Even though the weather forecast called for storms to move into area, we decided to drive up Jackson Mountain. The goal was to hike a few miles on the Turkey Creek Trail. The thought was that this trail is close to Pagosa Springs, and we would be able to hike in and out easily if any weather were to come. Unfortunately we made it further into the hike and got caught several miles into the trail when bad weather struck.
Jackson Mountain start
The trailhead of Turkey Creek #580 is at the end of Jackson Mountain road. Jackson Mountain is just outside of downtown Pagosa on highway 160 heading towards Wolf Creek. Drive 5 miles on Jackson Mountain road after the turnoff from 160, and at the dead end is the trailhead. As you can see from the image below that the first 3 miles allow motorized vehicles. Our target was to get in about 5 miles of trail before turning back to beat the impending storm.
With the sun out and temperatures in the high 70’s the beginning of the hike was quite warm but pleasant. Very few hikers are on this trail at any one time, so it’s a great spot to hike without wanting to run into many others on the trail. About a mile into the hike the first water crossing occurs. Last year, a few boards were in place to walk over the water, however, this year the boards were gone. This water crossing cannot easily be jumped over, so it requires walking through the water. Though not deep, it is cold water, and means that you have to take off your boots or shoes and socks to cross. Or, as in our case, someone in your group has sandals and can walk through the water and offer piggyback rides! We were feeling good about being able to cross the water, and the group wasn’t concerned with some hikers wearing sandals. This would change in due time!
Start of the Hike
The hike weaves its way next to private property before opening up and running along Turkey Creek. The water was moving swiftly as Labor Day weekend is still before the dry summer season hits the area. There are lots of spots to stop and picnic or even camp along the river within the first 3 miles of the trail after leaving the surrounding private property. For hikers, the trail turns into a single path after the 3 mile marker and the restriction of motorized vehicles. We made it another 1.25 miles when the bad weather opened up on us. However, the views and open meadows that we passed were beautiful and worthy of pictures.
Thunderstorms on Turkey Creek Hike
Our target was to hike 5 miles in before turning around to beat the impending storm. As we passed the 4 mile mark, it was getting very dark and cloudy. At the 4.3 mile marker, we heard the first thunder crack and knew we had gone too far before turning around. Thunderstorms are very dangerous on mountain hikes. The main threat is lightning, and being at high altitude exposes hikers to the threat of being struck by lightning.
As soon as we heard the thunder, we turned around and started back as fast as we could. It was not soon enough though. Soon the storm hit us, but instead of rain it started to hail. Luckily, I had brought my rain coat for protection against the elements and allowed me to cover my backpack too. However, the other two hikers didn’t bring much to cover up with, and both had worn hiking sandals. It wasn’t long before the storm dropped the temperature into the low 40’s with hail falling so fast that it was starting to build up on the trail. It looked like it had snowed with the accumulation of hail on the ground. The dry dirt trail transformed into a wet, muddy, snow covered mess resulting in a slippery and cold path to navigate back down the trail.
No one enjoyed the barrage of hail raining down or the drastic temperature drop, but thankfully after about 15-20 minutes the hail subsided and the lightning moved on. The rest of the descent and trek back to the car was uneventful, which was good. The complete hike was roughly 8.5 miles, but the return was quite cold especially after the hail and multiple stream crossings. Wearing sandals on mountain hikes is questionable, so I would always suggest appropriate hiking shoes or boots no matter the current weather – it can always change rapidly when hiking in Pagosa Springs and the San Juan mountains.
Photos from Turkey Creek hike on Labor Day
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