February 27, 2024
By Joe Kurtenbach
The Garmin Instinct 2X Solar on my wrist buzzed to indicate we’d just surpassed 1,000 feet of elevation gain since we’d left the truck. That put us around between 9,000 and 10,000 feet, with plenty of rock still above us. We’d started our hike on old fire and logging roads, but we’d long since left the last footprints of other public land hunters behind. We were now breaking brush between game trails as our ridgeline ascent continued. It was third rifle season near Pagosa Springs, Colorado, which is always a risky venture. Post-rut, hunters rely on cold, snowy weather to drive elk herds to lower ground. Despite being mid-November, the southern San Juan mountains...