The Elk Creek Trail 

The South San Juan Wilderness is located in Southern Colorado just North of the New Mexico state line. It is located along the border of the San Juan National Forest's Conejos Ranger District and the Rio Grande National Forest's Pagosa Ranger district.
Websites:
www.fs.fed.us/r2/riogrande
www.fs.fed.us/r2/sanjuan
Also, for Fishing information contact Colorado Parks and Wildlife:
cpw.state.co.us/
The South San Juan Wilderness is located in the southeastern end of the San Juan Mountain Range. It was designated as wilderness by Congress in 1980, and it is 158,790 acres in size, and is characterized by steep slopes and wide U-shaped valleys that contain beautiful trout filled streams as well as high peaks and cliffs. Elevations rise as high as 13,300 feet. The wilderness contains thirty-two lakes. The Conejos, San Juan, and Blanco Rivers have their headwaters here. There are close to 180 miles of trails, and some of the most beautiful backpacking in the state of Colorado. Finally, the Continental Divide crosses through the middle of the Wilderness for 42 miles.
On this 4K ultra HD episode I start at the Elk Creek trailhead and camp at an area called second meadows. I fish for trout and then continue exploring upstream where I spot a pair of bull moose. I also saw many marmots along with ducks, geese and other wildlife. Wildflowers were abundant too, especially at the lower elevations of the hike. It was a three night adventure, and it rained the first night until 3 AM. The second night the valley at Second Meadows received two inches of snow. Night three only saw a dusting of snow, but the temperature got down to 19 degrees F in my tent...and even colder outside. All in all, it was quite the adventure.
What I learned from this trip was that this type of short trip backpacking is much more enjoyable as compared with thru-hikes. I like to take my time and really get to know the land and it's inhabitants. I like to burn the landscape into my memory, and I want to know what flora and fauna live in that landscape. Indeed, I learned as much of that information as I possibly could here on the Elk Creek trail.
#Backpacking #TroutFishing #SouthSanJaunWilderness