Elk Park-Chicago Basin Loop, Weminuche Wilderness, CO

Very nice trip report! Great shots. Almost did that trip this summer, but the plans fell through. I was a bit concerned about getting over the passes and down before storms as well….and my group's older and slower by far than yours :-).

BTW the mushroom appears to be an Amanita, poisonous as well as hallucinogenic,"esteemed by both maggots and mystics" according to David Arora, Mushrooms Demystified.

Hi Leigh!

Thanks for the kind words. Yes the person in the photo is an aspiring mushroom guru! He mentioned the same thing. They sure are pretty though!

The passes weren't nearly as bad as we thought. Getting up to the Continental Divide is fairly easy with great switchbacks. Hunchback was also pretty easy but we got lucky on the weather. Not nearly as bad as it could have been and doing both in a day could be tricky if the weather is bad.

Columbine has a really long approach depending on where you camp. We had between 4-5 miles before we even got to the pass so that's one you'll definitely want to start early on. Great trip though and a definite must do!

I sent a link to your blog to my friend that wanted to go last year and he's all psyched about going next summer! Thanks again for the info!

Slaton, great trip report! I've been a lazy bum and haven't written up my report yet. It was great meeting you and kind of hiking with you on the loop ;)

You have inspired me. I'll get mine together and post it soon.