elk park train stop to needleton

How bad was the narrow passage near Chicago Basin? There is no cover up here by Eldorado Lake, which sits well above the treeline at 12,300ft. Did the 38.6 mile loop from Elk. 2/21/22 12:49pm. From the bottom though, I couldnt tell where the switchbacks started. Start your next Durango outdoor adventure from the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. This hike is definitely a good one! The map in my trip report is generated from a wordpress plugin, where I uploaded my GPX file of the hike. Thats why, if you come from a lower elevation like us, I recommend easing yourself into it while youre preparing for the Elk Park to Needleton hike! Share Followers 0. Route Vallecito Creek Bridge to Chicago Basin. We may earn a commission when you use one of our links to make a purchase. 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. Most were quick to check out the shack as we did, so the cinder block and wood plank benches filled up fast. Leave a Comment. I can use train but according to DSNGRR schedule, their trains stops EITHER in Needlton OR in Elk Park, but not in BOTH. We had about 7 miles of downhill hiking to the train, which arrives at 3:30, and thus were not in a hurry. We passed several waterfalls and areas of whitewater. I am really loving the granola & almonds, its chocked full of complex carbs and good fats, perfect for hiking. At least we had somewhere to sit now, that was nice. Parking is available at the Silverton Depot at no charge. For your monthly pledge, at various tier levels starting at $5, you receive perks and benefits in return. The fourth day we hiked from Chicago basin to the needleton train stop, which was an easy ~7 miles downhill. One mine was fairly close to the trail, so we took a quick detour and had a look inside. Very well done! I chucked some rocks and shouted at them, but theyd just walk 5 feet away and stare back at us. Whitewater rafting with professional guides. And what a campsite that would be, killer views! Our brakeman Sam was a wealth of knowledge about any kind of train-related questions we had. Columbine Lake Trail #509 in San Juan National Forest is a difficult and steep trail with 16 discernible switchbacks but it's worth the effort. As crappy as the weather has been all day, I havent seen any lightning yet. We also saw more people this morning than the rest of the trip combined! Parking in Durango is $8 per day for cars and $10 per day for RVs. After going up a series of switchbacks, I had reached the Twin Lakes by around 7:15. We recommend it as long as you are ready to stay 7 days in the backcountry! Here, there were several more mountain goats hanging out on the rocks by a small pool of water. Our stop is Elk Park, a 3 hour ride from Durango. Otherwise, you can order a big map from mytopo.com. Really helpful report! The skies were grey to start the day, but gave way to some blue patches by mid morning. 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 mountain scenery is spectacular the whole way, and you cross over several high passes along the way. Apparently, they felt more threatened by that than the rocks whizzing by their heads. The skies were pretty blue now and there was abundant sunshine. Im interesting in making this same trip this year, and was wondering if you knew when the optimal season is? We didn't want to risk going up and over Hunchback, down Vallecito, up Johnson Creek, over Columbine Pass and into Chicago Basin. We saw a few more deer throughout the day, more snowshoe hare, and even a weasel. We spend a good while collecting firewood, but as wet as it was, it was a bit of a challenge. Recommended Posts. On the train, make sure to talk to the train staff! I modified my workout regimen before this hike to try and strengthen certain parts of the leg muscles that support the knee function, some intense stair climb sessions (45lb pack), as well as doing a lot more stretching. Finally below the clouds after descending Hunchback Pass, These deer practically walked right up to us while we ate lunch. My breakfast today was a very hearty helping of granola and almonds (about 800 calories worth), and some dried strawberries. There were many campsites to choose from in the area near the Vallecito Creek Bridge. Definitely recommend to bring waterproofs shoes and pants to be comfortable. He sure did look delicious, haha. Also, bring a way to filter water. After heading down more switchbacks, I spied a suitable place to call home of the next 2 nights. You write quite well. Not cheap by any means, but it was a cool way to enter and leave the wilderness. Elk Park/Needleton Loop, Colorado. Going down always looks much harder! There are national and state parks nearby where you can push your limits on some shorter trails first. The water in Elk Creek was super clear, so I didnt have to pre-filter any of it before using my Steri-Pen Opti UV water purifier. Fog billowed from distant peaks, and it was pretty dark around me as well now. We did this trip in September. Since we paid for parking at the railroad, we drove back there and parked while we set out on foot once gain. 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. There are also sections with loose pebbles where youll want good traction. Elk Park Stop Elk Creek Trail This trail travels east from the railroad, climbing into the upper reaches of the Needle Mountains. This was already painting a picture of what Chicago Basin might be like tomorrow, as it is supposed to be the most heavily used area in the Weminuche Wilderness. Thanks for sharing. Hi Ryan, Thats definitely too early in the season. They didnt seem afraid of humans at all. I just forwarded the link so he get get psyched up! My husband had an offline map downloaded in his Google Maps app, although we found it to be unreliable in the Vallecito Creek area. I was awestruck with the beauty of those mountains. (We didnt see any, but we heard they were plentiful.). 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. The trail was much easier to hike than I was anticipating, and I was covering pretty good ground. I decided to head downhill in a hurry. If I were to do it again, I wouldve done a few more miles the first day - theres a nice campsite before the first peak. Your email address will not be published. As the evening progressed, we saw several deer both near our camp and off in the distance. On this section of the trail, the views were mostly obstructed by trees until we reached the beaver pond at mile 3. I took advantage of the weather and took a ton of pictures up here. If you are open to suggestions, maybe have a look at the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico. Nearly everyone who comes by Needleton does so via the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. 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. Generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 20 h 6 min to complete. tnmule20 68 Posted February 10, 2022. tnmule20. If you found my trip report useful, please dont hesitate to leave a comment! Prueba esta ruta de punto a punto de 37,3-millas cerca de Silverton, Colorado. Check out my AWESOME DIY stealth camper van build project! At that point, one of our trek members sustained a significant ankle injury. Every campground, hotel, and intersection we passed, there were people waving at the train. We chatted for a while and took turns taking pictures of each other before they headed down. We stopped to eat lunch on a talus slope and observed many pikas, no marmots yet though. It was nice to know that we had a day off of hiking coming up tomorrow, at least for Lisa anyways. The low clouds were back, engulfing Mount Kennedy southwest of us. 5h 16m. Would you advise camping at Twin Lakes? The skies were cloudy all around us though. Our lunch spot today was next to a waterfall. View Profile I have backpacked in the Weminuche three times, all in September, and each time we encountered some bad rainy weather. We snacked on sour patch kids by the fire for a while before letting it burn out. We changed clothes in the car and tried to mask our stench with deodorant and cologne/perfume before setting off into the city in search of food. I dont like to sit in the tent if I dont have to. To reach this trail on foot, some hikers make a longer loop from the Molas Trail (about four miles). There are two main access points for the wilderness: Elk Park and Needleton. The Needleton stop also gives you access to the Needle Creek Trail, Johnson Creek Trail and the Chicago Basin. I felt a few drops of rain just as the trail leaves the Twin Lakes area and dips back into Chicago Basin. Copyright 2015-2023 Champagne TastesAll Rights Reserved. The four debris fields we crossed we scary enough. I hope your backpacking trip is just as epic as ours was. By the time we reached the lake, the peaks around us were completely engulfed by the clouds. Here, theres a good view of Vestal Peak. There is no road access to either the Elk Park or Needleton trail access points. 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. Straddling sections of the infamous Continental . Another option (which you should probably do anyway!) The trail can be access from either Molas Trail #665 or the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Rainroad Elk Park train stop. One stream crossing after the Vallecito bridge about mid calf. Or some come at it from the opposite (Needleton) end, via Purgatory Flats Trail and the Animas River Trail (about 10 miles). I packed a peanut butter sandwich, some jerky, and a Metrx bar to eat later, as well as 2 liters of water. Route Standard route up to Twin Lakes, ascended Windoms West face. I learned this the hard way when hiking around Snowmass Lake last year. Once I gained a few hundred feet in elevation, I could see that there wasnt any threat of getting soaked and I took off the extra layers. Some streams had a lot of flash flood debris jammed up in certain points, more so than wed seen in other areas. There was only one truck by Kite Lake, and we saw no people. All in all, quite a bit of wildlife. Clothes and gear is now dry (mostly), and we wreaked of smoke. Very nice trip report! Amherst and Organ mountains in the background. Still a good ways from the pass, we pushed on as the rains started in their usual off and on fashion. At the bridge over New York Creek, there was a waterfall right there along the trail.. Animas River, from the bridge at the Needleton train stop. This is the beaver pond that people often reference when hiking this section of trail. There were tons of mines dotting the mountainside, some of which looked pretty difficult to get to. We loved this trail and would highly recommend! You can use this file with your GPS unit, or load it in caltopo.com (or your favorite mapping website or application). Cachanilla83. Not this time though! It felt good to be hiking today its amazing what a little sunshine can do. Never miss a new post! These guys didnt seem as threatening though. Without going closer, theres no way of knowing what the rest of it looked like. It was slippery and a little scary in the rain. . Instead of heading over to Sunlight, I decided to follow the drainage leading to Twin Lakes and explore that area. Trees blocked most of the views. Generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 19 h 35 min to complete. We saw very little traffic through our area where we camped, despite being right next to the trail. Lots of flowers, waterfalls, and views. We used a Sawyer Squeeze water filter. We set our packs up on a rock ledge with rain covers on, hoping thats be enough to keep them dry. 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. So far my knees have been doing great this hike, but an entire day going downhill worried me. This is where Eldorado Lake drains off the mountainside and down to the Miners Cabin area we passed earlier today, Looking up at 13,627ft White Dome from the Eldorado Lake drainage. Dogs are welcome and may be off-leash in some areas. There were a bunch of waterfalls along Needle Creek though. Once on the other side, the path down to Eldorado lake was pretty clear. The on and off rain was definitely a bummer though. Farther downstream revealed a tall but tiny waterfall before the land leveled out near the lake. There are a lot of trees down throughout the Johnson Creek and Needle Creek drainages - another hiker counted 155 trees across the trail on the way down from Chicago Basin to Needleton, but it looks like the FS is working their way up, clearing from the bottom up. I am going in Aug 2017 and want to make sure to get a good map. FIND YOUR WAY OUTSIDE is a trademark of AllTrails, LLC. I like having dry gear! As another hiker had told me earlier today, there were a lot of rodent holes in this area, and I could see mice running around everywhere. 2. 09-23-2015, 12:45 #12. The nature back there is unbelievable. Esta ruta es popular para mochilear, disfrutar de la observacin de aves y ir de camping, sin embargo, podrs disfrutar de algo de paz durante los momentos ms tranquilos del da. 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. Finally, with any backpacking trip, you should look for an emergency out. Now back on the trail, we were approaching the CDT. 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). It ended up raining everyday, several times a day while we were here. The trial follows the 44 road by Kite Lake. Great hope they dont cause us any trouble tonight. Awesome, glad it was useful to you. When we visited in September, the days were hot and the nights were cold. Now through this little plateau area, the trail starts heaving down pretty quick. This looks more like some of the pictures Id seen of the San Juans before our trip. Lower elevations and farther south, definitely no snow and the spring melt off is going to be done by then. Yet another day we found ourselves traversing a pass in bad weather. 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. Twin Lakes, still waiting for early morning light to hit tis waters. Thanks for your support you ROCK!. The correct way to flag the train and let the conductor know youd like to board is by waving your hands across your knees. It was one of our Black Diamond Alpine carbon trekking poles, which was extra sad. The first morning of a hike always takes the longest to get going. Not long after, we watched the same goats cross the creek and head towards our general area. We made the decision to cut our trek short. Id say there were about 20 people total here waiting for the train. Route Chicago Basin to Needleton train stop. It was around 1:45pm when we rolled into camp today. The stars were barely visible now that the morning light was fast approaching, but this was the most Id seen of stars the entire trip. One slice was probably between the size of a small and medium pizza at most places, but it was extremely thin. Once on board, you'll be able to ride back to Durango or Silverton to finish your adventure. Soon enough, wed be overtaken by the unavoidable fog. Route Elk CReek campsite to Eldorado Lake. There are two main access points for the wilderness: Elk Park and Needleton. Por lo general, se considera una ruta moderada, que se tarda una media de 20 h 5 min en recorrer. By tnmule20, February 10, 2022 in Camping & High Adventure. Excellent trip report, thanks for doing this. I was happy we brought along puffer jackets and rain coats. Also, this area of the Weminuche has quite the rodent population. My group is collectively only able to go last week of May/first week of June. For some reason, the mileage the GPS reports to me in the field is always more than the mileage it gives me at home when I am reviewing the final data.

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