The Adventures of Lori and Monty

Chicago Basin comprises the upper portion of the Needle Creek watershed in the San Juan Mountains. It lies within the Weminuche Wilderness, part of the San Juan National Forest. The upper portion of the basin is surrounded by three fourteeners: Mount Eolus, Windom Peak, and Sunlight Peak.

The standard route of access to Chicago Basin is somewhat unusual. The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, driven by a historical steam locomotive, runs through the canyon of the Animas River. It makes a stop (when requested) at Needleton, a location near the confluence of Needle Creek and the Animas. Visitors to Chicago Basin typically ride the train from Durango or Silverton, get off at Needleton, and hike about 7 miles up Needle Creek to the basin itself.

Keep reading to see the full story...

The trip started in Durango CO, where we threw our packs in a boxcar and boarded the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to get us to the trailhead. The train winds it’s way for 30 miles and 2.5 hours along the Animas River to the Needleton whistle stop where all backcountry travelers get off. Here our packs were unloaded and we started up the Needle Creek Trail (elevation 8,220 feet). This trail originates at the former mining camp of Needleton and climbs along an old stage road that follows its namesake seven miles into Chicago Basin. The trail is easy to follow but quite steep, ascending approximately 3,300 feet before reaching the top of the Chicago Basin. At the lower section of the trail it was hot, humid and the flies were terrible. As we gained altitude, the heat dissipated and the flies went away (what a relief). At about 10,950 feet, the trees give way to a fantastic basin filled with wildflowers. It was spectacular! We followed the advice of someone coming down the trail and hiked all the way to the “No Camping Beyond This Point” sign before setting up camp. We had company in the form of a mountain goat and her kid. These 2 crazy animals hung out around us and our tent the entire week. The first evening relaxed and recovered from the long hike.

Up at the crack of dawn on the second day, we made coffee and breakfast before hitting the trail to climb Sunlight and Windom. To get to these peaks we had to climb the last steep section of trail to Twin lakes before crossing over onto the scree slopes of the "Red Couloir" of Sunlight peak. This part of the hike was very steep and strenuous, but we made very good time. Gaining the ridge between Sunlight Spire and Sunlight Peak took us a couple of hours. Then it was onto the summit. The last section got a bit tricky with some class 3 and 4 moves to get to the top. We reached the summit marker, but it is not the highest point on the mountain. The top of Sunlight has a 30 foot high summit blocks to reach which requires you to step across an exposed gap and pull yourself onto a rounded smooth block. For the brave or just crazy, it is the final step. Monty did it and it was one of the scariest things he has ever done (and wouldn't do again). On to Windom. From the summit of Sunlight, we made our way back down the "Red Couloir" and crossed the basin to the West ridge of Windom. Windom is a very straight forward climb with mainly big boulders to hop across. The summit of Windom also has a large summit block that will only hold two people. We made it to the top just as some storm clouds started to roll in.There was some thunder, so instead of stopping for lunch we high-tailed it to lower elevation. On the way down it started to rain, then turned into hail. Good thing we had our rain gear. Back at camp we were greeted by our new friends the goats, then settled in to recover for the next day. It rained most of the afternoon and evening, so we just hung out in the tent most of the day.

Day three started with the same routine, up at dawn, breakfast, then hit the trail. This time we started out on the same route, but turned West at twin lakes to follow the Mt. Eolus trail. This is a very steep trail along the base of some cliffs for the first mile or so. Then we made a turn up a natural ramp to gain the ridge between Mt. Eolus and North Eolus. From here it turned hard. The route follows the ridge to a narrow section called "The Catwalk." It is about 8 feet wide with 1,000 foot drops on both sides. Quite scary to think about at first, but once we were on it things weren't that bad. After the catwalk the trail turned into a straight Class 3 scramble with some tricky route finding. This was by far on of the most fun 14ers we have climbed. The summit was amazing. The views were phenomenal and we had perfect weather to enjoy it all. We then turned around and headed back to camp.

Next is was time to pack up and head back to meet the train at the Needleton stop. We had to flag the train down in order to through our packs back in the boxcar and head for home. What a fantastic week!

Stats:
Upper Chicago Basin
Elevation: 11,509
Route: Needle Creek Trail
Difficulty: Class 2
Trailhead: Needleton
Trailhead Elev.: 8,220 feet
Elevation Gain: 3,289 feet
Trip Length: 14 miles

Sunlight Peak
Elevation: 14,059
Route: South Face
Difficulty: Class 4
Trailhead: Upper Chicago Basin
Trailhead Elev.: 11,509 feet
Elevation Gain: 2,552 feet
Trip Length: 1.5 miles from camp to summit
Stability: Some loose rock
Exposure: 5

Sunlight/Windom Traverse
Elevation Gain: 6,000 feet
Trip Length: 0.9 miles from summit to summit
Stability: Some loose rock
Exposure: 5

Windom Peak
Elevation: 14,082
Route: West Ridge
Difficulty: Difficult Class 2
Trailhead: Upper Chicago Basin
Trailhead Elev.: 11,509 feet
Elevation Gain: 2,573 feet
Trip Length: 3 miles (from camp)
Stability: Some loose rock
Exposure: 3

Mt. Eolus
Elevation: 14,083
Route: Northeast Ridge
Difficulty: Difficult Class 3
Trailhead: Upper Chicago Basin
Trailhead Elev.: 11,509 feet
Elevation Gain: 2,574 feet
Trip Length: 4 miles (from camp)
Stability: Some loose rock
Exposure: 4