SAN LUIS VALLEY — The Colorado Field Institute (CFI) invites members to a sight-seeing trip to the east Pole Creek Mountain area on Saturday, Sept. 29. The group will meet at historic Lost Trail Station on the Upper Rio Grande for a barbeque lunch, provided by the CFI.
Access to the site is mostly paved road, although the last 18 miles are over a somewhat rough gravel road, but it is 2WD. From the ranch, the group will hike up to the geode beds on East Pole Creek Mountain, requiring more than a mile of hiking on a mountain trail at relatively high altitude, and the weather may be a factor – be prepared.
The Lost Trail Station stage stop was active from 1877-1883, along the stage route from Del Norte to Silverton. The stage stop provided a blacksmith shop, restaurant, hotel and post office for the thousands of miners and entrepreneurs traveling to the mines in the Silverton area prior to the arrival of the railroad there in 1883. In addition to supporting the travelers and pack animals, many tons of mining equipment and supplies were transported through the site.
For several years, supplies “broke bulk” at Lost Trail Station, meaning the items had to be transferred from large containers carried in wagons that had to be broken down to small packs that animals could carry as there was no road over the pass to Silverton until late 1879. The Lost Trail Station barn and hotel are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Lost Trail Station site is nestled at the foot of Pole Creek Mountain just to the north. This huge, isolated mass is a long ridge, of which the summit of East Pole Creek Mountain is at an elevation of 13,391feet. The CFI trip will hike up to the much lower reaches of East Pole Creek Mountain to the relatively unknown geode beds along the flanks of the mountain, below timberline. The aspen leaves are changing, and it should be a beautiful hike. For those most adventurous, there is a walkable trail to the top, but not for the faint of heart.
This trip is limited to CFI members. Those who have not purchased a 2018 CFI membership, please go to the CFI website at www.ColoradoFieldInstitute.org.  Follow the links to register as a member, and then sign up for the trip.

Organization details:
The Colorado Field Institute is a nonprofit corporation organized in 2005 to promote greater stewardship of the natural and cultural resources within the San Luis Valley. For more information on this event, email us at [email protected] or visit our website at www.coloradofieldinstitute.org