Also, because I sunburn easily, I brought UV protective shirts (the BALEAF womens UPF50 quick-dry shirt). The food issue didnt bother me much, I was mainly worried about the rodents chewing on our sweaty gear. Train ride through the beautiful San Juan mountains on the way to our drop off point at Elk Park. Needleton Bridge Trailhead // Colorado 13ers On this section of the trail, the views were mostly obstructed by trees until we reached the beaver pond at mile 3. To close the loop I have to get from Needleton fo Elk Park (6.5mi). Ill send this to your email as well. Now through this little plateau area, the trail starts heaving down pretty quick. I wonder how they get to their homes, since there are no roads anywhere near here. The top of Hunchback Pass offered no views, as the visibility was around 200 feet. We had to stand guard for a while to make sure they didnt walk right into our camp. But, thats another story for another trip report. I decided to head downhill in a hurry. Since youll be hiking in the Rocky Mountains, you should be Bear Aware. The trail follows Elk Creek, and I believe it was called the Elk Creek Trail. Follow along to join me on my next adventure-- in food or on the road. Clothes and gear is now dry (mostly), and we wreaked of smoke. Hey Trey, Its been many years since I did this hike so pardon my memory here. See the beauty of the San Juans on a guided tour. All of our gear was dry and life was good. 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. with an Osprey water bladder. Overall a pretty remote and isolated trail with beautiful scenery, clean water everywhere and pristine nature. . We kept the food bags in our packs too, which is kept in OPsaks. Before I knew it though, I was was past the steeper summit section and back down to a more obvious trail. I think we also got hailed on every day as well, with the exception of our last day. There was a very brief moment of sunlight right as we crossed Red Rock Creek, which was nice to have at this moment. I couldnt really see Kite Lake well from the the CDT, but as I said earlier, my mind was pretty much set. It was nice to know that we had a day off of hiking coming up tomorrow, at least for Lisa anyways. The second day we did ~13 miles which included two peaks with kite lake in between. Black flies were a pain the whole week. The weather was cloudy and more scattered rain throughout the rest of the day. All in all beautiful scenery and a great hike. I was a little nervous after getting dropped off at the trail via train and watching it ride away! Awesome, thanks! Theres also a Deuter backpacking pack thats a standard size, if youre taller than I am! Highly recommend. Trail Name - Elk Park/Needleton Loop Location - Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juan National Forest, CO Park Type - National Forest, Wilderness Area Fees & Permits - None Length Of Time Hiked - 6 days, 5 nights Trail Type - Semi loop - Train drops you off and picks you up Miles Hiked - 48 Trail Difficulty - 8 This seemed pretty pointless though, because we just stood around until about 7:50. There were at least 5 if not 6 avalanche debris fields on the Elk creek trail. Early morning often leaves thick fog in valleys, only to be burnt away later by the sun. 2/21/22 12:55pm. 2/21/22 12:49pm. Done over 5 nights and 6 days. Soon enough, wed be overtaken by the unavoidable fog. Todays hike will take us the rest of the way up the Elk Creek drainage along the Colorado trail, where well hit the Continental Divide Trail, or CDT. There is no road access to either the Elk Park or Needleton trail access points. There were no beavers. The hiker who told me about the mice up here had camped here last night. The train follows the overall route of the Animas River northward from Durango and stops at Silverton, however, we werent going that far. Back up on the CDT, it was evident that the weather was not going to cooperate today. You could see burnt trees the entire train ride, so I guess its a pretty real threat. Debris form 2020 avalanches on the elk park section have been cleared but theres quite a bit of fallen trees blocking the needle creek trail out of the Chicago Basin. Continental Divide Trail (2018), "His breathing is measured as he narrates his journey, describing the personal allure of the great outdoors, the difference between mere hobby and real passion. Creating new thru-hiking routes & guides, hiking videos, outdoor documentaries, backpacking trip reports, trail journals, photos and more! This looks more like some of the pictures Id seen of the San Juans before our trip. The weather was holding out all morning, shine shining and blue skies. Trains run daily, with wilderness access available during summer months. Today we slept in to 6am. This was my first hike of more than five miles. I dont know which to trust, but it was a long day regardless. Also, A creek ran through the area and created an interesting looking gorge that I wish I had more time to check out, but we really wanted to get to camp right now. We heard later that there was a porcupine in the area chewing on things, so it couldve been the culprit. The weather started to improve a little as we set up the tent and took care of the usual camp chores. When youre in the Chicago Basin, watch for mountain goats! I have a trip report on the Mogollon Mountains in the Gila Wilderness, but the popular side is the east side with all the rivers. This is when the fog really started growing. My breakfast today was a very hearty helping of granola and almonds (about 800 calories worth), and some dried strawberries. This was a pizza by the slice kind of place, and the slices were enormous! A very convenient spot for an abandoned shack to be located. Soul Rider. Two friends of mine and I did this backpack in 1995. Parking in Durango is $8 per day for cars and $10 per day for RVs. This page has a map of the Weminuche Wilderness near the top, with trails and trail heads. I found a semi dry spot under a pine tree to hang out during the rain while Lisa took cover in the tent. You take a train from Durango that. They were just ahead of me on the trail, but again, I was able to scare them off by simply throwing my arms in the air. Carrying a backpack downhill has wreaked havoc on my knees on my last few hikes, but I was spared this time. This snowshoe hare looks as if it could shoot lasers from its eyes, Campsite along the Elk Park trail, around 10,300ft. Venchka. It sounds funny, but for some reason hey turned and ran when I did that and never came back. 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. There are two main access points for the wilderness: Elk Park and Needleton. It was almost comical how many people waved at us as the train chugged through town. There were only one or two campsites occupied here, and it would have been a nice place to stay the night if we didnt already have our trip planned out. Ran I to some bad weather that chased us out on the 2nd day but we saw a few moose on this trail. This section of trail is also part of the Colorado Trail, a 400 mile trail that goes from Durango to Denver. The first morning of a hike always takes the longest to get going. We camped at ~9300 ft. Not long after, we watched the same goats cross the creek and head towards our general area. San Juan National Forest - Elk Creek Trail/ Colorado Trail (503) Nine miles long, the route climbs 3,760 feet to the Continental Divide. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a9fc6034fcd46f19ce6730fcccb725d8" );document.getElementById("b86db021e5").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Hi, I'm Sarah! We hardly saw any other hikers until Chicago Basin. It filtered a little more slowly than usual because we were at high elevation, but still worked well. We saw a few more deer throughout the day, more snowshoe hare, and even a weasel. Sarah is the primary creator at Champagne Tastes. Passing through a colorful meadow on the morning of day 2, Nearing the treeline, the views start improving. Generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 20 h 6 min to complete. It was incredible to see the clouds taking over the area! Food takes longer to cook at high altitudes. Will b taking my 19 yr old son in early August this year for his first extended back country pack trip. However I'm looking forward to making another trip here soon. We headed down towards Kite, watching as the fog grew more and more around us. Given the popularity of Kite Lake, being right next to a 44 road just outside of the wilderness boundary, I pretty much had my mind set on Eldorado. The low clouds were back, engulfing Mount Kennedy southwest of us. Elk Park Train Stop to Needleton | Map, Guide - Colorado | AllTrails Would you advise camping at Columbine Lake? It moved away pretty quickly, but I could tell it was not a rattlesnake. It was the kind of terrain, like sand, that feels like you take one step back for every two steps forward. Coming down Columbine Pass into Chicago Basin? Id say we averaged about 4-5 bouts of rain per day. Every campground, hotel, and intersection we passed, there were people waving at the train. The Weminuche Loop is a classic 40-50 mile horseshoe hike that starts at Elk Park and ends at Needleton. Our most reliable digital map was from Garmin, within the Garmin Explore app on my phone. Farther downstream revealed a tall but tiny waterfall before the land leveled out near the lake. I knew I was going to punish them here and figured itd be best to give them any help they can get. To reach this trail on foot, some hikers make a longer loop from the Molas Trail (about four miles). Lisa and I ended up taking a nap for about an hour and a half until the weather improved. Wilderness access gives riders an opportunity to book with the intention of getting off the train and getting outdoors. The oldest cart on the train was built in 1879, and the oldest engine was from 1925 I believe. Weminuche Wilderness National Geographic map, Black Diamond Alpine carbon trekking poles, MSR PocketRocket Deluxe backpacking stove, Sea to Summit Thermolite sleeping bag liners, Elk Park to Needleton Backpacking Loop (Silverton, CO), Supplemental Privacy Notice For California Residents, Supplemental Privacy Notice For Nevada Residents. This was comical, yet useful information at the same time. drops you off in the middle of the wilderness (no car access) and do a loop that is absolutely beautiful. Fortunately it was all downhill, so we could cover some serious ground, which I assumed would be at the expense of my knees. Im taking a group on essentially this same trip in a couple weeks, and your pictures and story are very inspiring. Most were quick to check out the shack as we did, so the cinder block and wood plank benches filled up fast. I didnt want to push Lisa too much in the first few days so I think the plan for days 1 and 2 were pretty good. 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. Route Vallecito Creek Bridge to Chicago Basin. I just forwarded the link so he get get psyched up! There havent been any bugs out the last 2 nights though, and I was really wishing we had a fire like this on night one. We were thrilled when a ranger who had just cleared out the trail told us the three 12,000-foot passes on our route were free of snow. It was cloudy and grey though, so pictures werent coming out good. I did see a lot of goat hair stuck in the trees and bushes now, which we had not seen anywhere else yet along our hike. I chucked some rocks and shouted at them, but theyd just walk 5 feet away and stare back at us. I felt a few drops of rain just as the trail leaves the Twin Lakes area and dips back into Chicago Basin. We passed many more campsites along the trail shortly after leaving our camp this morning. We got to the train stop at noon and the train picked us up at 3pm. Excellent views all around. We returned back to the shack for a while, but decided to wait at the track 15 minutes prior to its scheduled arrival. Cachanilla83. You can board the train for wilderness access in Durango or Silverton. After lunch, we continued to climb in elevation until we reached the Miners Cabin just below the CDT. The bridge at Vallecito Creek, near Johnson Creek, is still good. They must not have found much in this one and abandoned it. It was extra sunny during the day, and there were thunderstorms most evenings. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Expect to pay for the train tickets, a baggage fee (for your backpack, which goes in the boxcar train), and an overnight parking fee. Then, we saw 2 mountain goats on the other side of Needle Creek that had just walked into someones camp. After 6 days of hiking, we couldnt wait to get to the hotel. We didnt take the train so we started at Molas Lake and walked to Needlestop. From the drainage area, it was easy to cross to the other side of the lake. Yet another day we found ourselves traversing a pass in bad weather. We didn't. Windward_Coug. On day two, we encountered an even larger debris field between Beaver Pond and the ascent to the miner's shack. Plenty water sources, every day at least 2. Anyways, with breakfast in our stomachs and all our wet gear packed away, we hit the trail around 7:30. 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. Elk Park Stop Elk Creek Trail This trail travels east from the railroad, climbing into the upper reaches of the Needle Mountains. My home area is the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana and am looking for a backcountry trip in Colorado. Our lunch spot today was next to a waterfall. Im assuming forest service will clear this soon. In the morning, I headed down to the railroad, and caught the train to Silverton, then rode back to Durango. 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. The trail flattens out at the basin below Columbine Lake and once you arrive you're in for a real treat. We brought along this Weminuche Wilderness National Geographic map. I did put a knee brace on, both knees, for the first time ever. . Amazing views and pretty easy navigation (cant miss the trail). The Durango-Silverton railroad heading north to Elk Park. This was $90 each person for a round trip ticket, plus $10 to each to haul your backpack. Now back on the trail, we started gaining elevation en route to Hunchback Pass. It was about 1/3 the size of his sleeping pad, and as far as I know, is the lightest one on the market at 9.1 ounces. The skies were cloudy all around us though. The Elk Park stop gives you access to the Colorado Trail, Continental Divide Trail and the Vallecito Creek Trail. There was only one truck by Kite Lake, and we saw no people. Hail/freezing rain/snow was falling, and it was Hunchback Pass all over again, with a little better visibility. Depending on where you plan to board the train, plan ahead and determine which parking option meets your needs best. I missed the shortcut from Eldorado Lake to Hunchback pass , many years ago.Im headed there in 2 wks and hoping to find itAny suggestions, This time I will have a GPS when looking from Hunchback pass I was pretty sure I could see a trail to Eldorado Lake , but wasnt positive so I didnt give it a try. False alarm. I'm hoping that we weren't unncessarilly cautious and missed out. Not cheap by any means, but it was a cool way to enter and leave the wilderness. I am curious - does anyone have first hand knowledge of current conditions in Chicago Basin, Columbine Pass, Johnson Creek and Vallecito Trail. The best spot for camping was at Kite Lake, worth waking up to see the sunrise reflected on the lake. It has a mesh frame that holds the weight of the pack slightly off your back. Colorado Adventure 2022 San Juan Mountains Weminuche Wilderness Elk Park - Needleton Loop - YouTube Backpacking trip in the San Juan Mountains in July 2022. In fact, there wasnt a single cloud in sight now, just a beautiful deep blue sky in all directions. Avalanche debris was cleared. Try this 60.4-km point-to-point trail near Silverton, Colorado. Y0ou could really see just ow red it was with a little sunlight.
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