacent to Ute Creek. Our work is trail maintenance focused mostly on rebuilding four sets of critical switchbacks that have been degrading over the years due to water erosion, poor drainage and general lack of upkeep. The Rio Grande National Forest will supply pack support to carry the tools, food and commissary gear to camp.

Check out more photos of last year's Weminuche Rio Grande project in our gallery.