South San Juan Wilderness: 23 mile Semi-Loop

Here is a Dropbox link to a bigger view of the hike:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/bygmu7vofqv1pdz/South%20San%20Juan%20Wilderness_sat%20overview.jpg?dl=0

Unfortunately, the bottom half of the trail down from the area above Dipping Lakes down into the Elk Creek meadows is very bad. In fact, anything west of the fourth meadow is extremely difficult to pass because of massive stacks of large deadfall (even the section between the third and fourth meadows is bad). I won’t say that it’s totally impassable, but your route will not be fun to say the least, and I would not recommend it. There will be a lot of bushwhacking and climbing over and under deadfall, and the trail itself is indiscernible. There has been no maintenance for many many years in that area and the beetle kill deadfall is extreme.

If you have enough time, I’d recommend heading north on the CDT to Trail Lake, east on Valle Victoria past Alverjones Lake, and down to Elk Creek on trail 727, which brings you out between the first and second meadows It’s a much nicer route anyway, although a bit longer and higher. I was there recently and would be happy to share more details if you are interested.

Edit: I just looked at a map and realized that my recommended route is probably farther than you want to go if you were planning 23 miles. There are other options depending on what you are looking for.

Thanks, Dan.  One of the guys on this trip has difficulty adjusting to altitude.  It triggers his asthma and is why our plan was to start at the (11,025′) Red Lake Trailhead.  All of us have bushwhacked through deadfall and we would like to avoid that.  Especially on a long and step descent.

Gaia shows your suggested route along the Continental Divide, then the Valle Victoria Trail, back to the Notch and Elk Creek Trails as only increasing our loop to ~26 miles.  The elevation profile does not look too bad (climb-wise) for our altitude induced asthma hiker.  It might be doable.  I’ll just have to run it past him.  Do you have any other suggestions?

I might have done something wrong, but the route I tracked on Gaia from Red Lake trailhead to CDT to Valle Victoria and back to the Elk Creek trailhead, was about 40 miles. You could go out via the Notch Trail to shorten the distance if you don’t mind a water crossing at the end. If you choose that route let me know and I will give you some tips. You could even possibly exit via the Ruybalid Lake trail. It has a lot of vertical, but would be downhill for you.

You’re absolutely right about the Red Lake Trailhead being a uniquely high starting point. You could do an out-and-back from there. There are also trailheads along the Conejos River that take you into the wilderness farther north, with very nice destinations like Green, Timber, and Blue Lakes. I can take a look at some distances.

Sorry about all the fragmented posts. Take a look at Red Lake Trailhead connecting to the CDT to Valle Victoria to Alverjones Lake Trail to Ruybalid Lake trail. This will let you out down by the Conejos River and may not be too much longer than your original plan. I am assuming you will be setting up a car shuttle.

What are you looking to do?  Will you be fishing?

It’s the extended climbs at altitude that trigger my friends asthma.  Here is a screenshot of that loop from Gaia.  I get 28.6 miles.  Am I missing something?

No, you’re right, that is the correct route. For some reason I was getting longer distances on Gaia, but I did it again and my numbers match yours.

Here is your route assembled using photos from several trips.  ;-)

Route to Dipping Lakes.

Dipping Lakes

Above Dipping Lakes looking into Elk Creek valley.

Along CDT

Trail Lake from nearby peak.

Valle Victoria Trail

Alverjones Lake

Descending through aspens to Elk Creek valley

Elk Creek Meadow

You could even possibly exit via the Ruybalid Lake trail. It has a lot of vertical, but would be downhill for you.

How treacherous is that descent?  Is it good trail or is it all steep, loose rock?

BTW:  THANK YOU for all your time and this wonderful information.  It will save us a lot tears on the trail.

Ruybalid Lake Trail is pretty steep with loose gravel. Sections of Trail 727 are also fairly steep and loose as it descends to the Elk Creek valley. Trekking poles will be helpful. Ruybalid Lake is lovely, I’ve attached a couple of photos.

You’re welcome. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions, either in this thread or by direct message. That’s one of my favorite wilderness areas and I know it well.

I should add that while I’ve been to Ruybalid Lake within the last few years, I haven’t taken the Ruybalid Lake trail down to the trailhead in a long time, more than a decade. So you should probably take my comments about the trail itself with a grain of salt. I remember it being steep and a bit loose, but I really don’t know the current conditions. I do think that it has significant horse traffic. You could call the Ranger station and ask if they know.

You could call the Ranger station and ask if they know.

Those are the guys that told me there was “some” blowdown.  I don’t blame the Forest Service.  They are so understaffed and underfunded it’s amazing that they can do as much as they do.

In 2019, buddy and I did an early July trip in that area. Elk was awful with at least three large blow downs creating havoc to get around.  Unless they’ve worked on that area I would avoid it

Would add pics but can’t figure that part out on my phone

I found this photo from 2017 which gives a sense, but not really. The trail is just nowhere to be seen underneath big trees and we had to climb over, crawl under, or detour around many many sections like this. IIRC, this was by the 4th meadow, and it actually gets much worse as the trail starts to climb.

Anyway, I think the OP has already decided on a different route.