Back to the Weminuche: Three Nights in Sunlight Basin
In mid-August Steve and I packed into the Weminuche and spent three nights camped on the shore of Sunlight Lake to the northeast of Sunlight Peak. Of course the main focus was to climb the 13ers surrounding the basin, but we were equally enamored with the idea of simply visiting this particular place given the lore around it.
Ever since my first pack-ins to the Weminuche I’d always held Sunlight Basin as this sort of mythical, rarely visited place. For many years it had a reputation of being so difficult to get to, people would look for alternate ways to hit the peaks in the area so as to avoid Sunlight Creek. Before his passing, John Fielder called it his favorite place in Colorado, and I’ve heard that same sentiment echoed by others who have made the trek in there. Needless to say, it had long been on the bucket list. Indeed, to get there is no easy task. While there are a few different ways to do it, Steve and I ultimately chose to head in from the Vallecito Reservoir, north to the Sunlight Creek confluence and up to Sunlight Lake from there. Keep Reading….