In this latest overlanding adventure, I head down to the San Juan mountains, starting off in Durango, Colorado. This area is amazing if you want to overland, camp, fly fish, hike, hot springs or basically anything outdoors. My first stop is a little different, Honeyville, a large store that has everything bee related, but I am here to harvest some local ingredients for a later Trails n’ Cocktails episode. Not only do they have all kinds of flavors and styles of wildflower honey, but they also have a distillery! I will cut to the chase and tell you right now, their booze is amazing and rather inexpensive. The people here were very friendly, as Ian gave me a quick walkthrough on how their vodka is made (which I did buy for a cocktail in the next episode). After picking up some much-needed supplies I hopped back into the Titan with the dog and head up highway 550 to the real adventure. Lime Creek trail can be run in either direction, but I started at the entrance nearest to Durango. I thought this was going to just be a dirt road, so I could squeeze in some quick fishing, I was wrong. This trail is not difficult, and most vehicles could make it, but it is very rocky, so it is hard to maintain speed. The exit does have some spots where 4WD and a little clearance would be nice. Lime Creek brings with beauty right off the bat; nonstop aspen groves and huge pine trees. At one-point things open up into a bowl where there are large ponds covered in lily pads. Shortly thereafter, things get interesting. The trail tightens up into a shelf road. It actually seems PRETTY safe, with stone barriers where there is room, until it gets too narrow. But what made it a little spicey was all the recent rain brought down some rock slides. Even so, my full size Nissan TItan didn’t have much of an issue. If you get over possibly plunging to your death, the views are fantastic with the mountain sides covered thick with aspen trees. This place in the fall is a must!
Once on the valley floor, things get a little damp, with mud puddles everywhere. I was starting to worry that I would not find a suitable campsite, but even a blind squirl finds a nut once in a while. There is a small turn off that sneaks up on you, but it leads to about 6 riverside campsites, all well-spaced apart. I was lucky enough to get the site at the very end, so I didn’t have to worry about anyone coming by. It was surrounding by towering trees and thick vegetation, so it will make you feel like you are totally alone. The best part is that the river is only about 1 minute walk from camp. I wasted no time getting my fly rod rigged up, cracking a beer and heading down to try my best lines on the trout with Dewy. Turns out I had plenty of luck, as long as size doesn’t matter to you! LOL. Landed about a dozen brook and brown trout within an hour. Nothing to write home about, but they were hungry and that’s all that mattered. It is hard to complain about trout taking dry flies on the surface.
Once the sun faded away, the soaking wet mutt and myself went back to camp to get some quick chow, a night cap and call it a day well spent. The next episode shows some other gems on Lime Creek with waterfalls, hikes and challenging bits on the trail. Even though the fish were not big, this trail is perfect for an addition to most any overlanding adventure. And remember, What’s Your GOL?
Catch up on past videos using the links below.
Halfmoon Creek Part 1 : Fly Fishing, Overlanding, Rock Crawling, Alpine Lakes, Hiking and More
• Overlanding Rock Crawl...
Overlanding Colorado at 13,000 Feet with Epic Lighting Storm
• Overlanding Colorado @...
Clohesy Lake : River Crossings, Amazing Mountain Lake, Mining Ruins & Cocktails
• Overlanding Rock Crawl...
9 май 2023