Chicago Basin: Worth the Effort!

My husband Dave has raved about Chicago Basin ever since he first backpacked there to climb some of Colorado’s most difficult 14ers.

He’d camped twice among hordes of mountain goats in the basin located in the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado. Then he hiked up to Twin Lakes before climbing each of the four 14ers.

“I’d love for you just to see Twin Lakes. They’re spectacular!” But Dave knew his wish was impossible because I couldn’t backpack thanks to injuries sustained in an auto accident in 1992. A day hike to the lakes was impossible for us because of the logistics of getting to the basin.

Then four years ago, my physical therapist suggested that I try to backpack and loaned me her small backpack. The short trip was a success, so the following two summers, I backpacked a few times with Dave and our two Labradors, Ranger and Betty. I was elated!! So were the dogs!!

This year, our planned trip to trek around Mt Blanc in Europe again was canceled because of COVID. We didn’t hike the first part of this year because Ranger was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, and we didn’t want to leave him alone. He adored hiking and looked so mournful when Dave left on a day hike this spring that the latter didn’t hike again.

When Ranger passed over the Rainbow Bridge in late May, Dave and I decided that we and Betty needed to get into shape for the summer hiking season. But the weather conspired against us- first lots of rain and then plenty of smoke from the West Coast wildfires.

It was early August when the weather cleared. Where had the summer gone? We’d only taken a few short hikes in the area. Time to step up our training.

Dave wanted to take photographs around South Colony Lakes that lie below several popular 14ers in the Sangre De Cristo mountains. The pack-in was relatively easy, much easier than finding a suitable camping spot thanks to the number of fellow hikers/campers we encountered. We settled on a level site, off the main trail, hidden from other camps, and just below the lower lake. The site’s downside? Sheep poop and hair everywhere! We noticed a bouquet of picked wildflowers in some plastic, left behind by previous campers who violated the leave no trace wilderness rule.

After we set up our tent, I shoveled some sheep poop so Betty wouldn’t have an appetizer before dinner. Then we explored the area and Dave took some photos. The next morning, we hiked up to the upper lake and enjoyed the relative solitude. When we returned to the campsite that afternoon, I notice new sheep poop- sheep had wandered through our campsite and pooped again everywhere. This time I just kept a watchful eye on Betty.

After this successful pack, I broached the subject of Chicago Basin.

I understood that several obstacles existed: Were Dave and I in condition for the backpack which required us to take the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge train to Neddleton where we’d be dropped off near the wilderness boundary before our six-plus mile backpack up about 3,000 feet to Chicago Basin? Only service dogs are allowed on the train, so we needed to find a place for Betty to stay. Could we get reservations for the train?

Dave wanted us to attempt one more backpack to make sure we were up to the Chicago Basin challenge. So, we packed into South Crestone Lake, also in the Sangres. To our delight, we didn’t see anyone except a lone fisherman for a couple of hours at the lake, and we scored the only campsite just below the lake. The weather was perfect and Betty enjoyed swimming in the clear water. The length of the backpack and the elevation gain were comparable to Chicago Basin.

After completing this backpack, Dave opined that Chicago Basin was possible!! Friends agreed to take Betty who loves their Holly, a chocolate Lab, and Sadie, a part corgi mix. I called for reservations for the train and seats were available on Sunday, August 29.

We booked a hotel for the night before the 8 a.m. train departure. The first night at our hotel, our friends sent us pictures of Betty enjoying her friends. She seemed so happy that we weren’t sure she’d want to come home.

The next morning our 5:30 wake-up call came in at 5:15, so we had more than ample time to eat breakfast and head to the train station. We and sixteen other hardy souls handed over our packs to be stored in the boxcar behind the engine and boarded the train. We learned about sixty backpackers would be picked up on the return trip from Silverton. Yikes. So glad we hadn’t arrived a day earlier! So far so good— everyone was spaced out on the train— and two and a half hours later, after viewing the canyon and burn areas from a 2019 wildfire, we arrived at Needleton.

The first portion of the trail was relatively flat, so a midwestern family with kids ranging in age from twelve to seventeen quickly overtook us. But a half mile later, as the trail became steeper, we passed them. The boys didn’t look happy; only their parents did.

As Dave and I ate lunch overlooking a rushing stream, three women passed us. A while later we caught up to them as they’d eaten lunch farther up the trail. We learned their ages- two in their fifties and another in her sixties. Two hailed from the Tucson, AZ area. That prompted me to pitch my book to them as I was teamed up with a Lab rescue in AZ to help raise some funds for the group.

They soon hiked out of sight as we continued up the trail and finally passed one of Dave’s former campsites, which was occupied— as were other nearby campsites. Then we found an unoccupied camping spot hidden from the trail. We set up camp before hiking farther up the trail to see more of the basin. Campers were everywhere but we didn’t see any of the mountain goats that Dave had assured me would be present. But the scenery was spectacular!

The following day, we hiked about seven miles roundtrip and up about 1,500 feet to 12,680 feet to Columbine Pass, where Dave had never ventured when he climbed the area’s four 14ers. Two young men in their twenties appeared from the lake below. We chatted. They shared the same concerns about the CO wilderness— too many people were hiking and backpacking and not respecting the land. Their attitude was refreshing. Both were very hardy and cheery. On our descent from the pass, the two kids sped by us!

As we neared our campsite, we came upon a couple who asked how to find campsites. They looked about our age. We gave them some tips and parted ways.

The next morning, the sun hadn’t hit our campsite before breakfast, so we climbed up a sunny hillside above the trail to warm up. We spotted the same older couple hiking up the trail past us.

After putting on an extra clothing layer, we set out to hike to Twin Lakes. Almost immediately we encountered the three women that we met the first day on the trail.

“What is the name of your book? one asked. I’m so glad we ran into you!” I was shocked that she remembered our conversation.

I had one of my slow days which meant it took me forever or so it seemed to hike up another 1,200 feet to Twin Lakes over about 2.5 miles. Just before our turn off from the main trail, we finally spotted a few mountain goats. Farther up, we notice the older couple ahead of us. They arrived a few minutes before us at the lake. I chatted at length with them and learned they lived part of the year in Durango and spent winters in Florida. Meanwhile, Dave basked in the sights and memories of years ago when he’d hiked to the lakes before ascending the four 14ers. The scenery was breathtaking!

The four of us wandered over to the second lake but not before we saw two goats just eyeing us, comfortably off the trail. We also discovered hunks of quartz as we made our way.

Finally, I saw what Dave had seen years ago as he explained the routes up the 14ers. I was glad that I hadn’t been able to visualize the routes before he climbed. I would have been extremely nervous for his safety despite knowing he wore a helmet.

On our descent from the lakes, we ran into a determined young woman hustling up as graupel pelted us and her lagging companion followed ten minutes later. We learned from her mother who we met on the mostly level trail nearly an hour later that her daughter was trying to summit all four 14ers in two days and then only had Capitol and then Handies- the hardest and the easiest 14ers- to climb before she would have summited all of the state’s 58 14ers. But the mother also told us the weather forecast for the next day- rain from 6 a.m. to midnight. Ugh.

Packing up our tent and other gear in rain wasn’t a pleasant thought. We told our neighbors—the same older couple who indeed were about our age— about what we’d learned. We decided we’d wake up at 5:30, pack, and set out at daybreak. The plan worked. It had rained a bit during the night but had stopped when we emerged from the tent as dawn was breaking and took down the tent. We set out at 6, hustling in occasional sprinkles down six miles to the train stop. The Minnesota family was on our heels.

Dave and I were lost in our own thoughts as we hiked. That’s when I realized that our boy Ranger, who had climbed 48 mountains in his nine-plus years, would have wanted us to stop grieving for him and live life to the fullest. And that’s what he’d done.

We boarded the train from Durango to Silverton and enjoyed an hour and a half layover before the train departed for Durango, stopping to pick up backpackers in Neddleton.

After the rain-soaked backpackers boarded the train there, two of our new friends spotted us.  Both asked if we had eaten lunch in Silverton. Absolutely! And lunch had never tasted so good!

We had two other pleasant surprises. Betty wanted to come home, and one of the Arizona women had ordered my book from my website!

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