It was very cold last night and my water bottles froze solid in my tent.  After breaking camp I hiked over one last ridge before descending to the pass at the top of Willow Creek where the Creede Alternate leaves the CDT.  I heard a lot of coyotes yipping away near me as I approached the pass but never saw them. 

Right at the intersection of the CDT and the Creede alternate I saw Driver’s tent.  I stopped there for a break and quietly ate some breakfast.  Eventually I heard Driver stirring so we talked a bit more.  He kind of wanted to go with me into Creede but was determined to do the San Juans.

I said goodbye and headed down Willow Creek.  There was a lot of ice in the creek and on the dirt road where the creek crossed.  It was actually difficult in places to try to cross due to the slippery ice.  The road continued to improve as it passed a working mine, and then a bunch of vacation ranches.  It then passed an area filled with amazing old mines and mills.  There was one huge mill just before Creede that must have been 6 or 7 stories tall constructed completely from logs.  There was an interpretive sign explaining that this was a superfund cleanup site. The rocks in the creek below were all stained a rusty red color from all the minerals in the water.

I stopped here to rest and enjoy the amazing views of the mill when a friendly dog came up and kept trying to lay on me.  I miss Katy and it was really fun to have a friend.  Eventually the owners came up and we talked for a bit.

The road eventually turned into the main street of Creede. On the way into town I passed a fire station and mining museum which were both excavated in solid rock along the side of the canyon. A couple blocks later I found the Aspen Inn right on main street.

The Aspen Inn was very nice, but didn’t have a TV or air conditioner.  Fortunately it was getting fairly cool so the temp wasn’t an issue, but I did miss having a TV.   I took some nice walks to one of the few restaurants still open (MJ’s) to eat several times.  I really like this town.  It has a rich mining history, but is kind of quirky.  One house has a metal palm tree sculpture in the front and there are a lot of upscale shops on the main street (most closed for the season).