[Cdt-l] Trail conditions from Chama to Pagosa

[Daniel Alvarez]

Hi everyone,

I just hiked that section and it is indeed beautiful, but also slow going and rough. The altitude, snow, thunderstorms, blowdowns and route finding slowed me to about half my normal pace. There were a few tricky snow crossings (fyi, I am not an experienced snow hiker) where I was very glad to have an ice axe and lots of slow slogging through snow whenever you are under tree cover. The trail was hardest in the begining and middle and got better towards the end, although never easy. I pretty much winged it coming out of cumbress since I lost the alternate somewhere and ended up in the blowdowns/logging. Difficult going there, but once through, very pretty ridge until you reach the point where the alternate comes in. The views along the entire section are worth the fight, I think, but you'll earn them for sure.

Hope that helps,
Out of Order