When Psychopaths Get Married, Jason Webb Danville, Ca, Articles E

Colorado Adventure 2022 San Juan Mountains Weminuche Wilderness Elk Park - Needleton Loop - YouTube Backpacking trip in the San Juan Mountains in July 2022. I ended up spending an hour and a half up here just hanging out. I am going in Aug 2017 and want to make sure to get a good map. See this list of my favorite freeze-dried meals if youre curious about what theyre like. Very nice trip report! I followed the lake to its drainage, which for reference was directly south of the Miners Cabin. No hot dogs tonight, maybe night 3. I asked one of the train workers if we could sit in the covered carts even though we had tickets for the open cart, and he said sure, if theres a seat available. Be prepared for a lot of bugs and rain. There were more mountain goats in the evening as well. Hey Trey, Its been many years since I did this hike so pardon my memory here. It was eerie and mesmerizing at the same time. Youll be hiking in a wilderness area. This was perfect! Everything was still pretty wet from the rains overnight, and it was cold. The water tasted great and was very cold. I was very surprised that there were no seats available, the train was pretty packed. Elk Park to Needleton Loop, plus side trips including:-Vestal Basin . Learn more about this exciting opportunity for outdoor recreation youll find only in Durango. Length: 7.9 mi Est. Share Followers 0. However, to hike this trail as I did, you will need to secure a train reservation through the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Its most notable feature is a wye, built in 1884 to allow northbound trains to turn back when the canyons between Elk Park and Silverton, CO were blocked by winter avalanches. Lisa spent the morning chasing away mountain goats. But there would be no sleeping in tomorrow morning though, because we were off to the Great Sand Dunes National Park! There is no cover up here by Eldorado Lake, which sits well above the treeline at 12,300ft. Looking for a slightly larger backpacking pack that will still fit a short torso? So far, so good. Bugs were pretty bad this year. A Garmin InReach is one of the pricier emergency options, but there are also less expensive satellite emergency locator beacons (with less functionality). This looks more like some of the pictures Id seen of the San Juans before our trip. Id say we averaged about 4-5 bouts of rain per day. Also, this area of the Weminuche has quite the rodent population. Needless to say, our rain gear would be used heavily on this trip. Columbine Pass The crowning jewel on our recent vacation to Colorado was an epic backpacking trip. During the summer months, May-October, adventurers can access the wilderness from the Durango train. You have to make the backpacker train reservations by phone, not online. Recent avalanche activity over the winter/spring created several debris fields that required us to do some significant trailblazing. . Since we paid for parking at the railroad, we drove back there and parked while we set out on foot once gain. Since youll be hiking in the Rocky Mountains, you should be Bear Aware. We did this trip in September. After a nice relaxing break, we hit the trail again. Especially considering the status of cell phone service (which well discuss below). The trail follows Elk Creek, and I believe it was called the Elk Creek Trail. Every campground, hotel, and intersection we passed, there were people waving at the train. I think we also got hailed on every day as well, with the exception of our last day. I highly recommend it. I like these Sunski polarized sunglasses and Shady Rays sunglasses. So, they suggested to take train from Needleton to Silverton, wait for 1.5h and then return back to Elk Park for the price of full ticket Durango-Silverton . The weather was cloudy and more scattered rain throughout the rest of the day. This time wasn't as bad as 1993, where my ancient A-frame tent blew down, but I'd suggest doing it in August for longer days and less rain. After going up a series of switchbacks, I had reached the Twin Lakes by around 7:15. Any feedback appreciated. And what a campsite that would be, killer views! Interesting views in the upper Chicago Basin area. I watched the bolts of lightning in the distance for a while before going to bed. Our lunch spot today was next to a waterfall. I put my poles away now as I found it necessary to use my hands a little here and there going up some of the boulders. Id say we averaged 5 people seen per day on days 1-4. The water was deep and fast flowing here. A hiking boot is preferable. I updated this post to include a map of the Weminuche Wilderness, with trailhead locations marked. Lots of flowers, waterfalls, and views. Once on board, you'll be able to ride back to Durango or Silverton to finish your adventure. I only followed the drainage a short ways, but another 100ft away it appeared to drop off. We had cinders in your hair most of the trip, they didnt seem to go away! We woke up today at 5:30 and began to slowly pack up camp. I knew the vegetation was still wet from last evenings rain, and didnt feel like being soaked to the bone if the trail happens to go through dense foliage. Small amounts of debris from avalanche on the Needles creek trail but easy to navigate. Excellent views all around. They can be a lifesaver on a long hike. I used to do that, but it gets expensive to print out those big maps all the time, especially for places I likely wont return to for years. Finally below the clouds after descending Hunchback Pass, These deer practically walked right up to us while we ate lunch. Not this time though! Lisa and I ended up taking a nap for about an hour and a half until the weather improved. Amherst and Organ mountains in the background. It was around 1:45pm when we rolled into camp today. This page has a map of the Weminuche Wilderness near the top, with trails and trail heads. All of our gear was dry and life was good. The San Juan mountains are notorious for being snowy and the best time is probably mid July to Mid September. The train kept on going though, as this one wasnt scheduled to stop here. Its relatively easy to walk over/around them, but be patient and expect a slight delay. The skies were grey to start the day, but gave way to some blue patches by mid morning. Some of the rocks were covered in ice making them extremely slippery too, so I had to be very careful once I neared the top. I climbed up to the top of this ridge for some truly amazing views of the Weminuche Wilderness, Beautiful views of Eldorado Lake during the best weather of the afternoon, Awesome views from an unnamed high point above Eldorado Lake. The Durango-Silverton railroad heading north to Elk Park. Thats for water drainage, and maybe goats. I laughed and told him how I lost the trail before it headed up. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a9fc6034fcd46f19ce6730fcccb725d8" );document.getElementById("b86db021e5").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Hi, I'm Sarah! We had been told by the forest service that we would encounter more avalanche debris fields in the basin. Get around Durango in style with rental vehicles. Although it was monsoon season during our trip, we were told that the coal cinders often start forest fires. I felt a few drops of rain just as the trail leaves the Twin Lakes area and dips back into Chicago Basin. Happy trails! The Needleton stop also gives you access to the Needle Creek Trail, Johnson Creek Trail and the Chicago Basin. There was an insane amount of biting flies and mosquitoes by the river here though, and I was regretting my decision to leave the bug spray and mosquito head net behind. However I'm looking forward to making another trip here soon. Miles Hiked 10.4 Seating is only guaranteed if you book a seat in advance. Down from the pass, we still had a good 10 miles to cover today. We set our packs up on a rock ledge with rain covers on, hoping thats be enough to keep them dry. They ran downhill and out of sight, and I kept moving. Comments are not currently showing up on my site right now, need to troubleshoot that. There is no road access to either the Elk Park or Needleton trail access points. Arriving via a coal-powered train on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, this excursion into the dramatic Weminuche Wilderness of the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado gets off to a unique start. The people were yelling at them and throwing rocks to try and scare them away, but the goats were pretty stubborn. Mojave-Sonoran Trail (2021) It resides at 8,277 feet of elevation in San Juan County. Trees blocked most of the views. Since cell service is unlikely, the Garmin InReach Mini 2 became our lifeline. Yes there is. If we werent wet and hungry, I might have stopped to check it out further, but again, we were on a mission to find camp. Elk Park is a wide spot in the Animas River canyon located at milepost 490.5 on the Silverton Branch of the San Juan Extension. Its easy to explore the Colorado wilderness from the Durango train. Great backpacking experience!! Youll encounter very rocky terrain (skip the zero drop / barefoot style boots on these trails your feet will be too sore!). There are two main access points for the wilderness: Elk Park and Needleton. Within 10 or 15 minutes, I found a decent campsite near the Lake. In addition to us, there was also a group of 2, 3, and 4 other hikers who also got off the train. We got off the train at elk park ~11:45am and hiked ~6 miles uphill the first day. This hike primary route. Looking back up the way I just came down from Windom Peak. Awesome views all around, but it was still cold and precipitating out and thus my camera stayed under my rain jacket. Cant wait to try this trip myself! There were tons of waterfalls everywhere, many more than our hike in the Maroon Bells last year. I wonder how they get to their homes, since there are no roads anywhere near here. My wife and I completed this hike in September of 2016 and loved it. However, Im sure you could find a clearing to put a tent somewhere. The train follows the overall route of the Animas River northward from Durango and stops at Silverton, however, we werent going that far. This was my first hike of more than five miles. Besides that, she was very happy to have a day off to rest. There were a bunch of waterfalls along Needle Creek though. Miles Hiked 14.5 A group of seven hikers (2 men, 5 women) also loaded their packs, giving a total of 12 of us to be dropped at Elk Park. We recommend it as long as you are ready to stay 7 days in the backcountry! Still, there were several more people that were waiting by the train tracks and elsewhere. They could not believe how small the pad was, but I got the impression it was too ultralight for them. We reached the drop off at Elk Park (about . All in all beautiful scenery and a great hike. If youre doing the whole Elk Park to Needleton loop, take the Durango-Silverton diesel train north from Durango to Elk Park. Also, if youre looking for a GPX file, you can download that here http://metalbackpacker.com/gpx-files/. Or are there other routes you could r commend for some stream and lake fishing? He mentioned a possible shortcut to get up here from the Colorado Trail, by going up the drainage. We got to the train stop at noon and the train picked us up at 3pm. Start your next Durango outdoor adventure from the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Highly recommend. ALLTRAILS and the AllTrails Mountain Design are registered trademarks of AllTrails, LLC in the United States as well as certain other jurisdictions. I dont trust the skies and just assume it will rain later today. It was cloudy and grey though, so pictures werent coming out good. A really incredible trip with unbeatable views! My home area is the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana and am looking for a backcountry trip in Colorado. Apparently, they felt more threatened by that than the rocks whizzing by their heads. However, after she mentioned it a few times I could tell she really wanted one, so we gathered the driest firewood we could find and used our garbage to start the fire. As we gained elevation, the Animas River became more and more impressive. My boots were the driest theyd been since day 1, and I really didnt want to get stuck in rain today. We ended up finishing around 5pm on the 5th day, so instead of waiting around for the return train to Durango on day 6, we took the train to Silverton for lunch, then rode the whole return trip to Durango. We camped at ~9300 ft. You could see burnt trees the entire train ride, so I guess its a pretty real threat. The Animas River. Before you head out into the wilderness, make sure you know where youre going! Are you planning a backpacking adventure in the Weminuche Wilderness of southern Colorado? The four debris fields we crossed we scary enough. I got injured jumping off the bridge there, so we couldn't complete the hike north over hunchback pass, and down Elk creekwe were kinda bummed. The final approach of Columbine Pass was pretty steep, but manageable. If needed, when you reach the Vallecito and Johnson Creek trail junction, you could hike about 10 miles to the Vallecito Reservoir, a popular lake area. I did this loop in Late August in the mid 90s and must have gotten a lucky dry weather window. There was a snowshoe hare, or multiple hares, that I kept seeing as I gathered wood. After about an hour of rain, thunder and lightning, I gave up on the idea of a fire. We also brought along these touch-screen activewear gloves, Buffs to help protect us from sun (or keep our ears warm), silk thermals for a base layer, and a balaclava to keep warm at night. Here, theres a good view of Vestal Peak. Pack your food in a bear sling or bear canister. I just forwarded the link so he get get psyched up! Even though I initially didnt want to build a fire, I was really glad to have it going now. I would have taken more pictures, but I didnt want my camera to get wet. Complete Weminuche Wilderness Photo Gallery | Weminuche HD Video. Creating new thru-hiking routes & guides, hiking videos, outdoor documentaries, backpacking trip reports, trail journals, photos and more! Depending on where you plan to board the train, plan ahead and determine which parking option meets your needs best. Since there are no fires allowed in Chicago Basin or the rest of the Needle Creek drainage, and the fact that I was planning on climbing in morning, we called it an early night and went to bed shortly after sundown. About a half hour later we arrived at the bridge, and it was a welcome sight. This route climbs 8,523 ft with a max elevation of 12,843 ft then descends -9,174 ft. Local Trail Association Ill send this to your email as well. We had about 7 miles of downhill hiking to the train, which arrives at 3:30, and thus were not in a hurry. As crappy as the weather has been all day, I havent seen any lightning yet. Nearly everyone who comes by Needleton does so via the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The correct way to flag the train and let the conductor know youd like to board is by waving your hands across your knees. Check out my AWESOME DIY stealth camper van build project! There was another group who did this, and the train staff didn't seem to have any problem with it (we had paid for a RT ticket anyway). Miles Hiked 5.7 (summit Windom Peak starting from camp in Chicago Basin) Lisa was quite scared here, and it took a lot of coaxing to get her to move. Looking for a 40-60 mile, week trip. I dont like to sit in the tent if I dont have to. But if you need an even warmer quilt, weve heard very good things about the quilts from Enlightened Equipment. One of the train employees told us a little about the history of the train and how things work. I took the driest looking campsite I could find, which wasnt saying much. Ive started research for a September 2017 trip and came across your report. Go figure, good weather on the last day. This was $90 each person for a round trip ticket, plus $10 to each to haul your backpack. Keep a close eye on your belongings: these feisty critters can chew threw packs quickly. We passed 2 guys who had asked us how far Roell Creek was, but I wasnt familiar with that one. More jokes were cracked to the effect of mines smaller than yours and isnt it usually the other way around?. Lisa was out roaming too, watching the many Ptarmigan birds in the area. Subscribe to receive an emial notification when new content is added, Sawtooth Mountains Idaho Landscape Photography Canvas Prints, Seeking Lost Logo Shirt - Unisex Softstyle T-Shirt, Basin and Range Trail Planning Kit: Guidebook, GPX, Maps, Waypoints, Water Chart, Vanadinite Mineral Specimen (North Geronimo Mine, AZ), Wulfenite on Fluorite Mineral Specimen (Red Cloud Mine, AZ). The bridge at Vallecito Creek, near Johnson Creek, is still good. Whitewater rafting with professional guides. Thanks for sharing. How bad was the narrow passage near Chicago Basin? I guess thats good, because that was less people we saw on the other days. Copyright 2015-2023 Champagne TastesAll Rights Reserved. On the Elk Park to Needleton loop, the emergency outs are limited. We passed many more campsites along the trail shortly after leaving our camp this morning. Everywhere along the horizon, fog could be seen rising from the mountains. We definitely underestimated the length and altitude. We loaded our backpacks in the baggage car. I only saw a steep trail consisting of loose rock. We only had to wait 30 minutes before suiting up. Coming down Columbine Pass into Chicago Basin? At 36 miles in length, this trip would likely span four or five days for average hikers, and it offers the unique ability to ride the Durango-Silverton train to access the trail. Lisa really wanted a fire, and although I knew we could get one going, but I didnt want to go through the effort of gathering wood only to have it rain again . Once past the tricky part near the top of the pass, it was your general steep descent via switchbacks. Hi Ryan, Thats definitely too early in the season. Thank you for taking the time to write it! Clothes and gear is now dry (mostly), and we wreaked of smoke. By the time Lisa made it to the top, we had to continue down the other side immediately. Sad to see all the beetle damage. One option for a multi-day trip is from the Elk Park Train Stop to Needleton. Caltopo is pretty awesome if you havent used it already. Other trip reports Ive read have indicated that its been this way for years. I saw maybe 10 people on day 5, and probably about 60 on day 6. I decided to take pictures of the lake later and just head up Windom now. Are there fishing opportunities along this route? The trail can be access from either Molas Trail #665 or the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Rainroad Elk Park train stop. Our dehydrated meals said they were tested at 5,000-foot elevation, and to double the cook time for every additional 5,000 feet. Dogs are welcome and may be off-leash in some areas. We ended up eating at Diorios Pizza which was pretty good. . On this section of the trail, the views were mostly obstructed by trees until we reached the beaver pond at mile 3. Finally, some views! They were finally able to scare the goats away for good by barking at them like a dog. 28 miles, a little over 8k' of elevation gain. Overall a pretty remote and isolated trail with beautiful scenery, clean water everywhere and pristine nature. Parking is available at the Silverton Depot at no charge. We spend a good while collecting firewood, but as wet as it was, it was a bit of a challenge. Getting close to the top of Hunchback Pass. I had no way of keeping my gear out of the reach of the rodents. Will b taking my 19 yr old son in early August this year for his first extended back country pack trip. These odor proof bags have never let me down, and with all the rodents around, it was going to be a real test tonight. When we stopped for lunch, two deer wandered into our resting area. As the sun went down, the goats headed back up the mountainside for the evening. Did this in and back turning around a waterfall. Completed this loop early July 2021. After crossing the bridge over the Animas River to the train tracks on the other side, we spotted an abandoned shack. That's $100 bucks round-trip for a train ticket! This is the beaver pond that people often reference when hiking this section of trail. She's a photographer, food writer and traveler, and is certified in Backcountry Kitchen and Backcountry Navigation from the Colorado Outward Bound School and Identifying Wild Plants from Backpacker. Before I knew it though, I was was past the steeper summit section and back down to a more obvious trail. If youre boarding the train at a flag stop, you need to alert the conductor. Just import my GPX file and then you can print it out. We knew that the odds were pretty good that goats would wander near us too, eventually. There were 2 large pines growing 3 feet apart, creating a dry spot large enough for our tent, all out gear, places to sit, and more. The first morning of a hike always takes the longest to get going. . The other guy was impressed with its small size. They watched as I hiked right past them, which I did after taking a few pictures. One night while we slept inside our River Country trekking pole tent, something chewed the cork handle off one of the poles (presumably because of salt residue from sweat). On the train, make sure to talk to the train staff! This was a pizza by the slice kind of place, and the slices were enormous! By the time we reached the lake, the peaks around us were completely engulfed by the clouds. This satellite powered device is able to track your location on a digital map, share your location with friends/family, send basic text messages, and (most importantly) it has an emergency SOS button to get help. Elk Park Train Stop to Needleton Moderate (39) Weminuche Wilderness Photos (318) Directions Print/PDF Map Share Experience this 57.9-km point-to-point trail near Silverton, Colorado. In good weather it should not be a problem. This is a popular trail for backpacking, birding, and camping, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day. After leaving Chicago Basin, the trail was actually kind of boring compared to the rest of our hike. This particular mine only ran about 30ft or so, and was not that interesting. While it did have some beautiful parts, Particularly at the top of the Continental Divide and Columbine Pass, I was disappointed by the avalanche debris in the first 6 miles and the lack of trail maintenance on the section below hunchback pass to the Vallecito Bridge. Route Elk Park train stop to camp along Elk Creek at ~10,300ft. FIND YOUR WAY OUTSIDE is a trademark of AllTrails, LLC. Looking up, it looked very easy and straight forward. Did this route from July 28 to August 3. The weather started to improve a little as we set up the tent and took care of the usual camp chores. I used a Garmin InReach Mini 2 to track our location, and any time we came to an unmarked trail junction, we knew which way to go. Nine miles long, the route climbs 3,760 feet to the Continental Divide. This was our third trek on this trail. Some hikers we met said that it sleeted on them one evening (when it had only rained on us). They must not have found much in this one and abandoned it. I was mainly happy to dry out my boots. As we waited by the tracks, one of the hikers we were talking to in the shack was showing another guy his sleeping pad. The food issue didnt bother me much, I was mainly worried about the rodents chewing on our sweaty gear. What a place for a cabin! There are two main access points for the wilderness: Elk Park and Needleton. The pictures dont even come close to being there first hand. Your email address will not be published. Por lo general, se considera una ruta moderada, que se tarda una media de 20 h 5 min en recorrer. Once we reached a flat area around 11,650, there were a good amount of campsites scattered about. Miles: 45 Days: 6-8 Difficulty: Strenuous. Todays hike was all uphill, but it wasnt too strenuous. There is no road access to either the Elk Park or Needleton trail access points. Enjoy the hike, its a good one! Learn more about the wildlife in the area. I took it out of its stuff sack and unrolled it and the looks on their faces were just priceless. Here, there were several more mountain goats hanging out on the rocks by a small pool of water. Im considering doing this loop this summer and you have really helped! If you are open to suggestions, maybe have a look at the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico. For that reason, a small cart follows the train to check for any fires started by the train alongside the tracks. I figured more people would be out here doing the full loop like we were doing, but that clearly wasnt the case. We didn't. Windward_Coug. Trains run daily, with wilderness access available during summer months. Route Standard route up to Twin Lakes, ascended Windoms West face. Thankfully, we never needed to press the SOS button, but I was thrilled with the functionality of the map and messaging features. Here's an overview! After all, it was Saturday evening. The mountain scenery is spectacular the whole way, and you cross over several high passes along the way. I have backpacked in the Weminuche three times, all in September, and each time we encountered some bad rainy weather. I do regret getting the open-cart seats though, because it was raining and it was not dry inside. Train ride through the beautiful San Juan mountains on the way to our drop off point at Elk Park. There were a few more mines along the trail here, and one appeared to be deeper than the others we had explored. The weather was once again threatening to rain as I made it to the top, finally sitting up on the CDT. Hikers can be seen on the Continental Divide Trail, above on the ridgeline, The path up to the CDT is a long, winding series of switchbacks. This was worth the trip alone and something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime! Done over 5 nights and 6 days. Getting down to the water and going through the process of purifying the water was a bit of a pain here, but I wanted to get it out of the way in case it started raining again. Either way, it was going to be another short day with only about 6 miles to cover. While we ate our sandwiches, they grazed about 40 feet away as if we werent even there. Highlights were kite lake, columbine pass, and Chicago basin. As the evening progressed, we saw several deer both near our camp and off in the distance. We headed down towards Kite, watching as the fog grew more and more around us. Maybe not a traditional campsite, but it was by far the driest campsite Id seen on this trip yet. There are a lot of down trees and we had rain and some route finding to cross streams. We were on the trail at 7:30, and saw a few more goats as we made our way out of Chicago Basin. Carry a comfortable pack with a water reservoir. I couldnt really see Kite Lake well from the the CDT, but as I said earlier, my mind was pretty much set. This cabin would be a good place to wait out a storm, but its not suitable as an overnight shelter due to its condition. Recommended Posts. Avalanche debris was cleared. The plan was to camp at either Kite Lake or Eldorado Lake, whichever looked more appealing. It felt good to be hiking today its amazing what a little sunshine can do. It's mainly visited for hikers departing on overnight backpacking trips into Chicago Basin. We snacked on sour patch kids by the fire for a while before letting it burn out. This seemed pretty pointless though, because we just stood around until about 7:50. You would think that they would just find another place to hang out with no people nearby, but they kept trying to make their way down to our area. We kept the food bags in our packs too, which is kept in OPsaks. With about five minutes to go before arriving at Elk Park, one of conductors gather all of the backpackers and ask you to head to the front of the train. Parking in Durango is $8 per day for cars and $10 per day for RVs. On day three, we made our way up and over the Continental Divide and into the beautiful meadow just below Hunchback Pass. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 5 h 9 min to complete. In summer, you may want to bring along a bug net to fit over your hat to protect yourself from mosquitoes, gnats and black flies. This was comical, yet useful information at the same time. There were no beavers. It was nice to know that we had a day off of hiking coming up tomorrow, at least for Lisa anyways. Its too bad that we had already eaten dinner before starting this fire, because we still had hot dogs that we could have cooked tonight. However, if you can afford it, the train ride is fun, and it sure is nice once you reach Elk Park and realize you don't have to make that 1,700' climb back up to Molas Pass. Im interesting in making this same trip this year, and was wondering if you knew when the optimal season is? They really wanted to be right there, and werent taking no for an answer. False alarm. This will be especially helpful during creek crossings and on downhill areas with loose pebbles. Would you advise camping at Columbine Lake? After taking some great photos near the lake, I started heading down.