Gary had been into Chicago Basin back in the 70’s, and had left with unfinished business. He had climbed Jupiter and Windom but bad weather denied them Eolus and Sunlight. Since the 70’s Gary has climbed peaks all over the North Cascades. When he decided to return to the Weminuche to finish the peaks in Chicago Basin, he wanted to make it a combo trip and visit Vestal Basin as well.

We started out the 7 day trip with a day of rock climbing at East Animas in Durango, finishing day one with a two pitch climb called Angel Dust. Day two we took the train into Elk Park and hiked into Vestal Basin where we were greeted with a great show from two moose. The next morning we woke early and climbed the amazing Wham Ridge on Vestal Peak. On the way down from Vestal we decided it was early enough in the day to climb Arrow Peak as well. The next two days were spent hiking over to Chicago Basin for the second part of the trip. We decided that it was most efficent to climb all the 14,000′ Chicago basin peaks in one day so again we woke early and climbed Eolus then Sunlight and were at 13,800′ on Windom when the weather started coming in and forced us down. Not bad for one day! The final day of this great trip was spent hiking out of Chicago Basin and catching the train to Durango.

Check out some photos below!

BK

This was an incredible journey! We spent eight days playing in the great outdoors in Southwest Colorado! This included climbing at a local crag, climbing one of our great 13ers in the area (Snowdon Peak), and then traveling into the backcountry of the great Weminuche Wilderness to visit Chicago Basin, the 14ers there, and end hiking out high on Endlich Mesa!

The first day we spent climbing at X-Rock, one of our local crags. We climbed around on rock all day including climbing some of the harder climbs there, learning about building climbing anchors, and doing some rappelling down steep faces.

The next day we ventured to Snowdon Peak where we climbed the West Buttress, giving us a great view of the surrounding mountains including the Needles where we were headed the next day. This also gave us the chance to acclimate to the elevation so that the travels into the 14ers wouldn’t be as difficult.

The next day we went into Chicago Basin via the train and spent the next few days climbing the local 14ers. This included Windom, Sunlight, and Eolus. The time spent up high was amazingly beautiful and we were psyched to get some great weather!

After our time in the Basin, we moved up over Columbine Pass and Trimble Pass to the Silver Mesa and City Reservoir. This was a great miles day with views of the Needles the whole way and lunar landscapes up high.

Lastly, we ended the trip again gaining great elevation and hiked the remaining portion of the trip above 12,000 ft along the Endlich Mesa. It literally felt like Ireland up there with flocks of Sheep and all.

Mike and I had a great time hanging out and exploring what Southwest Colorado has to offer. There is much more where that came from, that is for sure!

AB

Ed from Omaha came out to Durango for a few days in Chicago Basin with training for Rainier in mind. Ed will start climbing Rainier on Saturday, and wanted to get a little more elevation under his belt than the 900′ that is Omaha. Colorado is perfect for gaining altitude experience. We slept at about 11,000′ and climbed two peaks over 14,000′. Ed did great on the climbs and I’m sure will do great on Rainier.

Good luck Ed!

BJK

Ed on the summit of Sunlight.

Hiking down.