Winston Creek

A remote, big day with 1.4 miles of bushwhacking over many downed pine trees and a hefty elevation gain to accomplish a nice series of rappels including a huge 410 foot tall headwall. Good canyon, but poor pay-to-play.

Drive 23 miles on Piedra Road to the North from Highway 160 on the West side of Pagosa Springs. Piedra Road turns into FS 600 then 631. Follow the subtle right turn onto FS 636 to the Middle Fork Piedra River. Park at the end of the road at the Williams Creek Trailhead. Hike 4.3 miles along the Williams Creek Trail from the Williams Creek Trailhead. Quick trail hiking knocks off the first 1200' gain. Depart the trail hiking 1.4 miles along an unnamed East-West flowing tributary of Williams Creek to the base of Winston Creek (R9). Movement slows with many downed trees in this section of off-trail bushwhacking. Another 330' elevation gain can be checked off here. From the bottom of R9, punch up 1570 vertical feet by first gaining the top of the rock band above R9. Seek a break in the cliff band on Climber's/Rappeller's Left. Get above R9 and cross over to complete the hillside ascent/approach on Rappeller's Right of Winston Creek. Some old trails emerge, but it's mostly a steep elevation gain to the meadows above the headwall. From the meadows, add in the last 500 feet of elevation to get above R1 also on Rappeller's Right of Winston Creek. Some old trails are apparent on the West side of Winston Creek that also lead up to the top of R1.

R1: 110' from a tree on Canyon Left, 100' reaches with a walk off R2: 100' from a tree in Canyon Center into a free hang R3: 90' from a tree on Canyon Left, downclimbable on Canyon Left in low flow conditions Walk a ways along the stream to the top of the headwall, noting a few bypassable low angle short waterfalls. R4 headwall: 260' from a tree on Canyon Left to a large ledge on Rappeller's Right R5 headwall: 150' from a horn or tree on Canyon Left R6: 90' from a tree on Canyon Left R7: 75' from a tree on Canyon Left for a low angle rappel Downclimb R8: 140' from a log on Canyon Left wrapping around a slight corner R9: 125' from a tree on Canyon Left Downclimb a substantial set of large boulders into the willow-choked creek below. Escape the willows to better ground to change for the return hike.

Reverse the approach path, navigating the 1.4 miles of bushwhacking through downed trees back to the Williams Creek Trail and 4.3 miles back to the cars.