Deciding what to do on the weekends is fun in itself. There is no limit to the diversity of outdoor beauty in these parts (these parts?). Also, covering hundreds of miles in a day is easy with 75 mph limits and incredible scenery. So, what do we do first? (well, obviously from the title we’re hiking in the White River National Forest which was amazing)
So here it is:
This weekend we wanted to take Chica out and hit the mountains (east) instead of the desert (west). Our finalists were:
-Williams Lake Trail off of Hell Roaring Trail Head in White River National Forest- 2.5 hours drive east.
-American Basin Trail approaches Handies Peak in San Juan National Forest – about 3.5 hours drive south.
We found these two places, along with many other options, on trails.com and Bring Fido. They both gave great map options of pet friendly hikes.
With the locations being 2.5 hours and about 3.5 hours away respectably, the plan was to look into pet friendly hotel options near those areas- none were available, expletive.
We went with Williams Lake Trail since it was a bit closer and figured we could knock it out in a single day.
We did. Five hours of total driving and a 5 mile round trip hike in which we would gain close to 1000′ in net elevation.
As you can see from the pictures it was all worth it.
Even Chica was pooped at the end.
Make sure to check out the American basin. Im not sure what time of year it happens, but the wildflowers were surreal when I visited. Also, what 14er are you going to climb first?
Matt thanks or commenting! We’ve been trying to get to the American Basin for the past few weeks, but weather has not permitted. We are really wanting to climb Handies Peak and are debating going up from American Basin or Grizzly Gulch Trail. It sounds like American Basin is shorter and prettier from posts I’ve read, but I hear Grizzly provides better campsites. We could get really gangster and go up one way and come down the other, but not sure if we have the stamina for that – yet.
Any and all suggestions are welcome!