Kelly’s thoughts…
I had heard about the Wheeler Geologic Area since I was a kid, but never visited it. We tried to go last year, but the road into it was washed out and closed. They fixed the road and so this year we went back to try again.
The site is really wonderful, the weathered tuff cliffs and hoodoos spill over the hillside at about 11,500 feet elevation, white in the sunlight with myriad shapes and forms. We have visited many areas with weathered figures and contours, and each area is unique and fascinating in its own right, but Wheeler seems particularly special given its amazing setting in the high country of southern Colorado.
The geology of this site is fascinating. The layers of weathered rock at the Area are the Fish Canyon Tuff, a volcanic ash flow resulting from one of the largest volcanic eruptions in earth’s history. La Garita Caldera is one of about 15-18 calderas identified in the eastern San Juan Mountains. These volcanos were active about 25-30 miillion years ago from the formation of the Rio Grand Rift, when the North American continental plate was being pulled apart. The Rift extends from Colorado to northern Mexico and includes a large number of smaller volcanos farther south. Albuquerque, near where we live, sits astride the Rift itself. The eruption from La Garita Caldera that led to the Fish Canyon Tuff was exceptionally large, expelling some 5000 cubic kilometers of material. In comparison, one of the largest Yellowstone Caldera eruptions, the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff, was only about half the size.
In human history, the Wheeler Geologic Area was such an interesting and popular place to visit over 100 years ago that Teddy Roosevelt designated it as the first national monument in Colorado in 1908. Back then, it was the second most visited natural site in Colorado after Pike’s Peak. However, once cars became widespread, its remote location made it less popular compared with a lot of other places people could easily drive to, and by 1950, Harry Truman removed it from national monument status and placed it within the national forest system as the Wheeler Geologic Area. Now it’s part of La Garita Wilderness. It was named for George Wheeler, director of the Wheeler Survey, one of the major geographical surveys of the western United States. Wheeler Peak, the highest point in New Mexico, is also named for him.
The road into the Wheeler site is pretty long and pretty bad, but definitely doable in our pickup. It winds along at 11,000 feet through beautiful meadows. Even on a lovely weekend in August, there were relatively few people at the site, and we were the first ones there. The trail loops up and around the site, and was a great, stiff hike for us and the dogs. Along the way were mushrooms and flowers and, of course, the incredible beauty of the weathered tuff.
Our main adventure for the weekend was the day at the Wheeler site, but the next day on the way home took us through the mountains on back roads where we did some serious mushroom hunting. It’s a good year for fungi, and we found a lot of boletas, puffballs (including some pretty large ones), amanitas, russulas, some nice club fungi, a little patch of hawk wings, and, the really good stuff, a seriously large amount of beautiful chanterelles, the best tasting mushroom there is.
Riki’s thoughts…
Kelly and the dogs and I visited South Fork a year ago, in hopes of visiting the Wheeler Geologic Area. Alas, the road was washed out, so we sought different adventures in the area. This year, we stayed at the same hotel, visited the same coffeeshop/fly fishing shop, and ate the same Amish fried pies. The area is beautiful and remote enough to keep the majority of folks away. Some parts of Colorado this time of year are saturated with RV’s, ATV’s, pull-behind campers of every size, and people, people, people.
Kelly has noticed that I, who am usually so friendly and outgoing with people, become incredibly people-phobic when we head out on an adventure. He is so good at engaging people we meet in the wilderness. He chats, shares information, asks questions. I stand at a good 8 to 10 feet, speak the minimally-required amount of chit-chat, and pray that they will soon be on their way. It is true. I think when I am out on an adventure, it is my time to refill from peopling. I like people in the city, in the neighborhood, at school, on campus. But out in nature, I would rather see a bear than a person. Maybe I should work on that. I feel like a good Christian should love people no matter where you bump into them. I do my best, but it is not my favorite. At the Wheeler site, we ran into some folks from Iowa that were out on a Jeeping adventure, and were supposed to be headed home, but were told of the wonders of the area, and hiked in to see it. Kelly assured them that the trail they were hiking was a loop. It was awkward for them to be hiking behind us. They seemed to be in more of a hurry than us, so on one of the breaks I took to wake up my bad toe, they passed us. Then, the trail was all ours. We ran into a few more folks on the main trail up from the parking area, but that was it. We met a few people on the very bad road, as well, but always on a place where we could get around one another as needed.
I am so grateful that Kelly does not mind driving on bad roads for a good adventure. He is always so willing to drive for hours on end, and navigates bad roads like a champ. He started when he was a young driver in sedans, so a 4WD pick-up must seem much easier. I remember in high school going places in his brown mountain car, on washboard roads and roads deeply covered in new snow. We always made it out and back, somehow.
The Wheeler site is amazing!! The pics do not do it justice. There is so much variety in the area. There are rocks that look like butterfly eggs, craggy rocks, ridged rocks, pillared rocks, an interesting white ridge through the middle of the higher rocks, and even a few hoodooos that look like they belong in New Mexico. No arches, though. Bummer.
The mushroom hunting was a hoot! I don’t yet know the difference between mushrooms that are “good for eatin'” and ones that are “just for lookin’ at.” But, by the end, I could finger the underside of the cap to see if it had gills. Most of those are just for lookin’ at. Stumbling across a substantial gathering of chanterelles was super exciting. Those are little beauties with apricot-colored tops and yellow undersides as bright as turmeric. And, ooooooooooohhhh, the meals Kelly has been cooking with them!! Last night, after a hard day of long-term subbing in a second-grade class, I came home to chanterelle-puffball-chicken fricasee. Tonight, it was a crusty bread topped with pesto, shallot, chicken and chanterelles simmered in butter and white wine. Oh, yes, it was as delicious as it sounds!!
