The San Juan Mountains of Southern Colorado are the first real challenge of the Continental Divide Trail (that is, if you’re hiking northbound and you don’t consider the nearly 800 mi / 1,300 km of New Mexico to be much of a big deal). New Mexico has some climbing, but it does nothing to prepare hikers for the climbs and the elevation of Colorado.
Northbound CDT thru-hikers oftentimes find the San Juan Mountains covered in snow. Such was the case during my thru-hike. With the snow-covered trail comes wet feet, slow paces, sketchy traverses, and a complete lack of regard for where the trail actually is; the (safest) path of least resistance quickly becomes the new hiker objective (frequently this path is also known as “the ridgeline”).
I picked up my snow gear (snowshoes, ice axe, gaiters, and microspikes) in Chama, New Mexico (which you actually hitch into after crossing the border into Colorado) and headed into the San Juans having done virtually zero snow hiking previously.
For more on the Continental Divide Trail through the San Juans, check out Week 6 and Week 7 of the CDT. Here’s a look at what the San Juans had in store and what we saw during our 200 or so miles (320 km) hiking through the some of the CDT’s best terrain.
The San Juan Mountains begin relatively dry. Just walk around the snow, it’s easy!Even if the sky looks like this when you wake up (even if it looks like this at 10:00) – it doesn’t mean that a thunderstorm isn’t going to erupt.Pro Tip: If you carry your snowshoes in your hand, they don’t count towards your backpack’s base weight.If you’re lucky, you can follow someone else’s footprints up the climbs.These clouds may look pretty, but if the San Juan Mountains taught me anything it’s that the clouds are actually out here to kill me.When space was limited, we were forced to pitch our tents next to each other to avoid sleeping on the snow.I’ve become convinced that staying on the ridge (often The Divide) is always the wiser choice.Sometimes it paid to look at the map and check to see if dropping early into the valley made more sense than traversing all the way around in the snow.It’s best if you just stop caring about where the actual trail is and instead follow the path of least resistance.I guess pink skies are preferable to dark skies.How am I supposed to tie these laces? Frozen shoes was just one of the things we had to look forward to on cold mornings in the San Juan Mountains.Do you traverse around or drop down in hopes of making it to a dry patch sooner?Hiking up on the ridgeline. Have no idea where the trail is but I don’t care because it’s dry up here.When the clouds look like this you do not want to be up on a ridge.Taking a peek to see if the weather has cleared enough for us to continue hiking. Maybe one more game of Yahtzee!I am the Continental Divide. Wolf Creek Pass is where CDT hikers hitchhike to Pagosa Springs, Colorado.The back of pickup trucks – where you can expect to spend a lot of time when hitchhiking into town.“What’s the snow going to be like this year?” If you aren’t asking this a month or less before you get into the mountains, you’re asking it too early.Suncups make hiking through snow even more fun.Just so everyone knows, trekking poles are not a reliable substitute for an ice axe.Pretending to stop and take in the scenery is a great excuse to stop and take a break when you’re tired.Sometimes Appa and Moist would just go on ahead of me and I would be (or at least feel like I was) forced to follow whatever route they chose.The official CDT is not on this ridge, it’s cutting through the snow bank to the (photo’s) right. Usually, hiking the ridge is easier than the trail in these situations.Waking up before the sun hits the snow to hike while the ground is still frozen means you don’t posthole (aka leg break through the snow) every step.The amount of time it’s going to take me to walk to where Moist is right now makes me very sad.The first yurt we found on the CDT. It was locked and there was no way in. That said, it had a nice deck to hang out on and nice flat spots to camp next to it.Snow, trees, and the sky. The three ingredients of the San Juans. And I guess mountains.Where is the trail? It’s wherever you want it to be, friend.When the thunderstorms roll in, it’s best to take shelter and play Yahtzee.Watching your hiking buddies to see if they fall and slip down the mountainside is some solid trailside entertainment.A benefit of hiking the San Juan Mountains? We rarely had to worry about water sources.If we fall down this, we’ll probably be fine. We probably won’t even slide.The last big of our anti-Knife’s Edge alternate. We gained the ridge instead of hiking a sketchy traverse and it was well worth the effort.A snow-free trail leading up to the ridgeline. A glorious sight in the San Juans.I am impressed with myself for getting this high off the ground with my fully loaded pack.Why hike when you can slide? Glissading is a fun (and somewhat dangerous) way to quickly make it down into the valleys.The Continental Divide Trail – a rare sight in the San Juan Mountains.Sometimes it can be hard to tell if following the ridgeline is going to get you into a tricky spot where you need to downclimb something dangerous or turn back. Best to just live dangerously.Waiting for the sun to come and warm me up, a favorite morning-time activity in the San Juans.The second yurt we found – this one you can go inside (and even stay it for a price). That said, it wasn’t that nice, but in a storm it would be epic.Finding a nice campsite without a ton of snow = a good day.It was at this point I started thinking we had made it past the worst of the snow (approaching Lake City, Colorado).
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