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Conference moira::naturism

Title:Naturism
Notice:Site report index is in topic 7
Moderator:GENRAL::KILGORE
Created:Tue Jan 26 1988
Last Modified:Thu May 08 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:457
Total number of notes:3687

317.0. "Rainbow Hot Springs, WolfCreek Pass, CO" by GENRAL::KILGORE (Southeast UTAH Maniac) Mon Jun 10 1991 12:53

These directions are from another notesfile and included info about Valley 
View so I modified the original note.  Also got permission to cross-post 
the information (and to modify the message) from the author.

Wolf Creek Pass is approximately a 5 hour drive from Colorado Springs, taking
I-25 south to Walsenburg, heading west to Wolf Creek Pass.  Wolf Creek Pass
is located in the southwest section of Colorado.

Phil Rayer has been to this hot spring and said the hike is hard, pretty steep
drop off in one place on the trail, but worth the trek.

Judy


		-< Wolf Creek Pass/Rainbow hot springs info >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    Rainbow Hot Springs (Wolf Creek Pass)
    
    We arrived on the west side of Wolf Creek Pass at 1PM and headed north
    on the unpaved road that follows the West Fork of the San Juan River.
    This road, passable by car, takes you four miles to the Rainbow Trail
    trailhead, stopping short about a quarter mile before Borns Lake.
    
    The steepest part of the hike is the first quarter mile where you
    ascend 300 feet to get to the altitude of Borns Lake.  The next four
    miles are a mildly rolling ascension of 400 feet as you follow the West
    Fork.  
    
    One mile into the hike you enter the Weminuche Wilderness and reach a
    footbridge crossing Burro Creek, a feeder to the West Fork.  After
    another mile you pass a spot labelled "Spring (Sulphur)" on the map.
    This is not the hot springs we were searching for.
    
    Up to this point the trail followed a ridge overlooking the West Fork,
    about 100 feet above the river.  A great hike for photos of waterfalls
    and cascades.  At the Sulphur Spring, the trail drops quickly to the
    river.
    
    When we got to river level, we now realized how hard and fast it was
    running.  Impossible to cross on foot.  We followed the trail for a
    while and came upon another footbridge, brand new, not on the 1984
    Topo map.  Its wood still had that "pine tar (?) treatment" smell to it.
    
    Within a hundred yards of crossing the second bridge, the trail
    disappeared back into the river.  Actually it looked like the trail
    followed the normal bank of the river, but because it was running so
    high, the trail was covered.
    
    We explored briefly for an alternate path, but because the afternoon
    was getting late (3:30), and we still had to hike out, we turned
    around and retreated.
    
    If you are planning on doing this trip, get the 7.5' Topo maps
    (available at Chinook's [a bookstore in Colorado Springs, best source
    for USGS/topo maps - jk]) for the Saddle Mountain and South River Peak 
    quadrangles and wait until mid-August.
    
    -- Jim
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317.1Rainbow Hot SpringGENRAL::KILGOREI'm Proud to be CherokeeMon Jul 08 1991 12:5452
We hiked to these hot springs this last weekend.  According to a book we have 
on hot springs in the west it is 7 miles into the springs from the parking 
area.  There is a forestry sign that says 4 miles which is wrong!  7 miles is
more like it.

There is only an elevation gain of approx 700 feet so the hike isn't that 
strenuous.  The first 1/8 mile is steep then you have occasional ups and 
downs, many creek crossings (with logs or rocks positioned so you won't
get wet), three foot bridges, and one steep switchback area going in, another
steep switch back area coming back out.  I didn't find the trail to be all
that treacherous either even tho the trail, in many places, was looking down
into the river below.  I'm not one that loves heights but I got along OK.

When you get to an area that has alot of trails going off to the left, you 
will be close to the springs.  When we were there, there were maybe a dozen
tents that you could see.  There are no signs pointing you to the spring so
we passed it up looking for a tent site.  We found one but before we could
put our packs back on and hike to it, 3 people passed us and took it.  So
if you go in and there is a bunch of people there too, grab what looks like
a good tent site since they will go quickly.

The pools are clothes-optional and there were families there with suits on and
mostly women.....not me tho! ;-)  The main pool's temperature was about 102
degrees (which was too warm for me...) and would hold at least a dozen people 
cozily.  There is a smaller pool upstream near a meadow that is big enough for 
two people and is about body temperature.

It took me a little more than 3 hours to hike in.  Another person said it took 
him 2-1/2 hours.  Considering this is the first major hike with 35 lbs. on my
back, I figure I didn't do too bad.  We took our two dogs with us with their
packs, on leashes.  There were a few dogs up there and some people weren't 
considerate enough to clean up after them which makes other people mad about 
dogs being on the trails.  

We found out the rainy season is August when it rains practically everyday
and all day long.  August may NOT be the month to go in due to the mud 
situation.  July was perfect, with short rain showers in the afternoon.  The
showers lasted about 20 minutes, got the ground wet but didn't make things
muddy.  Sounds like September/early October will be another good time to head
in.  Elevation is close to 9K feet so I wouldn't go late October due to snow.
Wolf Creek is bad news to go over in a blizzard.  Take it from a person that
went over during a blizzard....not fun at all!

Had a great time, took 3 hours to hike out.  I twisted my ankle, fell, and
bruised myself pretty bad about 1/2 way down....kinda ticked me off since
it was a pretty level section, thank goodness it wasn't on the part of the 
trail over-looking the river....I would have been a goner!  :-)

Now my mind is back at the spring and the solitude even with all the people
up there.  Sigh.

Judy
317.2Anyone been in to Rainbow hot springs this year?SSAG::SUSSWEINan adrenal gland is a terrible thing to wasteTue Jun 27 1995 16:399
    Has anyone been in to Rainbow hot springs (near wolf creek pass, CO)
    yet this year?  I'm thinking of going in over the 4th of July weekend,
    and was wondering if the forest service roads to the trailhead would be
    open and clear of snow yet.  Anyone know the trailhead elevation, or
    the phone number of a forest service office I could call to get current
    access info?
    
    Steve