My Colorado Travelings

[TripLeader]

Sept. 2017

Part Fourteen [Conclusion]
We made it safely back to the truck from La Plata Peak. We headed to camp.
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We went in to Buena Vista. We took showers and ate dinner at the Eddyline Brewery in Buena Vista. We had finished a great trip.
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We got up at sunrise the next morning and broke camp. We made the long drive home.
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Thanks for reading, I hope it was enjoyable...

 

[TripLeader]

Aug. 2018

Part One [Introduction]
My friends, MD & OD, and I decided to head back to Colorado for the summer of 2018. We had a couple of planning sessions and threw a few ideas around. We settled on giving them a backpacking experience, combined with 14ers of course. Neither of them had ever backpacked and wanted to try it. We were set on heading to Chicago Basin, north of Durango. The Eolus group awaited us there.
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We discussed taking the train in vs. backpacking in from the Purgatory Trailhead. From procrastination and a landslide that caused some issues with the train tracks, we were destined for the backpack in. And I vaguely remember MD saying something about wanting to see the scenery. All 10-plus miles of it, one way.
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Anyway, we discussed gear and they outfitted themselves with what they would need. We would take my '05 Ford F-150 for the trip.
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The highlights of the trip, one year later, will follow.

 

[TripLeader]

Aug. 2018

Part Two [Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park]
It's a long drive for us to get to southwest Colorado. We also live at approximately 1000 feet above sea level. We could reserve a campsite at BCGNP and arrive there near dusk and not have to search out a campsite. MD & OD had never been there. We set it as our first night's destination for all those reasons.
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We arrived and set up our camp. We had two small backpacking tents for the three of us. We did not bring the "deluxe" accommodations because of the backpacking plans. We cooked ourselves a dinner once camp was set. Then it was time to explore.
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We loaded back up in the truck, even though we had been in it for 12 or so hours already, leaving home just after 5:00 a.m. This time we were just planning on cruising the rim of the canyon and checking out the overlooks. I hoped to make it to Sunset Point for, what else, sunset.
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We stopped at several of the overlooks. Then canyon is amazing for it depth and relatively narrow width, not to mention the formations of the rocks.
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We arrived at Sunset Point about 10 minutes before sunset. There were about a dozen people there. We took a small side trail away from the overlook landing and sat on some rocks. People were talking quietly to each other. As the minutes passed and the sun began to set, everyone grew quiet. It was a very beautiful night.


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The next morning we packed up our camp rather early. But we were not done with the park. We were at the ranger station at 8:00 a.m. to get a permit to hike the Gunnison Route to the bottom of the canyon. I had done it once before, as documented in this thread. My two friends had not.
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It is called a "route" and not a "trail" for a reason.

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This route has a length of chain that covers a short span for assistance in trekking through a steep section.
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We made it to the bottom. MD, being the cold water lover that he is, helped himself to a dip to cool off.

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We ate a snack, took some photos, wondered in amazement at the canyon, and then headed up.
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We made it back to the truck at noon. We left the park. We had places to go.

 

[TripLeader]

Aug. 2018

Part Three [Backpacking In]
We drove to the Purgatory Flats Trailhead from the national park. We stopped in Ouray on the way there and ate a late lunch of Pizza. Pizza has become our traditional meal in Colorado, when it's available.
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We arrived at the trailhead around 5:00 p.m. We packed a few last minute things into our backpacks and set off. A light rain started within 30 minutes. At least the first miles were downhill.

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We arrived at the Animas River. We crossed the footbridge to get to a vacant campsite and the rain let off.

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We quickly put up our tents, not knowing if it would start raining again. We caught a break and the rain held off. We cooked dinner and the darkness came just as we finished. It was time to call it a night.
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We continued our backpack the next morning. We still had miles to go before we made it to Chicago Basin.


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The train passed us, on the opposite bank, during our hike. It was quite a disappointment because it was five minutes after we were out a place that would have given us a terrific view of it. We ended up only hearing it and being able to see a few colors through some dense trees.
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We made it to the wilderness boundary. Still not in the basin, though.

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We finally made it to the basin. The sun had really started to heat things up. I don't recall the mileage that day, but it was in the neighborhood of 7-10 miles. I was in the back of our group and kept seeing campsites that the two in the front had passed. I was irritated with them. When we finally came upon "the" campsite, they kept going, following a goat. I lost my cool and yelled out to them about the error of their ways and how I was a better judge of campsites. (Or words to that effect--you get the point.) They continued to scout some more sites, but found them occupied, and returned to me.
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We all had thought the goat was a fantastic sight to see and a thing of rarity. We were wrong. More on that later.
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But at last, we were in Chicago Basin, with our camp set up. From here, we were set to try the surrounding peaks: Eolus, North Eolus, Sunlight, & Windom.

 

[TripLeader]

Aug. 2018

Part Four [Rest Day]
We were all spent by the pace of the trip to that point. We took a rest day for our first full day in Chicago Basin. It turned out to be a costly use of our time, but that's how it goes some times.
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We checked out a few places near our campsite. Of course there were goats.
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That's all for now. More to come later.

 

[TripLeader]

Aug. 2018

Part Five [Sunlight Peak, 14059']
The next day we made an early start to climb Sunlight Peak.
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The last move to the top summit block was a step over a large piece of air. I declined to take the step. MD is negotiating it here.

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We hiked down, and caught some light rain above tree line, ending any thoughts of trying to tackle Windom that morning.
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[TripLeader]

Aug. 2018

Part Six [Mine]
We had come upon an old mine on the way up to Sunlight Peak. We decided to give it a look on the way down. We also used it as shelter to take a few minutes to get out of the rain.
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Going into the Earth.

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Coming out.

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We headed back to camp.

 

[TripLeader]

Aug. 2018

Part Seven [Goats]
The goats went from being a cool, rare experience with mountain wildlife to an annoyance. They came and went often. They walked through our camp like they owned the place, which maybe they did.
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[shade]

I never knew you were anti-goat.

 

[TripLeader]

Aug. 2018

Part Eight [North Eolus, 14039' and Mt. Eolus, 14083']
We had big plans for this day. We planned on North Eolus and then Mount Eolus. We would look to Windom if things went well and the time worked out. We needed plenty of time to get them in by noon so we would avoid any afternoon storms.
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So we got up at 2:30 a.m. and hit the trail shortly after. We hiked up by headlamp, which is usual for trying 14ers.
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We summitted North Eolus at dawn. It was fantastic.

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It was time to move on after spending some time on the summit.

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We approached the "catwalk" over to Mt. Eolus.

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There was an exposed move to get from North Eolus to the catwalk. I had taken myself to the limit of my comfort zone on North Eolus and did not want to try the move. The climb up was over for me. I waited while MD & OD tried Eolus.

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OD ended up getting a sore knee and ceased his summitting efforts. MD kept at it and made the summit.
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MD returning on the catwalk, while I waited below.

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We all returned back to camp together

 

[TripLeader]

Aug. 2018

Part Nine [Conclusion]
Time ran out on us.
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We got back to camp around noon after hitting North Eolus and Mt. Eolus. We ate lunch and packed up camp. We started the long hike out.
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One last look at Chicago Basin.

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We hiked and hiked with our 50 lb. packs. OD's knee was hurting, but he was able to maintain his normal pace. I wanted to stop and camp on the way out. We had been up since 2:30 a.m. and already put in miles on the 14ers.
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Both MD & OD wanted to keep going. We were concerned that OD's knee would be worse in the morning, and he would have more trouble hiking the next day. We backpacked the 11 or so miles (beyond the 14ers mileage) to the trailhead. It was 8:00 p.m. We had been very lucky that the afternoon turned out to be overcast and sprinkling. It kept the temperatures down. It was a tough hike. It would have been even tougher if it had been 10-15 degrees hotter.
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I changed shirts at the truck. We were all sweaty and stinky.
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We drove to Durango. MD called and got a hotel room for us. We ordered a pizza to the room. We all showered and had no trouble falling asleep. The next day was the drive home. And that trip was on the books.
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Thanks for reading.

 

[Sierra Valley]

Great pics thanks!

 

[TripLeader]

I never knew you were anti-goat.

I like goats just fine.

 

[TripLeader]

Great pics thanks!

Thanks, more to come here in a little while.

 

[TripLeader]

August 2019

Part One [Introduction]
So now the group of MD, OD, and me have made the trip to Colorado a yearly tradition. Here's what we did this year.
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We had some more planning sessions. We had considered the Sangre de Cristos. However, we settled on the San Juans. The mountains we wanted to attempt necessitated four-wheel drive to cut down on the time & distance. That led to the decision to take my '05 LJ. It was the only 4WD vehicle between the three of us. But three grown men in a Wrangler? And trying to bring all the camping gear? Time to break out the trailer! It had been awhile.
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Here it was a couple of weeks before the trip, fresh from the carwash:

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My wife told me that we all three may leave as friends, but three men in a Jeep for a week would not return as friends. I explained the theory of "Jeep Time" to my friends. (Add 20% more time to Google Map directions and be content going under the speed limit.) They were good with it.
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The final plan was to spend the first night at Great Sand Dunes National Park. From there we would move on to Lake City. We'd try Handies Peak, then Redcloud & Sunshine. We would then move our camp to be closer to the next mountains: Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre. Somewhere in there we would drive the Alpine Loop over Cinnamon Pass and Engineer Pass.
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Eight days total, trying for five 14ers, after driving for 12+ hours, for three people who live at 1000 feet above sea level. We would need the weather to cooperate and everything to go well. We had all been getting our physical fitness levels up and felt we were in the best shape we had been in for any of our trips together.