A week in the Weminuche Wilderness-Sept. 2014

[OwenM]

Someone asked me about a trip I mentioned in mtwarden's thread yesterday, and I had a TR already done on another forum's Colorado Trail section, so here it be:

Weminuche Wilderness, CO
Elk Park to Needleton Loop, plus side trips including:
-Vestal Basin
-Highland Mary Lakes and Verde Lake
-Rock Creek Trail to Rock Lake(cut a bit short by weather)
-some wandering due to reality and the National Geographic map's version of it being two separate things
The loop is 38.6 miles, and the extras brought it to ~66.

Pretty safe to assume the storms I had on days 4-6 were atypical, as they were the result of moisture getting pushed through the area from Hurricane Odile.
At one point the forecast called for rain 7 days of 7, and had me trying to reschedule, so I guess I actually lucked out!

Day 1.
The trip begins with a shuttle to Elk Park via the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad's 1920s vintage steam engine.

It begins.

Looking ahead on the Elk Creek Trail.

The "Beaver Ponds" at mile 3.2.

Looking up toward Vestal Basin, my first side trip on the loop.

Lower Vestal Basin.

Looking out from the middle of Vestal Basin.

I head back down to the Beaver Ponds and beyond to the next water and make camp for the night.

 

[OwenM]

Day 2.

Misty mountain meadow.

Continuing on the Elk Creek Trail.

Looking back.

Approaching the switchbacks up to the CT and the Continental Divide.

From the CT, which shortly joins the CDT.

On the way to my second extra destination, Highland Mary Lakes.

Cover up or get fried! Big change from hiking in the SE, where you're under tree cover 90+% of the time.

Approaching Highland Mary Lakes.

Camp, night 2. Quite a temperature differential here. It was 80F when I made camp, and 29F in the morning.

 

[OwenM]

From touring the lakes in the morning of day 3.

Back on the CT/CDT to get back to the loop.

CT toward Hunchback Pass. I camped below Kite Lake on night 3, and went over HB pass in the morning. Some brief rain and hail in the evening, but otherwise the weather was forgiving.

 

[OwenM]

Day 4.
Hunchback Pass.

Vallecito Creek Trail, after descending from Hunchback Pass.

Quick detour up toward Nebo Pass for a snack break with a good view.

The Vallecito starts feeling more familiar to this Southerner, with woods interspersed with drainages and waterfalls.

The only real problem I had with the elevation, besides headaches the first couple of days, was going uphill. I was VERY slow.
Due to that, I nixed my night at Sunlight Lake(on the topo, it looks about like a 3000ft ladder!) in favor of heading up the Rock Creek Trail, which is a much gentler climb.

I didn't regret it, either. The views were fantastic.

Just before the final climb up to Rock Lake, a cloud came over the cliffline right above me and started dumping rain and hail. I set up my tent on the spot and spent the next 14 hours practically inside a thunderstorm at ~11,500ft. My tent was saturated inside and out, so the rain hitting the outside had it "raining" inside, too. Very nice.

 

[OwenM]

From camp, morning of day 5. I packed up all my wet gear, put on rainpants over grid fleece bottoms, and headed back down toward Vallecito Creek.

Snow on the peaks I'd last seen engulfed in dark storm clouds.

My water phobia and I felt triumphant after the first waist deep creek crossing, little knowing there were more to come, and that it would be worse the next day.

The sun came out for several hours, and everything was beautiful...

The flooding continued, though, and the trail was sometimes ankle to shin deep, especially near drainages that flowed onto the path and followed it.

Some of the creek crossings were "less benign" than others.

I camped on the Johnson Creek Trail, and enjoyed about 3 hours of clear skies before it started raining again.
It rained all night.

Camp, night 5. At least I had a chance to dry out my tent, pad, and quilt before starting the process over again.

 

[OwenM]

Day 6.
Still raining in the morning.

The creek crossings did not get better as a result...

I decided this was a bit much...

Bushwhacked upstream awhile 'til I found a tree to cross on, then put the creek to my back until I rejoined the trail.

Which was underwater a good bit of the way.

The stuff I was having to cross was apparently drainage from Hazel and Columbine lakes combined with that coming from the surrounding area's flooding.
Thompson Creek itself was another matter!
I certainly wasn't crossing THAT:

Looking back toward the Johnson Creek gorge.

Looking up to Columbine Pass.

And back down to Columbine Lake.

 

[OwenM]

Day 6, part 2.
Looking toward Chicago Basin from Columbine Pass:

Into Chicago Basin.

I did not camp in Chicago Basin, but continued on another mile or two.

Night 6, and another camp full of wet gear...

 

[OwenM]

Day 7.
In the morning, I headed down to the railroad, and caught the train to Silverton and hung out awhile, then rode back to Durango.

The Animas River.

Here comes my ride!

And away we go...

A few crops from the trip:

The end...

 

[Cody Hofsommer]

Wow, looks like a great trip, though a bit WET!

 

[MrFixIt]

Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures!

 

[tek77]

Enjoyed your post.
Thanks for taking us along.

 

[jacksterp]

Thank you so much for the report. Pictures are magnificent and breathtaking.

One hell of an adventure.

Do you do this often?

 

[mtwarden]

Very nice country and an epic trip- perfect! Will definitely have to add that to my bucket list

I don't have a water phobia, but some of those crossings look crazy!

Do you think you would you have been any better off w/ a "traditional" tent w/ fly/bathtub floor?

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Wow! Fantastic scenery and pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Doc

 

[Bob W]

I am jealous of you on that trip. Thank you so much for sharing your pictures. :thumbup:

 

[OwenM]

Thanks, guys. Glad y'all enjoyed the pics!

Do you do this often?

I'm out year-round all over the Southeast, but only get to go out West once or twice per year. None last year, as the park shutdown happened right when I should have been buying plane tickets. Was meeting up with a group that had permits for 5 technical canyons, too
I have an ongoing love affair with SW Utah, and that's where I usually go. Going back week after next, actually.

 

[OwenM]

Very nice country and an epic trip- perfect! Will definitely have to add that to my bucket list

I don't have a water phobia, but some of those crossings look crazy!

Do you think you would you have been any better off w/ a "traditional" tent w/ fly/bathtub floor?

Didn't make it into the trip report, but I thought I was dead in one of those crossings.
Steep with strong current, and got deeper before the far bank. Leaning into the current to stay upright had the water coming up over my chest at the same time I was losing my footing. I lost it in the last few feet, and when the current stood me up and spun me around I fell onto the bank.
Scary stuff. I was praying for help, and lay on the ground shaking when I made it across. No pics of that one-I can remember it quite vividly without one, though. There's a little "wilderness survival"...

Definitely would have been better off with more tent. I've already bought the partial solid inner for my Notch, and will use it for winter and any future trips like this. I like using the Notch with a groundsheet, but sometimes the narrow ends means I rub against the fly(or even end up with my feet outside if I move around a lot).

Good trip for the list, I think. The Maroon Bells get the publicity and traffic, but this is considered one of if not *the* best backpacking loops in CO(there's usually not a hurricane pushing wet weather through in September, either!). The place where I got stuck in the rain for 14hrs is the Rock Lake basin, and one of the two most remote spots in the lower 48, being over 20 trail miles from the nearest road. Pretty cool, but it figures that's where I get stuck

 

[Bob W]

Thanks, guys. Glad y'all enjoyed the pics!

I'm out year-round all over the Southeast, but only get to go out West once or twice per year. None last year, as the park shutdown happened right when I should have been buying plane tickets. Was meeting up with a group that had permits for 5 technical canyons, too

Correct me if I'm wrong, but during the 2013 government shut down, most public lands were unaffected. Maybe you couldn't have gotten into certain areas that require permits or entry fees (National Parks, developed recreation areas...) but in general BLM and Forest Service lands remained open (as if they could block off and guard 10,000 access roads even if they wanted). Some Western states have extensive state lands as well - state parks, state forests, wildlife areas, etc.

So you might have had to change plans, but the government shutdown was no reason to stay home.

 

[OwenM]

I didn't stay at home, Bob.
Just wasn't burning a week's vacation and a bunch of cash to travel 2000 miles and not do what I wanted. I'm picky like that...

 

[WILLIAM.M]

Stunning Photos

Thanks for sharing Brother