We woke up today at 5:30 and began to slowly pack up camp. The third day we hiked ~11 miles, starting with 2 miles downhill and then 7 miles to the top of columbine pass and then 2 miles down to camp at Chicago basin. This seemed pretty pointless though, because we just stood around until about 7:50. Reddit - Dive into anything Oh well. To close the loop I have to get from Needleton fo Elk Park (6.5mi). Really, it shouldnt be called a creek, but a river instead. Todays hike will take us down by Kite Lake, over Hunchback Pass, and all the way down to the Vallecito Creek bridge, near Johnson Creek. Very good tip report. There are also sections with loose pebbles where youll want good traction. I feel like my extra efforts in training before this trip really made the difference in my knees. Were planning to do this trip in September 2022 and Ive got a couple of questions for you. The second day we did ~13 miles which included two peaks with kite lake in between. See the beauty of the San Juans on a guided tour. Ive started research for a September 2017 trip and came across your report. Finally, the weather is cooperating! The rain sucked, but it sure did make you appreciate what little sunshine we did get. I hope your backpacking trip is just as epic as ours was. Train ride through the beautiful San Juan mountains on the way to our drop off point at Elk Park. We were exhausted by the time we reached the shack and decided to camp there for the night. After leaving Chicago Basin, the trail was actually kind of boring compared to the rest of our hike. My backpack did get burned by an ember though, so I was a little bummed about that, but it should be something I can patch up. drops you off in the middle of the wilderness (no car access) and do a loop that is absolutely beautiful. Most of our clothing was wet, including our backpacks and other gear, so we finally had a chance to dry them out some. Heres what we learned while preparing for the Elk Park to Needleton hike, plus a few things I wish Id known ahead of time! We didnt take the train so we started at Molas Lake and walked to Needlestop. 09-23-2015, 12:45 #12. There was a lot of toilet paper and poop laying around near some of the campsites though, evidence of heavy usage. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 11 h 10 min to complete. Finally, some views! We were able to cross the creek by hopping rocks and logs, just as we were able to with every other stream crossing on this trip. Seeking Lost: Thru-Hiking & Backpacking Adventures, Complete Weminuche Wilderness Photo Gallery, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, 8 Day Rockhounding & Mineral Collecting in the Santa Teresa Mountains, AZ (Nov 2022), How Much Did It Cost?? Chicago Basin area was very pretty, and not too crowded with tents. After going up a series of switchbacks, I had reached the Twin Lakes by around 7:15. One of the things that makes this loop so special is that the trailheads can both be reached via the Silverton-Durango Narrow Gauge Railroad, a tourist train pulled by a steam locomotive that has been used in dozens of . My GPS said we did 16 miles today, including going up Hunchback Pass, but later when I reviewed the data for this trip it calculated the day at 14.5 miles. By the time we were leaving the treeline behind, foul weather had returned. This hike is definitely a good one! Without going closer, theres no way of knowing what the rest of it looked like. Im taking a group on essentially this same trip in a couple weeks, and your pictures and story are very inspiring. We saw a few more deer throughout the day, more snowshoe hare, and even a weasel. It was filed under Backpacking Trip Reports and was tagged with backpacking trip report, cdt, chicago basin, colorado backpacking, colorado hikes, colorado photography, colorado summer hikes, colorado trail, continental divide, durango train, eldorado lake, elk park needleton, hiking 2013, loop hike, mountain photography, multi day hikes, san juan, san juan mountains, san juan national forest, weeklong loop hike, weminuche wilderness, windom peak.