Chapter Fourteen - Ending the Hiatus

Ending my four year absence from this blog by posting a trip summary of this weekend's backpacking trip to Chicago Basin.

Mission: to summit four 14ers

• Sunlight 39/58

• Windom 40/58

• Eolus 41/58

• N Eolus 42/58

High level stats:

• 10.5 summit miles

• 11 backpacking miles

• 13 hours

• 6,150' gain

THURSDAY

Drove down to disperse camp near Durango. Forced to do a fun overlanding detour since 285 was closed due to an accident. Had a lovely old fashioned round the campfire. Slept comfortably in my 4runner per the norm.

FRIDAY

Drove to train station in Durango, took train a scenic 2.5 hours into the San Juan National forest. Backpacked 5.5 miles in to establish base camp in the Chicago Basin along the river, which coincidentally turned out to be a mountain goat/deer crossing, so we got plenty of deserved glares from them for our disruption.

• On the hike up passed a gal who recognized me from a church I went to, small world

• Taught Maxley how to play Oh Heck

• All of the Colorado mosquitoes live in the San Juans

• My bivvy was dubbed The Coffin. I sleep well in coffins

SATURDAY

Woke up at 5am, left camp by 5:45am. Climbed to Twin Lakes and from there summited respectively Sunlight, Windom, Eolus, N Eolus.

Sunlight Peak - 14,059.0 feet above sea level

• Miserable scree for a good third of the hike above Twin Lakes

• Fun climbing at the summit but not worth the scree field

• Only Ashley was brave enough to do summit block.

• Refilled water supply from the snow melt stream cutting between Sunlight and Eolus

Windom Peak - 14,087.0 feet above sea level

• 1.5 hours from Sunlight to summit

• Traded Sunlight's scree for non-stop bouldering, only slightly less miserable

• Very hot even from 10-noon despite the elevation but clouds beginning to build

Mount Eolus - 14,085.0 feet above sea level

Spent a half hour at Twin Lakes for lunch, to refill water supply and stash excess weight while we evaluated our options:

1. Wait out the impending thundershower and attempt summit if/when it breaks to save the additional mileage and day to pack out/train out Sunday, but risking getting caught in a monsoon season typical afternoon storm at high elevation

2. Return to base camp, get up at 3am for Eolus, try to summit in time to make the 3pm train, more mileage but we'd stay safe from lightning strike potential and hopefully still save an extra day

3. Return to base camp, summit Eolus, stay an extra night, pack out for train Monday as originally scheduled

Of course we chose option #1 and readied ourselves to wait out the storm. We were slammed with a thundershower as expected, plus some skin-smarting quarter inch hail. Several hikers passed us heading down, and said either outright or with narrowed eyes that we were crazy to consider it.     One gal however was a life saver by informing us that there was a cave-like shelter ten minutes further up the trail. We hunkered there for another half hour until the thunderclaps lessened before resuming. Approach to the ridge was straightforward, and while the skies remained overcast, the rain stopped and it was a welcome relief from the sun that was bearing down on us earlier.

We crested the saddle where the view of the "catwalk", or the ridge traverse to the summit, was terrifying at first visual, appearing to be only 16 inches in width with sheer drops on either side. Closer examination revealed it to be several feet wide in most spots, minimizing the vertigo effect. The rest of the summit was tedious route-finding, mostly done by Ashley aka Mountain Goat, combined with fun but nerve-wracking climbing.

N Eolus - 14039.8 feet above sea level

Compared to everything we'd accomplished before this, N Eolus was an absolute breeze. We scampered up the grippy rock to tag the final summit of the long, exhausting, tenuous day. The weather miraculously held the remainder of the evening. What turned out to be an epic day could've gone swiftly sideways if a second round of storms had hit.

As we got to around 13K elevation on our way down the Eoluses, I heard a thundering noise, and I looked to the skies expecting to see a fighter jet flying low above our heads. It wasn't until everyone else started hollering and scrambling that I realized it was a boulder flying down the mountain about 800 ft above us. We rushed out of its path as it appeared to be coming straight for us. Thankfully it only fell a few hundred feet, and never came close to endangering us beyond fraying on our already exhausted nerves, but witnessing the force of an object that size in a near free-fall was staggering.

From there we had a less eventful but still exhausting 6.5 mile hike to base camp, stopping off only to grab our stash and refill our now thrice depleted water supply. Marmots got into our cache, despite attempts to thwart by stacking rocks ontop of the pile. The nasty, obnoxious things ate a hole in my favorite 14er hoodie and had strewn our cache all over the vicinity.

We arrived at base camp to find that Rachel and Bryan had thoughtfully prepped water and preset cookware as they awaited our return.  A kind blessing for our exhausted souls.

SUNDAY

I was able to get a full 8 hours of sleep, waking well-rested but very foot-sore. We broke base camp, hiked the 5.5 miles to the train out, which blessedly had a full service concession train we took full advantage of during the 2.5 hours back to Durango before heading home. Walking back to my traincar from the concession car, a gal tugged on my sleeve to get my attention. "Did you make it?" she asked. I stared at her blank-faced for a moment as I struggled to put two and two together. Then it clicked, "Oh! Are you the gal who told us about the cave?!" She nodded, grinning proudly. "You were a LIFESAVER! Our day would've been twice as miserable if you hadn't shared that with us. THANK YOU."

The trip was a grind but overall a rewarding weekend. I love the comradery built through hardship, the challenge and sense of accomplishment, the mental/emotional/spiritual resetting that I get on trips like these. I learned that scary/difficult things, when seen at first glance or at a distance are terrifying, but 9.9x/10 there's a way to overcome or circumnavigate if you simply take a moment to explore or reassess. Thankful for long-suffering and send-it friends, beautiful scenery and a brief detox from the day to day.