Sierra Club Outings | Classic Needles Loop, Weminuche Wilderness Area, Colorado

Classic Needles Loop, Weminuche Wilderness Area, Colorado
September 8-16, 2008

Highlights:

Ride historic steam train to remote trailheads
Cross the Continental Divide twice
Explore high peaks and basins on two layover days

Includes:

Lightweight cooking gear and group equipment
Complete, efficient, and tasty backcountry meals
Train fare to and from the trailhead

Eolus, Windom, and Sunlight � three fourteeners crest the Needle Mountains, a major subrange of the San Juan Mountains, dominating southwestern Colorado. These are the tallest peaks in the largest Wilderness in Colorado � the Weminuche. In six hiking days, we will carry our packs 39 miles on trails around and through the Needles Mountains and the Grenadier Range. Two layover days will allow us to explore side canyons up to the high alpine lake basins and, if conditions permit, to climb a peak. We will abide by the mountaineer's motto and �climb high and sleep low,� though �low� in the Weiminuche means around 10,000 feet.

Several glaciations carved the granite and hard metamorphic schist, gneiss, and quartzite of the Needles and Grenadiers into spectacular hanging valleys, lake-filled cirques, and sharp arêtes, inviting cross-country exploration. The Weiminuche is home to a variety of wildlife, including black bear, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats, as wells as smaller marmots, bobcats, beavers, and rabbits. Bugling elk and yipping coyotes should serenade us along the way, though detecting a reintroduced Canadian lynx will be difficult. We'll pass through groves of golden aspens and forests of blue spruce and subalpine fir until we reach the treeless tundra of the arctic-alpine zone above 11,500 feet. Native cutthroat trout thrive in the lakes and creeks, and the cackles of Clarks nutcrackers and jays are heard far and wide.

Day 1: The trip begins in the early evening with a pack check and group commissary disbursement from the leader's hotel room in downtown Durango. Those who wish may join a group dinner at one of the local establishments.

Day 2: We'll catch the coal-fired steam train early in the morning in downtown Durango and chug our way up into the San Juans. We'll disembark and hike 1,200 feet up alongside Elk Creek. Our camp lies at 10,200 feet with a magnificent view of the 13,000-foot peaks of the Grenadier Range.

Day 3: Our fist layover allows for additional acclimatization and provides the opportunity to explore the headwaters of Vestal Creek via a mountaineer's trail. We hope to gain intimate views of the Grenadiers, including the amazing Wham Ridge on Vestal Peak.

Day 4: We'll have an early start as we hike over the towering Continental Divide at an elevation of 12,650 feet We'll descend to our camp at around 11,500 feet. We might encounter evidence of mining activity from a century ago. Fortunately for us, these mines were not successful, leaving the wilderness relatively unscathed for us to enjoy and explore today

Day 5: We ascend a thousand feet to the crest of Hunchback Pass then proceed to drop 1,800 feet alongside the ever increasing waters of Vallecito Creek. We end our eight-mile hike in the meadows near the confluence with Sunlight Creek.

Day 6: An old trail ascending Sunlight Creek provides an exciting, though ambitious, opportunity to ascend up to Sunlight Lake beneath the 14'ers of the Needle Mountains. The route involves wading Vallecito Creek, negotiating a reported tangle of downed aspens near the bottom, and an ascent of over 2,500 feet, but the sights of the upper basin would provide ample reward. One may also choose to test their angling skills in the creeks or just laze the afternoon away.

Day 7: We continue hiking down Vallecito Creek. A bridge crossing marks the start of our ascent up the cataracts of Johnson Creek. We'll make camp in Vallecito Basin at 11,300 ft, surrounded by the ramparts of several 13,000 ft. feet peaks.

Day 8: Another early start is prudent for our ascent of 12,680 ft. feet Columbine Pass. After soaking in the incredible views of the San Juans near and far, we'll descend into Chicago Basin and find a scenic camp, perhaps on a bench above the mountaineer community lower down in the Basin proper.

Day 9: Our final day involves a descent of 2,300 feet to the train in Needleton. We'll flag down the train and arrive in Durango in the early evening.

The Durango � La Plata County Airport has scheduled airline service from the major hubs of Denver, Salt Lake City, and Phoenix. The airport itself is located about 15 miles southeast of town. A limited number of shuttle services are available. If staying in downtown Durango, there should be no need to rent a car, as the train station is within walking distance of a number of the hotels, and some of the hotels offer free airport shuttle service.

Another option is to fly into Albuquerque, where a greater variety of flights and lower fares may be more attractive. It�s about a four-hour drive away. The railroad charges $7/day for parking in their lot. Public transportation is extremely limited. Durango does have Greyhound bus service. The leader will provide a trip roster with contact information to facilitate ride sharing. The trip price includes roundtrip train fare from Durango to the trailheads.

All meals, snacks, and drinks are included, from the lunch on the trail on day two to lunch on day 9. Participants are responsible for their meals while in Durango .

The menu is designed to minimize bulk and weight, simplify preparation, and maximize taste. It will also emphasize vegetarian dishes, with meat served at some meals. We can accommodate ovo-lacto vegetarians if the leader is informed well in advance of the trip. More restrictive diets are very difficult to accommodate on a long trip in bear country. Contact the leader prior to sign-up to determine if we can accommodate your specific needs without impacting the group.

We'll plan for several evening happy hours to celebrate our accomplishments. For water treatment, we'll issue chlorine-based Micropur tablets or tincture of iodine.

This trip is rated Moderate � Strenuous. Factors such as mileage, elevation gains and losses, terrain, and altitude determine this rating.

The elevation of the trip ranges from 9,100 to 12,680 feet, and a couple of the camps are as high as 11,500 feet. Several days involve climbs of more than 2,000 feet, and some of the trails are steep and loose. A table of daily mileage and elevation gains and losses is available from the leader upon request.

On days that involve crossing a pass, we'll break camp by 8 o'clock so we can be over early enough in the day to avoid lightning hazards. Heavy rain can increase difficulty of stream crossings and accumulations of snow in late summer are not uncommon.

You must be in very good physical condition for this trip. You must follow a regular fitness program so you may enjoy this trip safely and positively contribute to the success of the group. The leader highly recommends supplementing your usual routine by hiking with ith a loaded pack, preferably up and down hills (or staircases) prior to the trip. We also recommend that you spend several days prior to the trip at altitude in order to help with acclimatization. The San Juan communities of Durango, Silverton, and Ouray offer many activities to enable you to spend this time enjoyably.

This is a group trip whose success relies upon the cheerful, active contribution of all participants. You'll assist with cooking, cleaning, sanitation, camp set-up and break-down, food storage, etc. We'll be following a Leave No Trace ethic in all aspects of our operations.

September is typically a perfect time for backpacking in the Weminuche. Daytime temperatures average in the 50s and 60s, overnight lows drop near freezing, and the violence of the monsoonal thunderstorms usually wanes. However, the Needle Mountains and Grenadier Range are locally known as the �Storm Factory� for their propensity to create severe weather. Prolonged periods of rain, snow, sleet, wind � at any time of the day or night � are not uncommon. Low temperatures can dip into the low 20s, or lower.

Sturdy rain gear, stout shelter, and ample insulation are essential for your safety and enjoyment. Your backpack should have a capacity of at least 4000 cubic inches in order to accommodate commissary and personal gear efficiently. You should try to limit your personal gear to no more than 25-30 pounds. The leader will send detailed equipment recommendations to participants well in advance of the trip, and encourages questions.

In line with our Leave No Trace ethic, we will use bear canisters for food storage. Actually, we call them critter cans because they are also effective in protecting other wildlife such as marmots from human food. They also serve to protect the food from other types of abuse, protect trees from rope burns, and are handy around camp for a seat. You will be issued one loaded bear can, which, when combined with your share of the other group items, should bring your total share of the commissary to about 16 pounds at the start of the trip.

National Geographic - Trails Illustrated Map number 140 "Weminuche Wilderness, San Juan and Rio Grande National Forests, Colorado, USA" provides a good overview, and is sufficient for this trip.

You can print custom maps from the Topo! State series CDs for "Colorado." Custom, computer generated maps are also available at some REI locations.

Decades of hunting, beginning in the 19th century and continuing well into the 20th century, devastated local wildlife populations and completely eradicated top predators such as grizzly bears, Canadian lynx, and the grey wolf. Over the past few years, bighorn sheep, river otters, moose, and the lynx have been successfully reintroduced.

On this trip, we will focus on the efforts of the Southern Rockies Wolf Restoration Project, a coalition of conservation organizations working to restore wolves to the San Juans and other areas of the southern Rocky Mountains. We�ll learn of the science behind this effort, and why reintroduction of this important predator is vital to the health of the ecosystem. We�ll also seek to understand the opponents� point of view in this controversial effort, and learn ways we can help.

The payment of a deposit does not confirm you as a member on the trip. Participants must be approved by the trip leader. After signing up for this trip, you will be sent a confirmation packet containing approval materials (Participant Approval Questionnaire, Medical Form, Liability Release Form). Each applicant (including those on the waitlist) must fill out these forms and promptly mail them to the trip leader. The leader will review the approval materials and notify you of your acceptance in a timely manner.

Steve Wilson started backpacking in 1969 at age 11 and hasn't stopped since. This year marks his tenth anniversary of leading Sierra Club National Outings. Most of these trips have been in High Sierra but he has led trips into the Rockies and Big Sur as well. A licensed civil engineer, he prides himself on his cross-country navigation skills and enjoys climbing an occasional peak. When not backpacking, he can be found hiking the hills around San Jose with his best pal, Rusty the Australian Shepherd, or on the slopes of Kirkwood, shredding his favorite powder stash.

E-mail: mtnfreak@aol.com

Although Bill Flower was born in the East, his family moved to Arizona when he was ten. Bill took his first backpack trip � in the Grand Canyon � when he was eleven and his first trip in the Rockies when he was thirteen. He has been hiking throughout the West ever since. A real highlight of his summer for some twenty years has been participating in Sierra Club National Outing trips, both as a trip member and as a leader.