Chicago Basin and Mt. Eolus: The best ever backpacking and 14er

This Chicago Basin backpacking trip is probably my best Colorado outdoor experience thus far. From staying in the quaint town of Durango, chasing after the departing diesel-engine train, finding the best camp site in the basin, and finally summitting the challenging Mt. Eolus, we have it all. Top it all off is the awesome and entertaining crew: Shea, Ian, Spencer, Andy and Anselma. And, I did it all in my Crocs because I forgot to bring my hiking boots...

The Train

One unique part of this trip is the old diesel train that we take to get to the trailhead. The train only runs once a day, and it is limited to 14 parties (max. 12 people per party) per ride. Once you have a party reservation, you can always add more people to your party later. One corky thing about booking this train is that you have to call to make a reservation.

The train departs at 8am on Thursday. And we are late and about to miss the train. It is my fault. I misread the schedule. I pull up to the parking lot next to the train station, and the operator asks for cash. I do not have cash! He said fine, I will let you in. What?! :)

Shea's car is a couple minutes behind mine. The train is supposed to stop boarding at 7:45am. At 7.50am, he is literally running with a cup of coffee in hand (free coffee from the motel) to the train. We made it!

The Train Ride

You can choose open-air or indoor seating on the train. Of course we choose open-air. But our train car is directly behind the engine room, and giving us the luxury of breathing the fresh diesel-filled air while we enjoy the scenic views along the way. The train also has a small concession stand selling beer, burritos, hotdogs, etc. And the train conductor wears the historic old school costume, which definitely makes it more nostalgic.

Sitting next to us are Kate and Kevin. I think they are just friends. Well, she is cute so I try to strike up a conversation with her, hoping that we will meet again in the next two days.

The Crew

Let's do a little cast of character here. Shea needs no introduction; he is my usual and favorite adventure buddy. Spencer flew in from Minnesota; he is doing his MBA in UC Berkeley now. He always has this calm, low-pitched and even tone voice that is oddly reassuring whenever you talk to him. Ian is Shea's brother, an entertainer and up-for-whatever type of person. Andy is also Shea's former roommate. He has done the Appalachian Trail and now lives in Baltimore. He is a gentle and very easy going person. Lastly, Anselma, who is doing her first ever backpacking trip with 5 other boys. She is a good sports and pretty let us do what boys do. I applaud her for that.

The Journey to the Basin

We hop off Needleton after two hours of train ride. We are one of the last ones to leave the train stop. I make sure that I say goodbye to Kate. Of course.

The overall hike to the basin is not too bad. It is about 7 miles with 2,000 ft. of elevation gains, depending on where you want to set up camp. We hike along a creek most of the time, with many waterfalls along the way. The rain and hail come and go.

The Mother Tree and the Best Camping Spot in Town

The views open up nicely as we make the turn into the basin. Almost right on cue the rain comes again. We ask the crew to hide under a big tree (which we later call the Mother Tree) while Shea and I go find us a camping spot. Shea says that we need to find a good one.

Half-an-hour later we still couldn't find anything that works. We go back to the Mother Tree, and prepare to settle for any campsite that is less than perfect. Down a less traveled trail, past a taken campsite, behind some rock formation and trees, we find THE spot! It has a view of the entire basin and the peaks and ridges behind us. And the river is just a short distance away. This is as good as it can get!

The Rain

We are here in early August. Temperature ranges from 70 F during the date to close to 40 F at night. It is cold at night. The first night we get pounded by heavy rain starting around 6pm. Lying in the tent listening to the raindrops hitting the tent, it reminds me of my wooden house with metal roof back in Malaysia, weirdly comforting. Just when I am about to fall asleep, Shea, Ian and Spencer start to chitchat again. Andy probably feel obligated and eventually come out also. The rain has stopped. Fighting against my desire to sleep, I pull myself out of my warm and cozy sleeping bag to join the boys. Between the drinks and some Colorado finest, under the starry night, we just chat and laugh about everything and nothing into the night.

North Eolus and Eolus

I know I said 5.30am start time last night. But this is crew is about good time and not about on time. We dilly dally until about 6am and strap our food on some tree branches before starting our hike to the promised peaks. Given the way we secure our food, I am pretty sure that even a blind bear can find and eat it.

It is a crisp and cool morning. We start to take off our layers after less than 20 minutes into the hike. We run into Kate and her company again. Lucky. But they quickly leave us eating dust.

The first stop is Twin Lakes. The Texas boys from the train are here too. They are a good bunch to talk to. Kate and her company are here too. She likes to ask how do you feel today. This is a good place to hang out. It has a mirror-like lake, jagged peaks around it, and large natural rock formations for sitting and resting.

We get our first taste of scrambling right before getting up to the saddle between North Eolus and Eolus. Only once we get up to the saddle that we realize what we have gotten ourselves into. Both routes up to North Eolus and Eolus look intimidating, though North Eolus seems more manageable.

At the top of North Eolus, we run into a little celebration by another lady hiker. She is finishing her 58th 14er in honor of her late husband. She hands out cookies to everyone and scatters her husband ashes. It gets real emotional real quick. Another couple that lives in Durango up there also take the chance to tease my hiking shoes - Crocs.

Back down to the saddle getting ready to cross the catwalk to do Eolus, we run into Kate again. These many coincidences have to count for something right??

Anyway, they catwalk is as sketchy as it looks. Ian says that it makes his balls tickle. True that. There are certain sections that I can put each of my legs on both side of the saddle, with couple hundreds feet of drop below my feet. I feel quite exposed at times and have to crawl couple of sections.

The adrenaline does not stop with the end of the catwalk. Going from the catwalk to the top of Eolus is even more challenging. It is pretty much straight up from here. There is no clear routes, and the way-find cairns are all over the place. The way down is even more challenging. I have to sit and slide down a couple of times. But this is what makes this hike so fun and memorable. It is remote, challenging, risky and unique. And my Crocs hold up really well! Why all the fun always has to be outside of our comfort zone??

The Silliness

We have plenty of time to enjoy the peacefulness of this basin after our hike. Shea and Spencer each whip out their Kraft and Great Value boxed mac and cheese - crowd pleaser. Ian is raw dogging some mushroom between joints. I discover the beauty of the better cousin of Fireball, Tennessee Fire. The night ends with some silly card game that nobody really follows the rules and nobody wins. It is also the Perseid meteor shower week. I catch couple of shooting stars and make some wishes. They will all come trues no doubt.

Happiness is only real when shared

One of my favorite time is the last morning of the trip. I get up just before sunrise, set myself up in the sleeping bag outside the tent, with a cup of coffee, watching the starry night turn into blue sky. I make some self reflection, reminding myself what really matter in life. Happiness is only real when shared.

As the train pull me back from the wilderness back to reality at the Durango train station, I only have one more mission. I need to drop a note. Whatever happens, at least I have no regret.