Headwaters of the Rio Grande

My little Casita is only 13' from tip of the hitch to the rear bumper. Just enough room inside for me and my traveling companion, Max, who weight maybe 7 pounds soaking wet. I had a high axle and larger tires installed so that it has as much road clearance as my truck. I can get it into some pretty interesting places! 

Last year I made a couple of trips to Colorado and did some exploring along the Continental Divide. This year, I am pulling out to the mountains around Sacramento, CA to play some music. On the way back, I am going to try to get the trailer over Stony Pass and into the headwater area of the Rio Grande. I drove that trail in the truck last year but, wisely, left the trailer set up in the lower altitudes for a base camp.

Here are a few photos:

This is my rig. On the way, Max and I spent the night at the Rio Grande Gorge near Taos, NM. The smell of the sage and desert air is exhilarating when you wake up in the mornings. 

Camping at Lake San Cristobal last November. The lake was frozen over and we had the place entirely to ourselves. San Cristobal is on the eastern side of the mountains from Silverton. There are a couple of trails that lead over Engineer's Pass between the Silverton and Lake City, Co. I have traveled most of them at one time or another but they are not accessible during the winter months.

Silverton, Co is on the other side of those mountains in the distance. This trail (County Rd 550) runs along the Rio Grande. We left the trailer back near the Rio Grande Reservoir. I had no idea how rough the trail was going to be. and although It looks fine here, we had already driven through some rough spots that would have destroyed the Casita. I am going to try to get the trailer in from the Silverton side this summer.

My companion, Max, feels that he is responsible for watering each and every tree. Here he is taking a break from his forestry duties! The Rio Grande is at the bottom of the gulch behind Max.

This is where i want to camp this summer. I hope to set up camp at the edge of the aspen grove in the center of the photo. We did not see any beaver in the pond, but did see a beaver lodge.

That is the Rio Grande! You can almost cross it without getting your feet wet this far upstream.

This is the trail I will have to pull the trailer up. This photo is looking down from Stony Pass toward Silverton. Stony Pass is at 12,650 feet elevation. The trail get's pretty narrow further down in that gulch and there are some hellacious switchbacks. I am planning to leave the trailer at the bottom and drive up to check road conditions.  If everything looks good, I will go back and get the trailer. Should be a good adventure!

Jim