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Leaving our house on sunday the 19th around noon, I was very excited to get down to the Chicago Basin but I was also a little nervous. This would be mine and my wife's 1st backpacking trip and I wasn't sure this would be a good place to practice, but you only live once right? I wasn't nervous about our lack of gear as it seemed like we had packed the kitchen sink. We arrived in Durango between 6pm and 7pm, excited but tired. Durango is a neat place, but I didn't like all the parking meters, and the very high prices of everything. I've never been to this corner of our awesome state so I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought maybe Durango would have a small mountain town feel, but it was very big, and very busy, oh well. We ate dinner and headed west down hwy 160 to find a nice camp ground to kill the night before our adventure the next morning.
We woke up early and headed back to Durango for some bagels and coffee. Before we knew it we were on the train and headed up the Animas river. This approach was definately awesome! We were excited to know that this ride would last more than two hours and would savor every moment.
More than 2 hours later we arrived at the Needleton TH, excited and full of soot we began to prepare for our hike up to the Chicago Basin. (We were very dirty after this ride as we sat in the open air gondola) There was also a large boyscout troop that offloaded at Needleton as well, so we definitely wouldn't be alone on this trip!
I seriously underestimated the difficulty of this hike so I filtered two Nalgenes and figured that would be fine, and if we ran out, we could filter more. Well, as I mentioned before due to my inexperience I packed everything but the kitchen sink so my pack weighed in around 50 to 60lbs! Come on, I had hiked some tough 14ers this season and I was in prime shape, wrong. Needle creek rarely flows near the trail, and when it does usually it is protected by some steep hills/cliffs untill you get a little higher. I was too lazy to down climb to the creek, so I decided to be a hero (and I thought I could make it) and not drink our water and let my wife have it. We did filter water once, but that was it untill we arrived in the basin. My wife got a kick out of the fact that she had to wait for me on the way up to the basin, instead of me usually waiting for her while we hike. (It was a nice confidence booster for her I think) With cramping legs, and a bad attitiude I finally arrived in the basin shortly after my wife, about 4 1/2 hours later. Would I be recovered enough to hike the following days? Hopefully my conditioning would pay off.
We definitely aren't in Kansas anymore
After hiking for what seems like an eternity you arrive to some spectacular views. The pain you feel on the hike in instantly disappears.
After picking a spot to camp in and setting up, I quickly realized that I packed in way too much stuff. Like I said before I hope I didn't ruin my summit bids. Well, due to my weakened condition I assumed a 4 summit day wouldn't happen so I concocted the most feasible plan to conserve as much energy as possible. This included Eolus/N.Eolus the 2nd day, and Sunlight/Windom the 3rd day.
DAY 2
The alarm screamed to life at 430am and I was tired and sore. All that was keeping me going was adrenaline and excitement. I made my way up the surprisingly steep trail to twin lakes and got my first look at my destination
Alpenglow on Eolus
I slowly hiked my way up the trail leading to Eolus/N. Eolus. I was constantly amazed by the views.
Sunlight over Sunlight and Windom
I love how the trail follows so closely to the wall of Glacier point (13,704) The falls from Noname drainage down the side of Glacier point are awesome.
Glacier Point falls
Shortly after passing the falls, the trail gets much steeper and my first landmark - the ramp leading to the catwalk - appears. The snow was easily avoided, but it made finding the ramp a little harder.
Once I found the ramp it was pretty fun, I knew I was on trail and the soreness was finally subsiding. Here is a look up the ramp
I finally reached the catwalk and was both amazed and excited, the view up Eolus is much steeper than I thought. You can see some climbers on the lower portion of Eolus. (Taken on the way down)
Sunlight/Windom from the catwalk
Here is another perspective on Eolus. It is as steep as the pictures show, but the climbing is very solid, and the trail I was on was fairly wide. (following Bill's description)
The summit quickly came and I was a happy boy!
I descended the way I came and made the catwalk in 20-30 minutes. I wanted to get N. Eolus because it looked fun and from the beta I received from another climber it only takes minutes, why not? (plus it's on our 14er.com list)
N. Eolus ridgeline
I was amazed at how easy it was! The rock was almost like velcro and I was able to walk up the ridge. It only took about 15-20 minutes. You can see Eolus over my r. shoulder.
I made it down to our campsite just before the rain and hail started to fall! I hope the other climbers made it ok. My legs were hurting but I was satisfied. Now all I could think was " 2 down, 2 to go!"
DAY 3
The alarm went off a half hour earlier than the day before. I wanted to sleep in so bad, but I knew if I did I could compromise my summit bids for today. I choked down my protein bar and made my move. My 2nd hike up to twin lakes wasn't nearly as hard as the 1st time because I think I may have found my groove! You can see the gulley leading up to the saddle between Sunlight and Sunlight Spire.
There was a very large cairn that marked the trail split between Sunlight/Windom. And there were a few more cairns down lower that continued to spur me on this route. Amazingly this trail was very well marked with cairns and plastic ground markers.
You can see a climber nearing the top of the gulley.
Shawn a.k.a. Doggler of 14ers.com
Windom as seen from the gulley on Sunlight
I liked the shadows of Windom/Sunlight plus the summits of Eolus/N. Eolus and the Wilsons all in one shot
Once I reached the saddle between Sunlight/Sunlight spire there was some seriously fun scrambling! I thought if I could catch up to Doggler he would be able to take my picture on the summit. (Shawn you are a great guy) After he summited, he came back with me to take my picture, this meant a lot to me. Working our way up the chimney (2nd time for Doggler)
Working my way up!
This was the first time climbing 14ers where I actually had a little pucker factor going, it was spooky up there!
Eolus group from the summit of Sunlight
My next goal was Windom. I decided to drop down into the basin and go up the east side to the ridge slightly below the notch on the ridge. Snow was a non issue as any I encountered I merely walked around. Shawn stayed high on the connecting ridge and smoked me up to the summit! This was taken from near the bottom of the basin looking up at the ridgeline on Windom.
Once on the ridgeline it was filled with extremely fun simple scrambling. I ran into Shawn on his way down from the summit, I wished him good luck on his 4peat and I continued on. Here's looking down at some people who are just south of the trail split between Sunlight/Windom
This was taken from the summit of Windom looking over at the summit of Sunlight. For a second I thought I was on a Front Range 14er! I'm glad I hit Sunlight 1st!
The summit block is so cool, it looks like someone cut the stones to fit together!
I made it down to the campsite in about 2 hours, due to all the conversing with the other hikers on the way down, everyone was very friendly and I met some interesting people. I ran into a guy on Eolus who was I think 59 years old who had a hip replaced! Amazing. My wife and I decided to leave very early the next day so that we wouldn't have to rush, or worry about missing our train. We woke up around 530am, had breakfast, packed up and hiked down. The hike down only took about 3hrs which was 2 hours faster than up. We made it to Needleton and set up our tent to dry, and waited for our ride.
Here comes our ride
We left Durango around 8pm after we ate, and ended up about 15 miles outside of Silverton before we found a spot to bed down for the night. The next day we went through Silverton over to Engineer pass and stopped at the Matterhorn Creek TH to hit up a failed mission from last year-Wetterhorn. My wife and I summited Wetterhorn the next day after backpacking into the Matterhorn basin, It was her first class 3 climb and 5th 14er! We met some other 14er members who had never climbed class 3's, congrats Sonny1 and her husband, and Sam! Also ScottishThunder and his wife, hope the Handies trip worked out! I would've posted a TR but the batteries were dead after the Chicago Basin.
My wife and I had an awesome time on our first backpacking trip. Thanks to all of you gave me helpful information on how to make this a safe and exciting adventure for both of us! I did learn a few things about how to pack your gear and bring only the essentials. And because of your help this trip went much smoother than I thought it would. We are already planning our next outing!
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
I would‘ve brought more water on the hike in,(underestimated hike in) I wouldn‘t have stuffed my daypack into my big pack (I should‘ve used the lid as a daypack), a mosquito/fly net for hanging out around camp, I‘m sure I could think of more but those are biggies.
Jason, after reading your TR I‘m not even sure why I should bother. You covered all the bases and truly did the Chicago Basin justice! Congrats to you - and to your wife for summitting Wetterhorn. Great to meet you - see ya out there!
Jason, you and I hiked together for awhile on Yale before your afterburners kicked in and you left me in the dust. How many peaks is this for you this year?
Glad to hear you guys made it down Wetterhorn ok! I‘ve got a pretty cool picture of you and your wife on the downclimb of the last 100 feet of Wetterhorn that I‘ll send to you, too.
-Sam
Hey Sam I just sent you a pm, that wetterhorn picture would be awesome!
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