This hike is actually much closer to Durango, just past Durango Mountain Resort. It ended up being around 8 miles (I think) and took a lot longer than we planned. The terrain was quite a bit different. It was more mellow with smooth singletrack. I think it’s also open to bikes, or at least for part of the way.
There were lots of open valleys covered in green grass and flowers. There were also waterfalls off the path every 1-2 miles. We didn’t take the trail as far as it went, but we stopped for lunch at a giant waterfall.
I have to admit that my dad, Armand, and I got a little too carried away being kids. We wanted to see trees go down the waterfall. It started out innocent enough — we put one in the river. But it got stuck. So we put another. And it got stuck. It turned into an hour project of trying to dislodge the trees so we could watch them all go down the waterfall. The river was too shallow just above it. When it finally came loose, we were screaming and hooting. I got more scratched up from mitigating all the dead trees in the forest than I do from mountain bike rides! It was so much fun to be a little kid again, and also really fun to see my dad and our friend Armand act like kids again too!
We were throwing boulders at the trees to dislodge them to no avail.
We tried using other dead trees as levers. Fail.
Finally went down!
Waterfalls always amaze me. They flow with so much power and seem to flow infinitely.
