Tuesday, October 7, 2025
- Start: Rio Grande del Rancho (mile 95.1)
- End: Rio Chiquito / Drake Canyon entrance (mile 116.2)
- Distance hiked: 21.1 miles
- Gain/loss: 7,541 vertical feet
- Detours: Omitted out-and-back to Bernadin Lake (-1.2 mile)
Day 6 of my SF2T thru-hike was spent hiking on nothing but forest roads and abandoned forest roads.
The day began with the 3-mile ascent to what the SF2T guidebook calls the “connector” trail. This was an overgrown and abandoned forest road that connects FR 439A to FR 438. Luckily, most of the route was marked with blue tape, which was critical because it looked as if the forest was trying to reclaim it.
After several miles descending via the connector, I passed a small fish gate on a creek and made it down to FR 438. The first few miles of FR 438 along Rito de la Olla were also overgrown, but the road showed more evidence of regular use, and it didn’t require navigational markers.
Near a large beaver pond, FR 438 transitioned to a wide forest road again, and I crossed paths with four guys on loud dirt bikes (my only wildlife of the day). With plenty of water on hand, I had no reason to stop at the pond or to make the 1.2-mile detour over to Bernardin Lake (as recommended by the SF2T guidebook), so I continued hiking north toward Puertocito and eventually to the silver bridge crossing the Rio Chiquito.
The remaining miles of the afternoon were easy and fast as I paralleled Rio Chiquito on (yet another) dirt forest road nearly all the way to the mouth of Drake Canyon, where I set my tent up at a car camping spot at 7,709 feet.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The day started out with a nice hike up through the aspens to the “connector” trail, and there were more aspens on the descent toward FR 438.
- The fish gate at the bottom of the “connector” trail was pretty cool. At first glance, it just looked like a small waterfall. But on closer inspection, you could see that the ledge was deliberately built to keep non-native species from moving upstream.
- My final campsite of the night was nice and flat, with easy access to the Rio Chiquito. I’m glad I decided to push a little farther, so my final day on the trail is easier tomorrow.
CHALLENGES
- The start of the “connector” trail was a real head scratcher. I knew to be looking for it, yet I still walked right past the hidden opening and had to backtrack 0.2 miles. Thank goodness someone put the blue navigation tape out to mark the initial 0.75 miles, because that forest was definitely trying to reclaim the top of this old abandoned road.
- The guys on dirt bikes were pretty annoying as they raced around the forest roads, gunning their engines and completely destroying any nature sounds.