This is an El Viejo (aka La Nina) winter which will be characterized by an earlier and longer winter season, as opposed to El Nino which is accompanied by an earlier and longer winter season. The first mile of the trail after it leaves the Monte Cristo Road has been reconstructed but is still quite steep, but not as steep as the old trail. It intersects the old trail at 3700 feet, after which there are some windfalls and some brushy spots. The snow fell as low as 3600 feet last night and snow covers the trail above 4000 feet. The snow is continuous above 4500 feet. I lost the trail under a foot of snow at 4800 feet. Snow was falling heavily above 4650 feet.

This was my first time hiking to Gothic Basin, a trail I had avoided previously because it sounded so rough in hiking book descriptions. However, the trail has received quite a bit of attention recently, and although it still needs some work, I understand it's much better than it used to be. My hiking buddy and I found it to be a moderately strenous, but not technically difficult, hike. Be warned though--it's surprisingly steep in sections, and in other parts exceedingly muddy. The beginning is flat and easy since you're on the Monte Cristo road for a while. When you get to the bridge, don't cross it, but instead turn off to the right to the trail marked ""Weden Creek"" with a subtitle of ""Gothic Basin 3."" The trail is mostly flat and very muddy for the next mile or so. After a creek crossing, the way steepens considerably, but also becomes much less muddy. The trail goes through some lovely forest, and progresses up some incredibly steep switchbacks to a clearing with a water crossing. From here the trail traverses a subalpine hillside, staying just under the ridge, and the terrain changes from a mostly flat dirt trail to a rocky, root covered trail. It continues up over rocks and roots steeply for a couple of miles, slow going, but the views of the peaks across the valley were getting better the higher we went. Finally the trail curls over the edge of the ridge into Gothic Basin, and fabulous scenery. Next time I do this trail, I'm going to make it a 3-day backpack. We just didn't have enough time to explore the basin and all its offerings. What we did see was beautiful: huge mounds of polished rocks to scramble over, lakes, ponds, small trickling streams, a nice double waterfall, and Weden Lake, far down in the basin below. Not to mention the surrounding peaks and passes, some of which looked like easy scrambles from the basin. This is a great hike for anyone who enjoys doing some scrambling around and exploring when they reach their hiking destination. To the folks working on the trail maintenance and rebuilding, great work on a tough project!

After catching a bit of the PGA championship, myself and my good pal Bob headed up the Mountain Loop Highway to Barlow Pass. We arrived at the trailhead around 4PM on Friday night and set our sights on Gothic Basin. This was my first trip to Gothic Basin, and it was Bob's first backpacking trip ever. I had read that the trail was fairly steep, but I figured the rookie could handle the heat. The trail deffinately lived up to the steep expectations but the work being done on the lower portion of the trail was really looking nice. We arrived at the Basin around 7:30. Saturday morning was very foggy. We hiked up to Foggy lake, and realized that it truly lives up to its name. We then hiked down the steep creekbed to Weden Lake. This beautiful Alpine Jem is hard to reach but was worth the effort. We encoutered countless mining remnants, and even came across an two old mine caves, one with a cart still inside. The caving was great, so was the hike. But it rained all Saturday night. All in all it was quite a magical time. If you can hang with the steep trail, Gothic Basin is a must see. Watch out for the MINER FORTY-NINER!

Headed up the Weden Creek trail with two nephews in tow. Lower section very busy with trail maintainence, even some blasting. We liked the walkways built over muddy sections. The trail is easy to lose just before the steep forest climb as it divides into numerous way-paths. Incredible views astounded my Oklahoman nephews as we left the trees at 3600 feet. We reached Gothic Basin in evening sun, with clouds drifting in. Began exploring, and slept as rain started. Completely fogged in next morning. Explored further, then headed uneventfully down.

I had heard about this cool miners trail into Gothic Basin for a number of years and finally had the chance to see it myself. What I saw was a crew ""working on"" the trail. What they were doing was digging a shallow, three foot wide, muddy trench in the forest, crisscrossing the original trail. I stuck to the original as much as possible, and soon left the mess behind. As predicted, it soon got warm, but the waterfalls made up for that. We walked into the basin and toured the lower tarns before heading up to Gothic Peak . Very hazy views. Nice day.I am saddened and appalled that in such a historically rich area as Monte Cristo, those responsible for the travesty at the Weden Creek trail didn't have the sense to take that into account. If maintenance must be done, it should be as an enhancement to the nature of the original style in which it was built.That trail is a classic and should have been left in it's original state. [Online editor's note: The lower Weden Creek Trail is a horrendousrooty, muddy mess and is in the process of a much needed re-route.]