Outdoor Writer

We did like your granddad. I bet we might have crossed paths at least once. After my first trip, I took the whole family up there for a week every summer. We eventually bought Silver Spruce (located right across from the entrance road to Vallecito Valley -- Don Wheat's development) and moved in during a snowstorm in Jan. 1976. Three years later, the present owner (now called Bear Paw) made me an offer I couldn't refuse. When we sold it, we had a family vote on whether to stay there, head back to Phx or go somewhere else in Colo. My wife and I voted to buy a house and stay there. Our three kids voted for Phx again, where they had loads of friends and could play outdoor sports all year. So that's what we did, moving out in Jan. 1979 during another snowstorm. Been back here ever since but have made many visits back there for various reasons, and especially to fish for pike.

This discussion reminds me of the old recommendation about making sure the sights on your handgun of choice have been filed down smooth.

You need to use this over the summer to get ready for dove and quail hunting!

Fishing season is here. This is the perfect setup for the White Mt. lakes.

Make me a reasonable offer!

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Yup. Price is $25. Amazon has it listed new at $48.99 plus $7 shipping. You can trust me on the condition or I can take photos if need be. I also have oodles of rods, reels and baits that will be eventually sold here, on eBay or Craig's List. https://www.amazon.com/Plano-35102-Rod-Case-58/dp/B00019NMAU

Below is an excerpt from "Outdoor Life's Guide to Spring Bear Hunting," which I wrote some time back in the 1990's. The outfitter was Roy Pattison from British Columbia. He died from natural causes a while back. *********** "Earlier our binoculars had located two dark spots in a swath of emerald green grass more than a mile distant. Although the sighting prompted Pattison to assemble his spotting scope, I surmised he already knew what he was seeing after having chased Canada's bears for over 20 years. Once, however, it was the other way around. On a fall hunt a few years ago, a lady from Germany put a bullet through the hump of a big grizzly. Armed with a 30/06, Pattison, along with his German shepherd, Radar, followed the bear into the bush. The dog soon found the wounded grizzly, and Pattison put three 220-grain bullets into it. Still, the enraged animal managed to launch an attack, tearing a huge chunk of flesh from Pattison's left buttock and biting his ankle. The dog's persistent harassment and Pattison's kicking and screaming while hanging upside down with his ankle in the bear's mouth eventually caused the bear to let go and flee. While Pattison spent a week in a Prince George hospital receiving numerous skin grafts and treatment of a chipped ankle bone, his brother and friends unsuccessfully searched for the bear. The following spring the lady from Germany returned and wounded another grizzly. This time, with a new-found respect, Pattison borrowed his brother's .458. Radar again located the bear, and two shots from the big-bore rifle put it down for keeps. When Pattison removed the hide, he found four healed gunshot wounds and recovered two 220-grain, 30/06 slugs; it was the same grizzly that had mauled him the previous fall. The 10-foot tall, life-size mount sitting in the main lodge now serves as a grim reminder of the guide's close encounter."

I never even unpacked the one in this listing. I have one of the older ones like the one below. It' been well-traveled in many lower 48 states, Mexico, Alaska and at least six Canadian provinces. Indeed, it has served me well over the years and is still in great shape. I'll be listing it as soon I can take a photo or two. Mine is dark brown on the bottom and tan on top.

And something else... We had hunters fly in the day before going into camp and they were pretty much wasted for the first few days. You NEED to get up there at least two days before you start trekking around or the altitude will get to you. You'll be hunting at about 9,000-11,000 feet. So even if you just stay in Durango, which is about 6,500 feet, you'll get somewhat acclimated. Even after that, you'll need to progress slowly at the higher elevations.

Remember it well. In fact, I wish I could get $10 for every time I drove by that intersection over all the years we visited or lived at Vallecito. As for hunting, the very first time I hunted in Colorado was within two miles of Lemon Lake. In 1966, five of us from AZ did a DIY and rented horses from a guy by the name of J.W. Tubbs that lived right where the road over Vallecito Lake Dam leaves the main road. We rode up the Red Creek Trail to the top of the mountain and set up our camp. If we rode about a mile to the east from there, we could look down into the valley and see Lemon Lake. Here's the latest "Helen's." https://pinerivertimes.com/articles/22563

Here's one outfit out of Durango that offers packing services. They weren't around when I was there, so I can't comment on how good or bad they might be. https://www.splitforkoutfitting.com/ And another: http://buckslivery.com/packTrips.html And another. This one charges $300 for guide/wrangler and $200 per day for each horse. http://overthehilloutfitters.com/general-information-about/rates-dates/

We called that a "dusting." 😎 Where my resort was at Vallecito Lake at a bit over 8500 ft., we averaged more than 400 inches annually. By the time March arrived, the snow along the road around the lake was about 12'-14' high. The amazing part is during the three years we lived there the kids never once had a "snow day" because the plows were working as soon as the snow started sticking. The only day they ever missed happened when a huge ponderosa fell clear across the road. But even at that.only the kids that lived past that spot like ours missed.

You should have asked me 35+ years ago, and I would have even recommended a couple outfits that do that sort of thing. A lot of outfitters will offer a drop camp deal where they take you to an already set-up camp with tent, firewood, etc., but you bring all your own hunting gear and food. But that's not what you want because they put you where THEY want you to be not where you want to be. That allows them to keep some separation between folks. For the most part, it's really not too bad because there aren't many areas that do not have decent hunting, and generally they will come in and check on you every couple days in case you need an elk hauled out. Now, 35+ years ago, for just hauling DIY guys, we used to charge a flat $300 and $75 per horse used. The wrangler and his horse were included in the flat fee. In your case with just two people and two backpacks, you would pay for three horses going in and out if your don't kill anything. Hauling out game would require an additional $75 per critter, which is usually two per elk. But trust me when I say that $150 is well spent in comparison to trying to pack an elk out on your own. Of course, I expect the rates I'm using have gone up over the last four decades. Now, in another message you mentioned the weather. Let me tell you a short story that took place in Oct. of either 1977 or 1978. We had been in the Hermosa Creek camp since the hunting seasons had started. The weather was gorgeous for the most part. And then it happened. An early winter snow storm arrived, and man did it snow. By the time it quit, it was up to the horses' bellies, making it impossible to hunt. And with only two days left in the season, we needed to get the clients out safely. It's bad enough that many of them have "horse problems" on dry ground, so having them ride out in 2 1/2-3 ft. of snow was out of the question. So we had our wrangler ride out (remember the year!) to contact the sheriff so he could send in a helicopter. So yes -- the weather can get quite nasty and very quickly. That's why the ski area is right there!

Unless the rules have changed, outfitters hunting on NF land in Colorado are limited in number per unit and also where they may set up their base camps. We ran two base camps -- one there north of Hermosa and the other farther east and north of Vallecito Lake in the Weminuche Wilderness Area.

Well, it's definitely rugged country, but there are plenty of more gentle ridges, valleys and meadows to go around. Depending on your finances, one thing you might look into is having a packer haul you and your gear in a few miles by horse. Just be sure you pick a place where you can walk to potable water. It sure would get you away from the crowds and make packing out an elk or two easier.

Congrats. Well done.

Me too, but it would be much better if the default text color was black instead of gray.

The MED. set has been SOLD!

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HELLO………...anyone home???

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Yes, if there are no signs indicating a "no Camping" area, you can camp anywhere -- within reason, of course. The only limitation that might crop up is building an open fire when it's not safe to do so.

I was a licensed guide for that unit in the mid-1970s. Our main base camp was in the Hermosa Creek area, about a 3-hr. horseback ride from the main road thru the old Purgatory ski area (Durango Mt. Resort). Back then, the hunting for both elk and deer was pretty good. We usually had about a 90% shot opportunity and about a 50-60% success rate on both elk and deer. BUT...it's a popular area for the locals out of Durango and can get crowded unless you get away from the roads. You can also access the lower part of this area from Hermosa on the county road. There's a small campground there at the beginning of the Hermosa Creek Trail, which heads north thru a roadless area for more than 20 miles. Junction Creek is another decent but also popular area with the locals. It's probably a better area for deer, but quite a few elk live there as well. If you're camping, there's a nice campground about 6 miles out of Durango. Best advice: Get away from the roads and find the roughest terrain possible. P.S.: Part of that unit burned a few year ago, but I have no idea what part was affected.

This is a steal guys. It sold for well over $100 (like $139 or $149) new .