Weminuche, CO Report

“Well, I will finely do the port for the trip that me and my daddy done in Collie Raddo. So here it is...

We rode in the truk for the loooong time. Then, we made a tent byside a leetle river. Then, we waked up and ate supper - but we peed first. Then, we rode in the truk for a minit and stopped and put on our pakpaks and started walkin in the woods. It was the perty woods. Ther was brids and tree rats. One time I seen a kwale and sayed "why are y'all kwales walkin aroun with a pointy tale grouch?" And she sayed "cuz we are baybe pointy tale grouches - not kwales" and I sayed "oh".

We walked eleventy times and then ther was a big river. It was the Aminals River. Ther was a choo choo to. We walked byside the river for the long time then made a tent. Ther was not no bares ther, but I smelled wher they peed and seen doodoo. The fly bugs was perty bad. I HATE fly bugs. Skeeter bugs was not bad tho. We ate supper and got in the sleepy bag and closed our eylips and got sleepy.

We waked up and peed. Then, we ate supper and put on our pakpaks and walked in the woods some more. We did not walk byside the Aminals River no more. We went the nother way to Chicago. When we got to Chicago I seen a BIG FAT rok rat. I sayed "look at that BIG FAT rok rat!" and my daddy sayed "that aint no rok rat - that is a marmrat" and I sayed "oh". Ther was marmrats EVER WHER! They sayed "cheet cheet cheet". One time a man sayed "do not let no marmrats get yer sandels cuz they will eat the strips off of them". Kno what? That is what the marmrats did to his sandels the nother time! He sayed that marmrats eat swetty theengs. I do not swet, so I was not skeerd.

Then, i seen somethin that was weerd! It was a WILD LAMMA! Then ther was more of the wild lammas. Ther was mama wild lammas, baybe wild lammas, and a daddy wild lamma. Then, they walked the nother way up the roks. They clime roks reeeeel good. They was fun to watch.

We walked the loooong time some more and made a tent. Then, my daddy put on his pakpak - but I did not...yay! - and we walked up up up to Twin Lakes. It was HI! I theenk it was about the hunnert times hi up. It was reel perty at the lakes basen. Ther was LOTS of perty flowers ther (and at Chicago to).

We walked bak to the tent. We made supper and ate then we got sleepy. The marmrats sayed "cheet cheet cheet" ever time they seen me, but they runned the nother way if I tryed to smell ther butts. They was kwiet at dark tho.

The next day, we walked ALL THE WAY to our truk. I was TIRED! When we rode in the truk, I sleeped all the way to New Texico!

That is all we done in Collie Raddo, so by.”

“Too funny!!!! Oh wait. . .how do you say it in E-lingo? LMFROTFLATF?????”

“Welll, yeah, okay, you can do that, I suppose. We won't tell your ma, mtnchick.”

“Thanks for the 'pee by pee' report, Sarabelle. Did Daddy let you take any pictures?”

“Another Sarabelle Classic! Good job Girl.
Did you walk in New Texico?”

“What Sarabelle said.

But she did neglect to mention...


Day One, Thursday, July 19, 2001:

After spending the night in a camp alongside Lime Creek, we reached the Purgatory trailhead (elev. 9000') at about 9 a.m. From there, we descended the Purgatory Trail along Cascade Creek for about five miles to the creek's confluence with the Animas River (elev. 7500').

Purgatory quickly descends into a wide, flat meadow at the Cascade Creek basin. The meadow is occupied by scattered aspen, willow, and spruce trees. The grassy floor was alive with a myriad of colorful flowers. Within a mile or so, the meadow funnels into a canyon. The trail ascends quickly up the side of the canyon wall, then levels out into a comfortably horizontal track. Although the canyon wall is heavily wooded, the trail offers many views of the wild and scenic creek below. At about the midway point of the canyon leg, there is a rocky bluff that invites the passerby to a spectacular view of the canyon. It is from there that one can see the tell tale signs of the conflunece of waterways that lie ahead.

Just before reaching the Animas River, the Purgatory Trail descends a series of switchbacks, then crosses the Animas by way of a suspension bridge. The Animas is spectacularly wild and wonderful.

Within a few hundred yards, the Purgatory crosses the Durango and Silverton Narrow Guage Railroad track, then tees into the Animas Trail. Just below the trail intersection, the track crosses the Animas - putting it on the West side of the river. The Animas Trail follows upstream along the East side.

The seven mile leg of the Animas Trail is a gradual ascent. The trail remains within view of the river for the majority of the distance. It traverses open pine forests, thick berry patches, and a couple of harrowing ledges along the river's edge. Upon reaching (???) Creek (9000'), I made camp.

The flies were thicker than anywhere I'd ever been. I realized they would be a problem while car-camping the night before, so I took the time to fashion a swatter consisting of four 16" ropes duct taped to a foot long stick. I had made one the year before in the Wind River Range, WY, and had found it to be quite effective. I called it the "SuperSwat 2000". The flies didn't bite, but they were a nuisance, nonetheless.

After supper that evening, Belle and I followed the trail a mile to the "train station". There was no station at all. The D&SNGRR stops near a suspension bridge where backpackers can load and unload. I would have taken the train from Durango (just for kicks), but dogs aren't allowed, hence the reason we started at the Purgatory trailhead.

We returned to camp, and retired for the night.


Day Two:

I had spoken with a gentleman (previous AT thru-hiker!) who was camped near the train trailhead the previous evening, and he informed me that a train would be stopping at 10:00 a.m. With this in mind, I wanted to get an early start for Chicago Basin before the morning rush. It was a Friday, so I suspected that there might be a large number of people heading into the often crowded basin, and I wanted dibs on what few camping spaces there might be available.

The trail to Chicago basin gains about 2500 feet (to 11,500') in 6-7 miles. I can recall only one or two places where I actually took a downhill step. I would consider the trail to be moderately strenuous. Once it reaches the basin, it flattens out somewhat into an Alpine setting. This is the first time we would get above treeline, even though we had been above 10,000 feet for several miles.

I opted to continue to the top of the basin. We made camp only 100 yards from the "No camping beyond this sign" sign.

The marmots are quite a nuisance. One would be wise to keep ANYTHING that contains sweat out of their reach. That would include sandals - as Belle mentioned.

Mountain goats, too, can be a nuisance. They are proned to paw the ground where people have urinated, which can cause considerable damage to the fragile Alpine "tundra". Therefore, it is recommended that peeing be done on rocks, when possible. They commonly waltz right into camps in search of... whatever.

We had no problem with any of the animals - which I attributed to Sarabelle's presence.

After making camp, I loaded the "10 essentials" into my backpack, and we took a hike up to Twin Lakes Basin. The mile-long trail gains about 1000 feet to 12,500' - a new altitude record for both Belle and myself. The Twin Lakes Basin is relatively small... but awesome. From the basin, I watched a lone mountain goat traverse the steep cliffs of one of the three fourteeners (I forget the name) that surround the lakes. The goat moved effortlessly up the sheer face, and eventually disappeared over the ridge.

We spent an hour walking around the lakes, and just sitting... looking, listening. It was a great moment. It was the moment for which I had travelled 20 miles - and netted 6500 feet of elevation change - simply to experience. It was marvelous.

Enroute back to camp, we took a short detour to checkout an abandoned mine. The mountainsides surrounding Chicago Basin are dotted with mine tailings, and finding them is easy. The mine we approached was knee deep in water, so I elected not to venture inside. We were back at the camp only a couple of hours after we had packed out on our hike. We finished dinner just before dark, then crashed hard. The nighttime temperatures were surprisingly balmy. I slept in boxer briefs and a tee shirt both nights.


Day Three:

We packed out early - about 8:00. I expected to cover the entire route back to the trailhead by 6:00 p.m. We were about 18 miles from the truck. We reached the Mighty Tacoma at 5:30. I took a bird bath with water drawn from the tap at Purgatory campground, which is a NF campground adjacent to the trailhead. I had burgers and beer in Durango, then it was time to hit the road. We slept at a rest area West of Albequerque (sp?), NM.


Other Options:

The Durango and Silverton railroad stretches from Durango to Silverton - a distance of about 40(?) miles. There are two trailheads along the track from which hikers can enter the Wemenuche Wilderness. Also, whitewater rafting can be added to make for a combined rafting, hiking, and train trip. That would be pretty cool, huh?


Getting There:

The Purgatory trailhead is located about 20 miles north of Durango on U.S. Hwy 550.


More Info:

There is a National Forest office just west of Durango. Maps, etc., are available there.”