Piedra River Hike

Sunday morning, we walked to downtown for a nice breakfast at Rose.  Then we headed into San Juan National Forest for a hike.  Our plan originally was to go to Four Mile Falls, but the road was gated more than 6 miles from the trailhead and would have been to long.  Many of the roads were still closed for the season.  But Piedra Road was open to the Piedra River Trailhead, so we parked here for a hike.  Piedra River Trail (#596) followed the river downstream towards Piedra Special Management Area.

We followed the river along Ice Cave Ridge and soon the river through a narrow canyon with lots of snow.

Only a few icy spots, the trail was mostly clear.

As the gorge narrowed, we found a path leading down to the river.

There was a small waterfall falling over the cliff on the opposite side of the river.

This was a really beautiful part of the trail.

We found some impressive icicles forming in some of the small cave along the cliffs.  I'm not sure if this where Ice Cave Ridge gets its name.

In about a mile, the river turned to the right to head west.  I noticed some beard lichen growing in the trees here.

After the bend in the river, the trail opened up more as it headed through an open valley.

There were really nice views of the surrounding mountains here.

In another mile or so, we crossed Williams Creek on a footbridge.

At about 3 miles, Piedra Stock Drive Trail split off and crossed the river on a footbridge.

The trail became a little more rugged here.

We passed by some cool cliffs.

Then it was a descent via switchbacks to another footbridge over Weminuche Creek.

Across the river, we stopped to have lunch and then started making our way back.

It was a beautiful hike and one of the few that is easily accessible in early spring.

From here, we drove back to Pagosa Springs and walked into town for dinner at Mountain Pizza and Taproom.  After dinner, we went for another soak in the hot springs at Healing Waters.  I went in the hot tub, but didn't stay long as the sulfur smell was overwhelming.  But the swimming pool was very nice and I enjoyed swimming in the naturally heated water.  After a swim, we started packing up to take off in the morning.