Chicago Basin

Deep in the San Juan Mountains are four 14ers that are so remote that part of the challenge is just figuring out how to get to Chicago Basin, the starting point for the climbs. Typical access is via a whistle-stop on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad at Needleton, an old mining camp along the Animas River to the west. From there it's six miles and 2,800' of climb to Chicago Basin. If the train isn't running (COVID, fire, weather, sold out) or you don't want to be tied to the train schedule, then the Purgatory trailhead is another nine miles farther back.

A somewhat common alternative approach is from the Vallecito Reservoir to the southeast. This trail follows the river upstream nine miles before crossing over at Johnson Creek. The cable bridge washed out years ago in an avalanche. So now the crossing is just a rope stretched across the river to hold onto so you don't get washed downstream. After crossing, you are still faced with a 3,580' climb up Johnson Creek and over Columbine Pass at 12,680' before dropping into Chicago Basin after 17.5 miles.

I researched other alternatives and found a route from Endlich Mesa trailhead west of Vallecito Reservoir. It starts high on Endlich Mesa, drops down to Durango City Reservoir, then up and across Silver Mesa before crossing Trimble Pass (12,874') and joining the trail up Johnson Creek to cross Columbine Pass (12,680') before dropping into Chicago Basin after 14.75 miles.

Other options for extreme hikers include routes from Thirty Mile trailhead at the Rio Grand Reservoir to the northeast that is partially along the Continental Divide trail (41 miles) or from the Highland Mary Lake trailhead outside Silverton to the northwest (30 miles).

I decided to make my own trail. Lime Mesa trailhead is west of Silver Mesa above the Animas River and Durango. It serves two trails: one toward City Reservoir and the other to Ruby Lake. Studying maps and satellite imagery, I could see what looked like social or game trails that followed the ridge above Ruby Lake to a saddle above the Needle Creek valley leading to Chicago Basin. Then from the saddle I could see sections of trail down to treeline. I projected a route, then overlaid it on Google Earth to get a 3D view, and promptly moved the route east to the other side of the gully where it wasn't so steep.

This route looked like a good option—I could hike into Chicago Basin in one day covering only eight miles. I was still a little anxious about the bushwhack. If I couldn't find a way down, I'd have to make my way over to Trimble Pass and hike that route or return to Ruby Lake and try to find a way down toward Needleton.

I took a week off so I could have nine days to hike in, climb, have a couple rest or weather make-up days, and hike out. The week of my trip the forecast was for daily rain and thundershowers after noon. Not the best news.

Saturday I drove down to Durango and up to the Lime Mesa trailhead. The last couple miles of the road were barely drivable, but there was no place to turn around or pull over, so I packed my nerves away and continued. I got to the trailhead just before dusk to find a couple trucks and dirt bikes, so maybe it's not as remote as it seems after 24 miles of Forest Service roads.

Sunday morning I started hiking as a sheep herd wandered into the area. Hiking across Lime Mesa was fantastic, beautiful, gorgeous, marvelous, splendid, stunning, wonderful—you couldn't have wiped the smile off my face with dynamite. The anxiety was gone!

Just before the trail went over the ridge to drop down to Ruby Lake I took the social trail northeast towards Mt. Kennedy. About halfway along the trail petered out, but it was easy navigation to the notch by point 12877. I found a good goat trail down from the saddle to treeline. Once in the trees the footing wasn't as good. It started getting difficult about halfway down through the trees when deadfall became prominent. After I was out of the trees I hiked in the creekbed through the willows until it narrowed. Then it was a 30-foot willow bash to make it back to a meadow. From there it was easy hiking down to the creek where I found a crossing point to rejoin the trail. From here it was only a mile to where most of the campers were.

I found a campsite and set up my base camp for the next five days. Camped above me were Scouts on their own high adventure trek. And below were a mother and daughter who live less than a mile away from me in Boulder.

The rain ended shortly so I decided to leave a day early and started packing up camp as things dried out. I had no intention of returning the way I hiked in, as the gully I descended was almost 2000' in only a mile and a half. Instead I was going to hike out via Columbine Pass (12,680') and Trimble Pass (12,874'), cross over Silver Mesa, and camp at Durango City Reservoir. The next day I would skirt Silver Mesa, West Silver Mesa, and Lime Mesa on my way back to the trailhead.

First up was Columbine Pass, a little over two and a half miles away and 1,650' higher. The closer I got to the pass, the more worried I became with the weather. The clouds seemed to get darker the closer I got. Once I reached the pass, it was revealed it was just a few clouds, but much further to the east storm clouds were gathering.

Next up was Trimble Pass, one and a half miles away and a couple hundred feet higher. The trail was obviously rarely used as it was overgrown with wild flowers. Unlike Columbine Pass which appeared close with lots of switchbacks to climb, Trimble Pass was a straight shot and never seemed to get any closer. Which was concerning as once again the closer I got the darker the clouds became.

As I reached this pass, once again I could see lots of blue sky, with the threatening clouds off to the east. I finally felt safe to take a rest break and have a snack. Which also gave me an opportunity to see where to go next—the trail ended here. Silver Mesa was even more impressive than Lime Mesa. But it was mostly bare rock. So every couple hundred feet there was a massive cairn to show the proper direction.

I hiked the length of the mesa – two and a half miles – but didn't make very good time, as I kept stopping to take pictures. That is, until I got near the end of the mesa and those storm clouds off to the east were now almost upon me. As I descended off the mesa and back into the trees, the skies opened up with pea-sized hail just a half mile from my destination. I waited out the hail under a few trees, but then continued hiking in the rain as the trail was turning into a creek.

In the morning I again packed up as things dried, stopped at the inlet to get water, and started my hike out. Between Silver Mesa and West Silver Mesa, I couldn't find a dry place to cross Missouri Gulch. I eventually took of my shoes, socks, and gaters to carry my pack across, then returned and carried all the loose clothing and camera across. Next I climbed 700' up to cross West Silver Mesa, back down to cross Virginia Gulch, and back up Lime Mesa. Lightning and thunder stopped me just before reaching the edge of Lime Mesa, where I waited 45 minutes for the storm to pass.

My map showed the trail I was on continued below the mesa edge until well after the trailhead. So I left the trail and bushwhacked along some cliffs until I found a place to climb through and find the trail I started out on. Afterwards I found that an unmarked trail connects the two trails, and if I had only continued another 200 yards I would have seen the junction.

Over the seven days of this trip, I hiked / climbed 43.56 miles and climbed 15,976', taking me 52:14:49 in total hiking time. I was never below 10,680' in elevation. I backpacked over 3 mountain passes between 12,611' and 12,874' as well as climbed four mountains over 14,000'. It ranks up there with the hardest thing I have ever done.

With these summits, I have now completed all the 14ers in the San Juan mountain range.

I also discovered a new 4WD hazard on my way out: a sheep herd.

"It doesn’t have to be fun to be fun."
— Barry Blanchard

Pictures

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