Fresh Air on the Rio Grande

I'm from the East Coast and I've now moved to California. But in between I vowed to take some time and spend it in nature. With this goal in mind I found myself exploring the wilds of the Rio Grande National Forest during my trip out west.

I never fell in love with a place in the world till I drove in to the area between Del Norte and Creede, CO. Mountains that truly tower around you and valleys that provide homes to creatures that you may see all of the time but here they seem freer and have more of a majesty than what I could have ever known of them in the eastern US. Also, I've never seen a moose till I visited Colorado, so extra points for that. Deer are brave here and practically walk right up to you. Also a bear stuck its' nose in my tent, still not sure how I feel about that.

What I can say is that visiting Creede (or more specifically the area just outside of Creede in Hinsdale County off NS 520) will have a special place in my soul because every breath I took while there inspired me to keep moving and to get up and find the next beautiful "thing" to see. This is a feeling I can not say I'd had since I last visited Hawaii, and at 9200 ft elevation, I can honestly say its the first time the mountains have ever provided me with so much thirst for adventure.

A little about the area of Creede and the Rio Grande:

The Rio Grand National Forest covers roughly 1.86 million acres and I was only mesmerized by about 30 sq miles of it over one week! It is home to a variety of wildlife from deer, bears, elk, moose, foxes, and literally so many species of birds that I don't know how anyone keeps up with them. The days in the mountains are mostly sunny with scattered thunderstorms and the nights are mostly clear with crisp skies and cool nights between 45-57 degrees Fahrenheit. It is the perfect place to visit if you are looking for cooler weather during the summer, especially if you love camping. But be warned, I'm not the only one that knows this. Camping during mid to late summer is a fond hobby that brings a lot of repeat guests to the area. My camp alone was filled with all (every single other group except myself) repeat campers from previous years that have a deep affinity for the area.

Trails and hiking in this area can be long, up to 15 miles long so come prepared with water, food, and definitely a camera. The area is home to a variety of wild spices that naturally grow there! Moose even tend to drink water or feed where mint is naturally found growing next to the river, to my surprise this was extremely helpful in tracking them! If your adventure leads you late in to the evening then be aware you should carry some bear spray as you may encounter bears or coyotes. Bears tend to stock up on food during late summer early fall as they prepare for hibernation and so they can be found wandering around often in the late afternoon, evening, and early night time. Coyotes tend to hunt all night and call their pack in around 5 am local time, so if you are awake between 4:30 and 6:00am you should listen out for their beautiful howling song. I spent a total of 7 days hiking and photographing this area of woodland and river banks but honestly some of the best things to see would happen early morning or just before night fall, and if it was early morning I was often asleep unless the wildlife woke me up. So it's safe to say, I missed a lot!

With this in mind I am definitely planning a return trip for myself. But this is not just for the wildlife and all the things I may have missed by not waking up early enough, it's also because of the wonderful people I met during my nomadic time in Creede. Most of the campers are kind and amazing. Our camp hosts with the forestry service were impeccably hard working and extremely accommodating, but beyond that, they had a talent for bringing the campers together so that we could all meet each other and get to know the like minded souls we were sharing the area with. I honestly could not have asked for a better experience for my first time in Colorado, but I'll never forget the people are what make the majesty of Creede happen!