August 23
Stony Pass to Little Molas Lake near US Highway 550 (Weminuche Wilderness and San Juan National Forest) - Segments 24 and 25; 19.4 miles
We woke up and discovered that we had not been hit by lightning in our sleep. Down the trail, we saw another group of sheep. The sheepherder came to meet us. The only English word I could understand from him was "sheep", but he told us in Spanish that the sheep were from Montrose and he would spend two months near Stony Pass with the sheep and his dogs. He seemed lonely, and continued talking long after we couldn't understand him anymore. In a light rain, we followed a steep series of switchbacks down to the Elk River and some abandoned mines. We stopped to explore one, but it was only 20 ft long. This section of the hike is a popular route from the Durango-Silverton narrow gauge railroad, and we saw many backpackers who were dropped off by the train to make a loop hike. Three moose were browsing weeds from a swampy lake in the Elk River canyon. We crossed the narrow gauge railroad and started the switchback climbs up to US Highway 550 and Molas Pass. A little lightning chased us toward Molas Pass, but it passed by quickly.
August 24
Little Molas Lake near US Highway 550 to Cascade Creek near Engineer Mountain (San Juan National Forest Segment 25; 16.4 miles
This was a rainy, wet day. The tent was wet. Our gear was wet. Our shoes were wet. Engineer Mountain was partly hidden by clouds, but still a nice site. The landscape began to look more southwestern, with creeks running over red rocks. We camped in the rain and hid in the tent.
August 25
Cascade Creek near Engineer Mountain to Corral Draw Trail near FS-564 (San Juan National Forest) - Segments 25, 26, and 27; 17.8 miles
The skies had cleared by morning and it wasn't raining. We set our coats out to dry. Intermittant showers continued throughout the day, with alternating rain, hail, sunshine, rain, hail, sunshine. There was some thunder as we went over Blackhawk Pass, so we moved quickly. We climbed onto a ridge at the end of the day, as the sun broke through and rainbows appeared. We camped with 270 degree views and started a fire to dry our socks.
August 26
Corral Draw Trail near FS-564 to the bridge over Junction Creek (San Juan National Forest) - Segments 27 and 28; 24.7 miles
We woke up early for our second-to-last day on the trail. We continued around the ridge, with slowly changing scenery. Big, puffy, single clouds appeared, stretching as far as you could see. The landscape is all red rocks now. We began our final descent, walking into a deep creek canyon, with 6 ft tall wildflowers. We camped near the bridge over Junction Creek. Our emergency food wasn't necessary anymore, so we ate two dinners each. Most of the remaining trail is descent, and we were sleeping in the thick air below 9,000 ft for the first time in four weeks.
August 27
Junction Creek to Durango (San Juan National Forest) - Segment 28; 14.4 miles
Dreaming of showers and restaurant food, we rushed downhill to the trailhead. We chatted with dayhikers and mountain bikers along the way, and made friends with a couple of retired East Coasters in a minivan. They gave us a lift back to Durango, where we got a room at the Strater Hotel. Showers! Laundry with soap! Cold Stone! James drank 11 beers!
August 28
No trail miles. Many car miles.
But that isn't quite the end of the story. We rented a car and returned to Boulder, retrieving our bear cans along the way. The rental car survived the tiny dirt roads and was none the worse for wear. A bear had attacked two of the bear cans, and almost succeeded in opening one. It happened at our second food cache, a few miles from where we had seen a bear on the trail.
