Chicago Basin Camping Trip: Embracing Simplicity

Welcome back again,

It's another adventure with the Broyles family, and I owe them for getting me hooked on the great outdoors. My second real camping and hiking experience was with Michael and his family in Ouray back in September 2020. You can actually find some of the photos right here on the site. But let's get to the point. Any adventure with them is bound to be fantastic, and this trip was exactly that – fantastic in every sense.

The landscape was breathtaking, the wildlife friendly and beautiful, but what struck me most was how this journey allowed my mind to slow down like never before. The sheer remoteness made my brain go nearly silent, a blissful experience where I could wake up to solitude.

Our ride was a blast, packed into a minivan with all our gear. We left in the morning, stopping about an hour from the train station in the stunning New Mexican badlands. We got there just before dark, catching the tail end of a magnificent sunset. We even spotted a rainbow along the way.

The badlands were incredible. We cowboy camped under the stars, making me feel like a true cowboy. In the night, something let out a small wail, which confused and startled me. It was only the following morning that I found out the source of the noise, it was Michael’s dad (Chris) who had fallen off of his sleeping pad – thankfully, it wasn't a skinwalker.

Early the following morning, we loaded up our wagon and drove to our train, which we missed.

Luckily, we raced the train to a lumber yard, parked, and caught it when it passed by. What followed was a breathtaking train ride through the mountains above a beautiful river, leading us to our trailhead.

Crossing the bridge, our trek began. We hiked through lush, stunning landscapes, after about 6 miles we found a perfect spot to set up camp for the day, and hung our hammocks next to an ice-cold river in a valley filled with deer.

We stayed for a night and continued our quest the next morning. Two miles up the trail, we reached our final campsite, nestled at the base of a basin, surrounded by majestic mountain peaks and a stream for water and bathing.

We would spend some time relaxing and enjoying the area around the camp, taking in the views and enjoying the company of the goats, whom we became very familiar with.

I honestly have too many pictures I’d like to post from this trip, it was an absolutely stunning experience.

We’d make our way up to a frozen lake one of the following days to convene with the marmots, who were very interested in what we had going on, one even tried to eat my camera strap.

Being away from it all simplifies life, making you wonder, 'Why didn't I realize this before?' Some of my fondest memories from this trip are the moments when we stopped to appreciate our surroundings – and that happened frequently because the view was always spectacular.

Summiting a mountain can be a daunting task, but for our group, it was just another day in the park. We began our trek before sunrise, watching the colors of dawn paint the sky as we journeyed up Mt. Windom. It felt like a scene from 'Lord of the Rings' as we crossed rocks and snow, climbing higher and higher into the sky, crampons on and poles ready.

We continued through the snow to the top of the saddle, where we faced a challenging ridge with loose boulders and sheer rock faces.

Even bound up the rocks like they were nothing, clearly, he spent much time with the goats and was adopting their ways.

Seeing the world curve from the top is always a mesmerizing experience, and it makes you question whether going back to everyday life is even an option when there's so much to explore.

We made our way down, spent more time relaxing at the campsite, and discovered 'the chute' – a natural way to stay clean, with perfect rock placement, it was convenient enough to lay down and allow the water to wash over your head without worrying about flowing down the stream yourself.

We eventually embarked on the long journey down the mountain, with a week's worth of adventure behind us. Our descent was purposeful to catch our train.

The ride back was quiet, with thoughts of greasy cheeseburgers and ice cream. After hopping off the train, we found our trusty steed, made our way into town, and found our greasy cheeseburgers.