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.:Getting to the trailhead / base camp in Chicago Basin:. This is probably the most involved approach to a trailhead in Colorado, since it involves cars and trains AND hiking! Plan out your trip, and call the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad for tickets at (970) 247-2733. Be CERTAIN you get reservations on the train that stops at Needleton, since not every train does. As of this writing (fall 2008), it's the 9:00 train from Durango that makes that stop. Arrive at the DSNGRR depot in Durango about a half-hour early to get your tickets, load your pack (packs go onto the red boxcar in the front of the train) and get your seat. Next comes the hard part. Patiently RELAX and enjoy the ~2 hour ride from Durango to the Needleton stop. The train nevers goes faster than 20mph, and much slower in some places. As you approach Needleton, the conductor will come through and call those getting off the train. When the train stops, grab your pack and cross the Animas river on the excellent suspension bridge. Follow the well-established trail up Needleton creek for 6-7 miles into Chicago Basin. The best camping is within a quarter-mile of the signed trail spur that leads to Twin Lakes and the 14ers! .:The trail:. .:Trip Report:. ...continued from the Windom trip report.... Heading off of Windom’s summit we came to a prominent notch in the ridge (I’m guessing 200 or so yards from the top,but quite obvious). There was a small network of trails heading straight down into the basin, and we judged that we could save some time and elevation loss here. The steep scree and gravel weren’t as bad as some mountains (i.e. Columbia), and within a half-hour or so we had bottomed out high in the basin at 13, 300’ and begun the slow, grinding cimb up Sunlight, which was also a somewhat loose trail of scree and gravel. We had a trio of climbers ahead of us, and another pair far below, so the danger of rockfall wasn’t too bad. Nearing the saddle between Sunlight and Sunlight Spire, the trail takes a left turn and begins to do an ascending, Class III traverse between the rocks and through a couple small chimneys. Eventually the trail tops out on the ridge and requires a tricky maneuver through a low-ceilinged slot in the rock. Hard for us 6’-plus people not to bang our heads! It’s not a difficult move, unless of course you whack your skull on the granite above you. After the slot it’s a minute or two of scrambling to come to the base of the summit and the oft-talked about summit block. The three climbers in front of us were preparing to rope up for the scramble to the very summit. Chris, being the perfect-balance animal that he is, merely walked over and scrambled to the top of the summit block, making it look as easy as anything. It took me a few minutes to work up the nerve, but eventually I also make the scramble and leap to the summit block, feeling a swell of personal victory over my own nervousness at the exposure. Unfortunately, pictures of climbers on the summit block really don’t do it justice, since it’s very difficult to get the context of the 1000-foot-plus drops all around. Roach says this could be the hardest move on any 14er, but that’s not quite accurate. The move itself is quite simple. Scramble to the base of the summit block and then launch yourself onto it. Roach says the summit block is smooth, but it’s really not. It’s very “grippy” stone, making it easy enough to get purchase. The reverse move to get down is actually psychologically more difficult, as you have to jump down and just a little out to land on the stone below the summit block. Again, it’s not “difficult”, it’s just exposed. Everyone reacts a little differently to this sort of thing, so use your best judgement and don’t feel like a failure if you decide to give the summit block a pass. By this time it was 10:30, and the skies were still looking favorable ... a few puffy white clouds but nothing organized yet - so we decided to go for the trifecta and make a run at Eolus. The scramble down Sunlight was probably a tad bit harder than the climb up, but downclimbs often are, especially scrabbling down a couple of the Class III chimneys. And from there it was a half-hour of the scree and gravel to get back down to the basin floor. |
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