Dry Creek to Durango Hike

This morning, we hiked the Dry Creek to Durango hike that is listed in Hiking Trails of Southwestern CO. I've hiked a few times in the Perins peak area the past month and have wanted to do this one way for awhile. It just seems cool to me that I can walk back into town.

Andrea dropped me off at the trail head off the Lightner Creek road and asked that she pick me up at the Rock Ridge subdivision trailhead in a couple hours. My trailhead was a small two car parking area (with a 'no parking' sign for snow removal) about a mile or so short of the Hoffheim's Connection lot. A broad valley bends to the east and it's the obvious route back to town.

Unfortunately after a mile, I was off trail and lost. First, there isn't much of a trail. It's a path and sometimes off trail hiking. Second, someone, probably Texans, illegally drove 4 wheelers back in this area sometime within the last 2 weeks. So, I'm following a path, but sometimes the off trail 4 wheel route is much better. Instead of taking the trail which veers sharply off to the north into the adjacent drainage, I followed the meadow towards a pass just to the north of the high cliffs forming the north end of the Perins massif. Damn texans. By the time I realized what I did, a mile had passed and the scrub oaks were eating me up. I bushwacked out, found the trail and strolled the 4 miles back to town.

If you do this trail, stay on the north side of the entry meadow, ignore 4 wheeler tracks, and look for the trail veering off to the left. This is your path. The four mile hike turned into about a 6 mile walk, but it was great. The views are outstanding (LaPlatas to the west, dramatic sandstone bluffs to south, Durango eventually to the east) and nobody hikes this area. We saw one runner and one hiker (who saved "Angel" the red healer at Annie's Orpans for the past month) but they were close to Rock Ridge. No animals, but I was sure that we'd see a bear. Maybe even a lion. No

big animals, just wild turkeys. After a txt message, Andrea and Adaira were there to pick me up in 10 minutes. Great hike.

Meadow at the beginning of the hike. I went straight instead of turning left (north) close to this pic:

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A section where there basically is no trail:

Good trail here though:

A view of Perins from the trail, near the Rock Ridge trailhead. The Perins Peak trail goes up the flank at the far right.

Picking me up for the mile drive back home. Sweet.