By the time we reached Dead Horse Gap, the mists were thick and visibility reduced to around twenty feet.  In a way, this made the Gap seem more safe – impossible to see the many hundreds of feet of scree-jumbled slope right below you, or the weather-eaten cliff face above that regularly deposits great chunks of stone onto the trail.  Dead Horse Gap, despite its name, is relatively safe to climb in the summer and autumn seasons, though after a good winter the accumulated snowpack can make it difficult to cross before July.

 

Once you get past Dead Horse Gap, the trail splits – to the north, and Quartz Lake / Ridge, and further east, towards the Continental Divide.  As we descended on the latter route, the mists began to tear apart thanks largely to the rather strong wind currents.

 

 

After a long decent / ascent, you come to a small gap.  From here a series of meadows unfolds before you, along with views of the upper Blanco area and, far in the distance, Summit Peak (left)

 

 

Crossing the meadows takes at least an hour, but there are some interesting rock formations.  Before climbing the final ascent to the Continental Divide, there is a spring where one can fill up water bottles (naturally, it’s best to use a filter).

 

 

Summit Mountain (13,300) gains detail.  Looks intimidating from this angle…

 

 

Finally, the Continental Divide! The sign from the trailhead says that it is 8 miles, but our GPS calculated a little over 9 miles.  That said, there isn’t really a “trail” through the meadows, just a series of markers, and it’s easy to wander about in this rather serene landscape.

 

 

There are semi-permanent glaciers on the far side of the sign – you can see some of the icepack in the picture below.

 

 

One must walk around Summit Mountain’s east side for the climb.  From here it looks quite gentle – but appearances are deceiving.  This was the third time I’ve climbed the mountain, and each time has been a slow struggling ascent; it’s steeper than it looks, and the 800 foot rise can leave one gasping for air.

 

 

But the views are more than worth the effort! In the photo below, on the far left of the distant range, is Blackhead and Nipple; the rest of the “extending” range is Sand Mountain and Quartz Ridge (all of these mountains are visible from parts of Pagosa Springs: this is the range that borders the town to the east).

 

 

The view further east is quite spectacular as well.  Although it can be a bummer hiking on cloudy days, the continual wind made the scenery quite dynamic, continually changing…

 

 

 

One is well above tree-line on this part of the trail, and there are usually signs of wildlife – elk, marmots – along with some unusual stone formations: