3.5 days, 32 miles, 10k’ ft climbed, and a cumulative 17 hours of driving (ugh) always makes for an adventure…
I've been itching to head back into the Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juan’s for a few years now. My first foray into this wilderness area between Durango and Silverton was in 2012 and then again in 2014. On both of those trips I took the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to their wilderness drop off points from Silverton. Apparently earlier this year an avalanche took out part of the tracks and due to COVID social distancing requirements the DSNGRR decided to suspend wilderness trips for the rest of the season. I still wanted to find a way to get my Weminuche fix in 2020.
While the lack of train access was disappointing (it really is a super cool coal-fired steam train experience), it wasn't fatal as I could definitely access the Weminuche from several other starting points. Those included the Molas Pass TH on the Colorado Trail/Elk Creek Trail, the Purgatory Flats TH on US550, the Highland Mary Lakes TH to the north, the Hunchback/Beartown TH to the east, or even the Emerald Lake/Vallecito Creek TH way to the south.
After convincing my neighbor Joe to join me (and his wife Kaitlyn to grant a hall pass) I considered all of the routes. While trying something new is often really cool, I really wanted to go back and re-visit areas of my 2014 Elk Park to Needleton trek that I bypassed due to time/weather/needing to catch a train/etc. I decided we would start at Molas Pass, head down to the Animas River, then back up the Elk Creek Trail/Colorado Trail all the way up to Eldorado Lake at around 13k' and then figure out what to do next. I figured we likely wouldn't make that in the first day and it would be a good "speed test" for both of us. I left the trip open-ended from there and figured if we were feeling good we could either take side-trips or climb a 13'er or two.
Our route from Molas Pass down to the Animas River, up the Elk Creek Trail past Vestal Basin, continuing up to 13k, camping at Eldorado Lake, then looping around Kite Lake, down the CDT, and back down the Elk Creek Trail.
Route elevation profile… ~10k gain in 3.5 days, 32 miles
The first day began with a gruelling 4a wake-up and 7-ish hour drive down to Silverton. Luckily we had no traffic issues on I-70 and arrived at the summit of Molas Pass on US550 south of Silverton around 12:30p. We loaded up our packs and headed out. That's when things started to go slightly wrong. It was mostly downhill to the Animas River, but it was hot and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. In my experience that's very unusual for San Juan afternoons and it hurt. We were sweating like crazy and the trail became steeper and steeper. I made the huge mistake of wearing my Merrell Moab light hikers vs. my Altra trail runners and started getting hotspots within the first hour. Like an idiot I didn't stop to try to adjust my socks or apply second skin and before you know it I had 2 massive blisters on the sides of my heals. By the time we had reached the Animas bridge Joe was complaining that his ankle was killing him. I was like "uh, oh". That downhill was a bear. I wasn't confident this trip was going go as planned. We both sucked it up and continued past the Beaver Ponds below Vestal Basin, stopped for dinner, and continued a mile or so to the meadow beyond the Beaver Ponds where we established our first campsite. Joe was really concerned about his ankle and I was concerned about him making it out. We talked through our options, set up camp, and decided to reevaluate in the morning.
Here’s quite a few photos from Day #1
Day 2
Joe felt great the next morning. Some sleep, soaking in the freezing Elk Creek, and a little ibuprofen did wonders. He was committed to continuing the trek up to Eldorado Lake. I was leery, but hopeful. After packing up camp we headed up the trail and it got steep very quickly.
This portion of the Elk Creek trail is probably some of the most scenic backcountry I've experienced in Colorado. People often tout Rocky Mountain National Park and Yosemite National Park as the best in the country. I disagree; all you have to do is shoulder a pack and hoof it for a little bit into the remote San Juan’s and you can experience way better views with almost not even a soul around you. All of my photos were taken on an iPhone 11 standard and they are breathtaking IMHO. I used to carry a Canon S95 "prosumer" compact, but the iPhone 11 is just unbelievable for what I need.
We made it to Eldorado Lake by early afternoon and both of us were a bit worn out. Sleep at altitude is tough and we both decided it would be cool to just chill at Eldorado Lake for a bit. Joe's ankle was sore, but livable, and my blisters were still painful. We talked about camping there, but it's completely above treeline at 12.5k' and while the forecast was clear, the skies told another story. Unlike the day before an afternoon storm appeared imminent. Luckily over the next few hours it blew over and didn't drop any rain on us. We pitched our tarps and planned to spend the night at Eldorado Lake.
There were actually 2 other parties camping at Eldorado when we arrived and a large group of what appeared to be a girl's wilderness trekking program arrived shortly before sunset. They all had blue helmets which looked kind of funny, but they came up Stormy Gulch via the Vallecito Creek drainage and then climbed White Dome the next day. Pretty bad-ass bunch of women IMO. Sunset on the shores of Eldorado was amazing. We had dinner and took a short hike up to the ridgeline in between White Dome and Hunchback Mountain. The views from there were out of this world and well worth the effort.
Here are some photos from Day #2:
Day 3
I think I mentioned that sleep at altitude is tough. Well, for me it just doesn't happen. I spent the whole night at Eldorado Lake wide awake, tossing and turning in my bivy sack. Ugh. My selfie from the morning says it all. Ironically, Joe felt great and got plenty of sleep. I was so jealous.
We decided to explore Kite Lake on the other side of the Continental Divide, then take the CDT north back to the CT and eventually the Elk Creek Trail. The open tundra and flower fields on the east side of the divide were amazing. The photos really don't do it justice. We decided we would try to hike as far as possible today and hopefully camp at the Animas River so that our day 4 / Sunday would only entail a 5-mile climb back up Molas Pass to the cars.
I've not yet mentioned the avalanche logs. Oh, the avalanche logs. There were 5 avalanche debris fields that we had to cross. I felt like I was back in ROTC doing an obstacle course. It wasn't that bad, but with a 25 lb pack and trekking poles it was little dicey. Break a leg? Twist an ankle? Impale your chest cavity with a natural pungi stick? Hey, it's type 2 fun, right?
Day 3 was a long day. We knocked out big miles, ate dinner about a mile up from the Animas River, and ultimately camped right between the Animas and the DSNGRR tracks. We joked that the campsite was like the 4 Seasons Hotel as we had 2 very nice wooden benches, a fire ring, and river-front beach access. After setting up camp I needed to sleep (badly) so I said goodnight and got in my bivy sack. Joe then exclaims that there's 2 moose outside our camp. I was seriously like, "oh my God, I really don't want to get trampled to death tonight by some crazed moose". After pondering the circle of life for a moment, I decided sleep was more important, zipped up the bivy sack and hoped for the best.
Here’s some photos from Day #3:
Day 4
Luckily both Joe and I woke up without any issues the next day. Funny how that happens. To be completely honest I was somewhat concerned about bear activity along the Animas River and was shocked to see that our Ursacks were untouched. I've read quite a few trip reports that spoke about nuisance black bears in the area. We were pretty particular about camp cleanliness and odor prevention/reduction with the Ursacks, so I was hoping nothing would happen. That said, all it takes is some dumbass grilling burgers down river to attract the bears to our site.
The 5-mile climb back up Molas Pass was surprisingly easy compared to the descent on Thursday. We made great time and were back down in Silverton seeking burgers by 1030. Unfortunately almost every lunch spot was closed until 1100, so we settled on a breakfast cafe that hit the spot.
My battle buddy's ankle held up the whole time. I'd definitely do this again with him. Many others would bailed way earlier. That’s always okay IMO, though. The mountains will always be there; you can avoid the $40,000 medivac flight out (and wasted SAR resources) if you use your spidy senses and listen to your body.
Next we started what was expected to be a 7-hour drive back to Denver; unfortunately due to construction and accidents in Glenwood Canyon and near Idaho Springs it took us a whopping 10-hours to get home. Yeah, type-2 fun, right?
This trip re-fueled my soul for the near future. I hope you enjoyed the recap and photos!
