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Base Camp
Up
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- Statistics:
- Date Hiked: August 19-22, 2006
- Miles Hiked: 22.0
- Elevation Gain: 10,400'
- Hiking Partner(s): Tom
Milinowicz, Aaron Reid, & Lyle Weiss
- Description:
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Aaron and I left Highlands Ranch around 6:00 am on Saturday for the six
and a half hour drive to Silverton (CO) in order to catch the 2:45 pm
train south to the Needleton Creek Trailhead. The drive went
relatively quickly and we were fairly pleased with how the weather
appeared to be turning out. The forecast for the weekend was a lot
of rain and we were concerned that our trip might be spoiled. Tom
and Lyle wanted a bit more time to backpack in to Chicago Basin, so they drove to Durango
(CO) the day before and rode the 9:00 am train north to Needleton.
The weather held until about five minutes before we got off the train when
it started to rain heavily. As we got off the train, approximately
20 soaked hikers were anxiously waiting to get on the train and out of the rain.
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Aaron and I, along with George who we met in Silverton while waiting for
our train departure, quickly hiked over to an abandoned cabin across the
river to put on our rain gear and pack covers. We finally got hiking
shortly after 4:00 pm as the rain was fairly constant but had let up to
more of a drizzle for the approach. I contacted Tom via a radio at
7:00 pm, and we were only 30 minutes away from the camp they had already
established at 11,000'. Upon arrival, Aaron and I set up camp, had a
quick bit to eat, and then everyone retired for the evening.
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After a quick night's sleep, Aaron and I were on our way to Twin Lakes the
following morning to attempt Sunlight and Windom. Despite starting
the morning with blue skies, clouds quickly began to build to the west as
early as 8:30 am. As a result, I decided that we should climb
Sunlight first to get the harder peak out of the way before any weather
moved in. We quickly made our way east to the upper basin at 13,000'
between Sunlight and Windom and followed cairns to the saddle between
Sunlight and Sunlight Spire. From the saddle, the scrambling was fun
and we summitted after three hours of hiking. I thought the climb to
the summit block was exposed and required friction or smearing moves.
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We quickly descended Sunlight and Aaron headed back to camp. The
weather was holding, so I traversed over to a shallow saddle between
Windom and Peak 18 at 13,400'. It was here that I noticed Tom and
Lyle making their way up to the same saddle from the basin. When we all
gained the saddle, we took a break and finished the last 600' up Windom's
west ridge to the summit together. I actually enjoyed the scramble
to Windom a lot and we had a fun time working our way up the ridge while
enjoying the views of the surrounding area. Unfortunately, the
weather was deteriorating and immediately upon arrival at the summit we
had to descend because of threatening clouds and thunder.
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We reached the saddle safely and were pleased to have gotten off the ridge
without any problems. However, as soon as we got back to the upper basin
it started to rain and sleet so we put the rain gear back on and descended
to camp under gray skies and intermittent showers. Back at base
camp, we cooked up a late lunch, made water, rested, and prepared for the
following day. Aaron and I would be heading back into the basin
towards Eolus while Tom and Lyle had plans to hike up to Columbine Pass.
-
Aaron and I moved our alarms up and hour to get an earlier start on Monday
and were hiking shortly after 5:30 am. The hike to Twin Lakes was
slightly slower than the previous day, but still went fairly quickly.
Near the south end of the lakes, we turned left and traversed on a well
defined trail towards Mount Eolus's east face. I reached the upper
basin southeast of North Eolus at 13'600' and scrambled to the Eolus/North
Eolus saddle. I had put a little distance between myself and Aaron,
so I continued to North Eolus assuming that I could return to the saddle
as he was just arriving. This is what occurred; however, Aaron was
pretty tired and content with just scrambling to North Eolus.
-
As a result, we parted ways as he went north to North Eolus, and I went
south to Mount Eolus. The catwalk was uneventful and route finding
to the summit was somewhat complicated based on the number of ledges,
cairns, and possible routes. At some point, I just decided to head
straight for the summit because I felt like a rat in a maze not making any
progress. This approach worked well and I quickly gained the summit.
I didn't stay long assuming Aaron was waiting for me at the saddle.
The descent was easier because you could see the mountain better from
above and before I knew it, I was back across the catwalk and below the
saddle with Aaron.
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Since the weather was holding, we decided to head over to Glacier Point
because of its close proximity to our current location. We had
considered descending east directly to Twin Lakes, but after reading the
route description we determined that the route Roach mentions up the Class
3 gully is likely a snow climb and wasn't a feasible route this time of
the year. We went down the standard route and were in camp at 12:30
pm. Tom and Lyle were still out hiking so we had something to eat
and simply rested in camp for a couple of hours.
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Despite having planned another day in Chicago Basin, I had climbed the
four 14ers I had hoped to summit and Aaron wasn't sure he wanted to make
another trip into the upper basin. As a result, we decided to pack
out Tuesday instead of Wednesday and informed Lyle and Tom of this upon
their return. They also decided to depart a day early. The
evening came quickly with rain showers throughout the night. After
sleeping in until 6:00 am, Aaron and I got up, packed up our camps, and
made our way back down to Needleton for the 11:30 am train back to
Silverton.
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The conductor let us on the train without a hassle despite having tickets
for the following day. I quickly asked Aaron to hand over his cash
so I could get some beers. The train ride out was fun as the trip
was coming to a conclusion and there was no longer any anxiety regarding
the weather or our success. We all gained some backpacking
experience and learned of a few more pieces of gear we could purchase.
For me it was a better tent. Lyle wants a smaller stove, thicker
sleeping pad, and lighter trekking poles. Aaron might consider a
bigger pack and lower rated sleeping bag. Tom was fairly content
with his gear. The one thing we all agreed on was that more hot
beverage mixes are a must. Whether it be coffee, tea, or hot cocoa,
being able to sip a hot flavored drink throughout the evenings not only
re-hydrated you and changed up the monotony of water, it also warmed you
from the inside out.
- Maps:
- Click here
to view a
2D
map of the area where this hike is located.
- Photographs:
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