Collins Canyon, Bannister House Ruins, April 15, 2020

We used our extra time in the COVID-19 situation to get out and enjoy our beautiful San Juan County.

One hike we had heard about was to Bannister House Ruins.  Jed looked it up and found

that it would be about a 9 mile hike, round trip, to hike into the ruins and then back out.

We were pretty sure we could do that hike.  We took lunches and drove to the beginning of the trail

in Collins Canyon and we took off with our lunches and our water bottles.  

The first cool place we discovered was a cowboy camp from the past (not sure how many

years it had been there).  It was interesting.

We took off on down the canyon and enjoyed the sites and the hike.  At one point along

the trail, Jed got the impression that we were no longer on the right trail that would lead

us to Bannister House Ruins.  He had read the information before we left and decided

that we had missed a turn off of the main trail somewhere.  

After eating our lunch, we backtracked about 1 1/2 to 2 miles and 

then discovered where we had missed the turn.  

We hoped we were headed the right direction now.  But, we

walked and walked and walked and kept thinking the ruins would be 

just around the next turn and after what seemed like forever we almost gave up.  

We had fitbits and our watches showed how far we went and 

we had traveled a lot further than we thought

it should be after we got on the right trail.  We just kept walking.

We were so happy when, eventually, we went around a corner and there it was!!! It was a good thing we found it when we did.  We were beyond tired!!

It was well worth the walk.  It was an amazing ruin and 

we loved seeing it and taking pictures of it.  

It was getting late in the day and we knew we only had a few hours to 

get out of the canyon and so we headed out.  We were so tired!!

I just kept thinking I had to just keep moving forward, just putting one foot in front of the other.  

I knew I could make it and we finally did. I had never been 

so glad to see our red Toyota Tacoma in my whole life.

Here is what my fitbit said at the end of the day:  52,402 steps 

and here is what my watch said:  

Move goal: 401% or 2,126 calories/ goal is 530 calories

Exercise goal: 1,266% or 380 minutes/ goal is 30 minutes

Stand goal: 16 hours/goal is 12 hours

We had walked over 14 miles total.