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Category Archives: Wilderness

So Here’s What’s Up!

10 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by EBannion in Wilderness

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Sorry it’s been so long since my last update but things have been very unsettled. I think I’m back on firm ground now, and here’s everything that’s happened!

First, Durango! I owe you all some pictures of the town, so here they are!

View across the Animas River of some small houses in Durango, CO

i  View across the Animas River of some small houses in Durango, CO

View north along Main Ave in Durango. Mountains in every direction!

View north along Main Ave in Durango. Mountains in every direction!

The Durango Public Library was a lovely building too! And they had a really clever multi-biome garden that was mostly installed.

Durango Library 1Durango Library 2Durango Library Garden
The train up into the wilderness and back was absolutely a delight. Everyone working on it was amazingly friendly and knowledgeable about the area and the train itself, which is a restored fully authentic steam train with only minor adjustments for its new purpose: carrying people through the breathtakingly beautiful valley along the Animas River from Durango up to Silverton and then back, and occasionally stopping to let backpackers and rafters get on and off. This is the train when I saw it pass through Durango:

Durango-Silverton Train 1Durango-Silverton Train 2Durango-Silverton Train 3
And here is a beautiful shot from the train itself, heading back down from Silverton (we’ll get to Silverton eventually, bear with me!)

Durango Silverton Train 01As you can see, it is spectacular. If I lived in Durango I would get a season pass and ride it every freaking day. So, about two and a half hours after leaving Durango the train arrives at a stop where the town of Needleton used to be but isn’t anymore because it was destroyed by landslides after it was abandoned.

What IS there now is a trailhead, leading a half mile through privately owned land to the Needle Creek Trail. You use this little bridge to cross the river:

Animas River Needle Creek Trail BridgeHere’s the view from the bridge:

North from the bridge

North from the bridge

South from the bridge

South from the bridge

So! A half mile into the woods from there, and past one lovely cabin, we come to our goal!

Weminuche Wilderness Sign

The wilderness was an entirely new experience for me. There were no people within miles – the closest was a pair of hikers who got off of the train with me, and from their plan they would be a couple of miles ahead of me, and then take a different trail, before very long. I hiked in about three miles after getting off of the train, until I was a bit above 9,000 feet in elevation and near to the smaller New York Creek, and then made my first camp. I camped under a pair of pine trees, on a nice flat spot next to an old rockslide. Here’re some views from camp:

Needle Creek from the trail, about 200 feet from camp

Needle Creek from the trail, about 200 feet from camp

Rockslide nearby and uphill from my camp on Needle Creek

Rockslide nearby and uphill from my camp on Needle Creek

And then, after camping, I at some delicious peanuts and corn nuts and dried cranberries before climbing back down to the stream to take some sunset pictures and to refill my water.
Needle Creek at Sunset 2

Needle Creek at Sunset 1

It was a beautiful night, too – cool but not uncomfortably so, the air fragrant with pine and mountain plants, and the only noises on the air birds and small animals in the brush. Once it got dark, the only noises I heard were the angry chirpings of the squirrel whose home I must have camped too close to. He came to shout at me every couple hours all night, though it wasn’t too disturbing.

I woke up with dawn and packed up my camp. It had gotten a lot colder overnight, and as I was surveying the route ahead on the trail, it started to snow in the upper reaches of the mountains ahead of me. I could see that the snow line was a lot lower than expected, and since I was on my own and the weather was questionable, I decided that it would be safer and more prudent to head back and prepare for another trip less impacted by disaster and weather.

So I headed back down to the train stop and, even pacing myself carefully after my delicious Clif Bar breakfast, made it to the track before the train! I hopped on and finished off my ticket from the previous day by heading up to Silverton and then back down to Durango to prepare for my trip to Massachusetts.

I leave you with a couple of photos of Silverton as the snow came in, and from the train ride back!

Silverton Mountains Before SnowSilverton Train SnowAnimas River In GorgeAnimas River From TrainOutpost On The Animas RiverLight on Mountains over Animas River

Durango, sadness, and trip details!

24 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by EBannion in Wilderness

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Colorado, Durango, Mountains, The Trip

Hi friends!

First, I apologize about the lack of pictures but the internet here is a little slow for uploading such large files. As soon as I am at a faster connection, I’ll make getting those uploaded my priority.

So. First the good news. Durango is beautiful! The people here are very friendly, and the town itself is just delightful. Accessible, lots of green and plenty of walking with lovely sights like the Animas River (which flows through it.)

The hotel I’m staying in is the Day’s End Motel on Main Ave. and it’s very nice. Clean, comfortable, quiet, and it backs up onto the Animas River Walk, which is a long, paved bike/walking path that follows the river for miles. Several times a day I took a walk along the path as far as the Durango Public Library which is a stunning building.

It’s about three-quarters of a mile to the Library, and about a mile to the closest bunch of businesses – really a nice walk to get groceries or visit the outdoors shop in town (because of course there is one.) A lot of other tourists have arrived, and in just the last few days that I’ve been here traffic has increased considerably, so I’m really glad I’ve been walking everywhere.

Tomorrow I take the historic Durango-Silverton Train up into the wildeness and I disembark where the town of Needleton used to be. From there, I’m going to follow Needle Creek through Chicago Basin. From there I’ll take the trail over Columbine Pass – pretty much tied for the highest this trip will take me, a little over 12,000 feet in elevation (the average is about 9,000 for most of the trip.)

From there, I’m going to follow Johnson Creek to Vallecito Creek, and then follow Vallecito Creek north several miles to Rock Creek. I’ll follow Rock Creek up to the area where it becomes a steep ascent up towards Rock Lake, and make a camp there.I’ll stash most of my gear there the next morning and then pack a light day bag to hike up to the Continental Divide at one of its lower points in the area, above the Twin Lakes. I’ll take some time up there for pictures and then it’s back down and out the way I came in!

I am provisioned and prepared for a total of seven days – three in, one to climb to the Divide and then three out again – but if things go well and I can keep up my pace, it might be possible to cut it down to five days.

So I am pretty excited about that, as I am sure you can imagine. I can feel my dad’s approval of this trip – he loved the wilderness and he loved that I was as interested in it as he was.

On the other hand… some unpleasant things happened as well. After the last few days here, I had to confront my hiking partner because it became clear to me that she was not physically prepared for the stress of the trip, and that I didn’t think it was safe for her to come up with me. I told her that it would be irresponsible of me to take her knowing she was at a high risk of serious injury, and that any emergency would take several days to respond to. She was understandably upset – we have been planning together on this trip for a little more than a month – but there is no real alternative.

I am even more determined, now, to make this an awesome and successful trip.

Catch y’all when I get back!

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