Continental Divide Trail At the Divide, the trail connects with the Continental Divide Trail. I was . I hope your backpacking trip is just as epic as ours was. Id say we averaged 5 people seen per day on days 1-4. When youre in the Chicago Basin, watch for mountain goats! We kept the food bags in our packs too, which is kept in OPsaks. The rock is slippery and there is nothing to help you balance yourself on this very narrow section of trail, which happens to have a BIG drop on your left. Straddling sections of the infamous Continental . Browse different rides & seasonal events. The unincorporated community of Needleton is very secluded east from the Highway 550. At 2:45, we heard a train approaching that sounded its whistle. It was nice to know that we had a day off of hiking coming up tomorrow, at least for Lisa anyways. Down to Eldorado. We loved this trail and would highly recommend! The food issue didnt bother me much, I was mainly worried about the rodents chewing on our sweaty gear. The Elk Park to Needleton backpacking loop near Silverton, Colorado, covers over 40 miles and features stunning mountain vistas. Either way, it was going to be another short day with only about 6 miles to cover. After the train dropped us off at Elk Park, it was pretty quiet. See this list of my favorite freeze-dried meals if youre curious about what theyre like. I wanted to make it farther though, and we pushed on to about 5.5 miles where we made camp along Elk Creek, elevation ~10,300ft. From above, I spotted a deer down below on the trail to Kite Lake. Just as I hit that switchback, a few hikers came into view on the way down from the CDT. Once I got a little closer to the drainage, I could see the water flowing through a narrow gorge carved into the rock. Heres an overview map of the Weminuche Wilderness, which includes trailhead locations. The ride is slow and sooty and other than the crying kids that overpopulated our car, the ride really was wonderful. Most of our clothing was wet, including our backpacks and other gear, so we finally had a chance to dry them out some. instead of the 7:30AM train which stopped at Needleton. After realizing that, I looked around and could see where the trail picked up again, and started hiking directly towards the trail in the distance. This looks more like some of the pictures Id seen of the San Juans before our trip. I only followed the drainage a short ways, but another 100ft away it appeared to drop off. I dont know why these animals are so persistent about going to a specific location when there are humans there. Cant wait to try this trip myself! Food takes longer to cook at high altitudes. On this section of the trail, the views were mostly obstructed by trees until we reached the beaver pond at mile 3. 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. One guy stopped and said Whoa, what are you doing going up that? If youre boarding the train at a flag stop, you need to alert the conductor. There was a very brief moment of sunlight right as we crossed Red Rock Creek, which was nice to have at this moment. None of them seemed very dry though. We saw 3 hikers coming down Hunchback Pass earlier as we were going up, and didnt see anyone else today until we got about a mile from the Vallecito Creek Bridge. I guess thats good, because that was less people we saw on the other days. Literally just yards below the top of the pass, on the Chicago Basin side, the trail gets extremely steep and pretty sketchy. I did put a knee brace on, both knees, for the first time ever. Preparing for Elk Park to Needleton Loop - Champagne Tastes Looking back up the way I just came down from Windom Peak. I followed the lake to its drainage, which for reference was directly south of the Miners Cabin. However, after she mentioned it a few times I could tell she really wanted one, so we gathered the driest firewood we could find and used our garbage to start the fire. After 3 hours, we were finally back in Durango. Elk Park Train Stop to Needleton - Colorado | AllTrails San Juan National Forest - Elk Creek Trail/ Colorado Trail (503) It was extra sunny during the day, and there were thunderstorms most evenings. My husband had an offline map downloaded in his Google Maps app, although we found it to be unreliable in the Vallecito Creek area. This seemed pretty pointless though, because we just stood around until about 7:50. Miles: 45 Days: 6-8 Difficulty: Strenuous. Youll be hiking in a wilderness area. I climbed up the highest hill along the edge which was roughly 12,700ft, which provided awesome views of Eldorado and everything else around. The correct way to flag the train and let the conductor know youd like to board is by waving your hands across your knees. Are there fishing opportunities along this route? I learned this the hard way when hiking around Snowmass Lake last year. As crappy as the weather has been all day, I havent seen any lightning yet. More mountain goats as I leave the Twins Lake area. Our backpack would take us on a horseshoe loop from Elk. It was quite a sight to see, unlike anything Ive ever witnessed before. I do regret getting the open-cart seats though, because it was raining and it was not dry inside. We made the decision to cut our trek short. I used to do that, but it gets expensive to print out those big maps all the time, especially for places I likely wont return to for years. Depending on where you plan to board the train, plan ahead and determine which parking option meets your needs best. This will give you time to make it to your seats before the final boarding call. My home area is the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana and am looking for a backcountry trip in Colorado. The hiker who told me about the mice up here had camped here last night. tnmule20 68 Posted February 10, 2022. tnmule20. Columbine Pass and Chicago Basin probably were the highlights of the trip -- incredibly high and scenic alpine country. Now back on the trail, we started gaining elevation en route to Hunchback Pass. I was very surprised that there were no seats available, the train was pretty packed. We did this trip in September. Not long after, we watched the same goats cross the creek and head towards our general area. There are two main access points for the wilderness: Elk Park and Needleton. It rained a little very briefly when I got back, then was party sunny the rest of the day with only a few intermittent showers. Elk Park Train Stop to Needleton | Map, Guide - Colorado | AllTrails We woke up today at 5:30 and began to slowly pack up camp. Im considering doing this loop this summer and you have really helped! But we opted to take the train! From the bottom though, I couldnt tell where the switchbacks started. 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. Or some come at it from the opposite (Needleton) end, via Purgatory Flats Trail and the Animas River Trail (about 10 miles). We saw a few more deer throughout the day, more snowshoe hare, and even a weasel. Mojave-Sonoran Trail (2021) The weather was holding out all morning, shine shining and blue skies. I knew I was going to punish them here and figured itd be best to give them any help they can get. 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. I used a Garmin InReach Mini 2 to track our location, and any time we came to an unmarked trail junction, we knew which way to go. When taking a train leaving from Durango, you need to be in your seat 30 minutes before departure. We use the Therm-a-Rest Vela Double 20 quilt. The low clouds were back, engulfing Mount Kennedy southwest of us. We spend a good while collecting firewood, but as wet as it was, it was a bit of a challenge. The times we've done this, the train departed Silverton about 2:45 PM and dropped us of by 3:45 PM. Would you advise camping at Twin Lakes? The weather started clearing up after about mile 4. This cabin would be a good place to wait out a storm, but its not suitable as an overnight shelter due to its condition. 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. I figured more people would be out here doing the full loop like we were doing, but that clearly wasnt the case. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Eric Poulin, long distance hiker and outdoor adventurer, Greenland Hike/Packraft Expedition (2022) *Coming Soon I didnt want to go crazy on day 1 anyways, so it worked out that it was a shorter day. The weather was cloudy and more scattered rain throughout the rest of the day. However, Im sure you could find a clearing to put a tent somewhere. There were 2 large pines growing 3 feet apart, creating a dry spot large enough for our tent, all out gear, places to sit, and more. 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. Lisa was quite scared here, and it took a lot of coaxing to get her to move. Other hikers trickled in to the area as time went on. 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. Overall a pretty remote and isolated trail with beautiful scenery, clean water everywhere and pristine nature. For comparison, where we live is around 800 feet above sea level. Theres also a Deuter backpacking pack thats a standard size, if youre taller than I am! The weather was once again threatening to rain as I made it to the top, finally sitting up on the CDT. Elk Park to Needleton Backpack Loop - YouTube Heres what we learned while preparing for the Elk Park to Needleton hike, plus a few things I wish Id known ahead of time! Its an extra 9 miles I believe from Purgatory to Needleton. The San Juan mountains are notorious for being snowy and the best time is probably mid July to Mid September. There were also a lot of flowers alongside the trail, and there were tons of butterflies on them. Your email address will not be published. I dont trust the skies and just assume it will rain later today. We had a couple of long days and some short days with lots of time to relax. 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. I'm hoping that we weren't unncessarilly cautious and missed out. 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. The map in my trip report is generated from a wordpress plugin, where I uploaded my GPX file of the hike. This entry was posted on August 29, 2013. But there would be no sleeping in tomorrow morning though, because we were off to the Great Sand Dunes National Park! We snacked on sour patch kids by the fire for a while before letting it burn out. Elk Park Train Stop to Needleton is a 36 mile moderately trafficked point-to-point trail located near Silverton, Colorado that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate.
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