Weminuche Wilderness 2001

When: September 25-27, 2001

Crew: Dad, Me

Summary: We arrived at the Pine River Trailhead in the late afternoon on Tuesday, after a long day of driving.  Our destination was Emerald Lake, about ten miles up the trail with an elevation gain of around 2100 feet.  We laced up our boots, and wasted no time getting on the trail.  The first three miles passed through private land, so we had to get at least that far before dark so we could camp. Fortunately, the trail was relatively flat, and we passed the wilderness boundary long before sunset.

As the day drew to a close, we found ourselves climbing away from the Los Pinos River.  We walked in silence, listening to elk bugle in the valley below.  At the crest of the hill, we encountered three cow elk, who darted down the trail into the shadows.

We made camp just after dark, in a meadow at the base of the incline, about five miles from the trailhead. Dad wasn't hungry, but I ate a hasty dinner and we fell asleep listening to the distant bugle of elk calling their mates.

The next morning we made some coffee and struck camp, anxious to get to Emerald Lake. We had slept in after our long day of driving and hiking, so we got a late start. We still had another five miles, and a strenous climb. We had to leave the wilderness the next day, so time was short.

We crossed on to the Lake Creek Trail, and continued to climb until early afternoon. The aspens were beautiful; their yellow leaves were the color of golden delicious apples. We stopped for lunch at a flat spot about two and a half miles from the lake, and decided to make camp there. Camping there and taking day packs to the lake would allow us more fishing time, and shorten our hike out the next day.

The last two and a half miles were strenuous, and we arrived at Little Emerald Lake around three o'clock. As we approached the lake, we heard gunshots. We soon met a party that was camped overlooking Little Emerald Lake. One of the gentlemen was shooting a pistol he had just bought, but was very polite and put it away when he realized that we were in the area. This group had hired pack animals to carry in their gear, and were going to try and carry it back out themselves, since the trail out was all downhill. Camping is not permitted within a quarter mile downstream of the lakes, or half a mile above them. Nevertheless, this pistol-shooting pack animal group was camped less than 200 feet from Little Emerald Lake.

We hiked further down and picked a nice spot on Emerald Lake to fish. Dad and I only got to fish for about two hours, since we had to make it back to camp that night, but I think it's more fishing time than we would have had if we had decided to carry our packs up to the lakes. The lake was so clear that we could see the trout as far as 20 feet from the bank. I got two bites and had several fish follow my lure, but was unable to catch anything for dinner. Dad had similar luck.

We arrived back at camp around dusk, and cooked some delicious quesadillas. We had another uneventful night, and started our seven mile trip to the car the next morning.

On the way back to the Pine River Trailhead, we saw three mule deer and several blue grouse, in addition to many hikers coming in to the wilderness. We made excellent time back to the car, and headed for home.

It was an excellent trip, but we wished we'd had another few days to spend at Emerald Lake.

Other: Weminuche Wilderness Waypoints