Backpacking in the Gore Range

I've wanted to hike in the Gore Range near Vail, CO for a while now and finally made it a point to plan a trip. Katie's due date for our second kid is Sep 7th so I figured it would be safe for one last overnight adventure before the baby countdown begins. This adventure includes Matt, Sean, and Rob for a three night backpack essentially from Silverthorne to Vail, CO. We started last Thursday night after a half assed day at work. About 30 minutes into the hike Sean realized he forgot his whiskey and decided to run back to the car for it. I waited for him while Matt and Rob kept going. It was a GREAT idea to get the whiskey but a BAD idea to split up. Matt and Rob got lost before the junction with the Gore Range Trail where we were supposed to camp the first night. Sean and I must have walked right past them and a significant way up the main trail before backtracking to look for them. We found them below the junction just before dark, set up camp in the dark, and ate dinner around the fire. Rob brought his tent and the rest of us slept under the stars every night.

On day two we broke camp late and headed toward Red Buffalo Pass on the Gore Range Trail. I had high hopes for hitting peak wildflower season so I was loaded down with camera gear. However, it looked like late June rather than late July - snow was still just melting out in a lot of areas.



Glacier Lilies are the first blooms on Red Buffalo Pass

Matt hiking up the east side of Red Buffalo Pass

From the summit of the pass

From the summit of Red Buffalo Pass the trail turns into the Gore Creek Trail dropping down the west side to Gore Creek on the valley floor. Our plan was to camp at Gore Lake so we didn’t really feel like dropping 1,000ft just to climb another 1,000ft back to the lake. We decided to head off trail maintaining our elevation as much as possible on the way to the lake. This was a lot of side hilling with heavy packs. Eventually we crossed the outflow from Gore and Snow lakes combined and intersected the Gore Lake trail. We happily dumped our packs and lounged around the lake after setting up camp.

This was my first trip really using the REI Minimalist bivy sack - it was pretty sweet

We camped at Gore Lake Friday and Saturday night. Sean and I were initially happy we brought our fishing rods because the lake has MONSTER rainbow trout in it. Then we figured out why the fish are so big - they aint stupid! We couldn't catch a thing. I may have thrown a few rocks at them in retaliation. Fortunately for the trout there were other people camping at the lake or I would have done some handgun fishing just to teach them a lesson. Oh well, time to shift focus to photography...

Gore Lake Sunrise

Rob hiked out toward Vail Saturday morning so he could get home to brew some beer for a wedding. Matt relaxed around camp. Sean and I did some climbing around the lake.

Sean near the summit of the peak shown in the sunrise pic above

Me perched on a rock ledge overlooking Gore Lake (photo by Sean)



Alpine tarn reflection at sunrise (short hike from Gore Lake)

Getting there: Take exit 205 off I-70 and head north on 9 in Silverthorne. Hang a left at the light and keep driving to the back of the Wildernest neighborhood (there is construction right now so exact turns will change a little). There is plenty of parking at the Buffalo Cabin trail head on the paved road. We dropped Sean's jeep at the Gore Creek trail head further west on I-70. To get to this trail head, take exit 180 and cut back east on Bighorn Rd.

Route:  From the Buffalo Cabin trail head we hiked north for approximately 1.5 miles to the area around the junction with the Gore Range Trail. We camped hear for the night. The second day we hiked west over Red Buffalo Pass and skirted the northern slopes on the west side of the pass off trail to get to Gore Lake without dropping back down from the pass. We camped at Gore Lake for two nights. From Gore Lake we hiked back down the trail (lots of downed trees across the trail). This trail intersects the Gore Creek Trail at the marker for a grave. From this point we turned west (right) onto the Gore Creek Trail and hiked out to the Gore Creek trail head. There is a lot of water along this route and also a lot of mosquitoes so bring your bug spray.

Precautions: The trails we used are usually well defined and easy to follow but apparently you can still lose your way in low light if you’re not paying attention so its probably not a good idea to split up if you aren't familiar with the area. Also worth noting: this route runs east-west along the north side of I-70 between Silverthorne and Vail so there is actually intermittent cell phone coverage, making a cell phone a worthwhile emergency tool. Don't count on it though because this is still rugged and somewhat inaccessible wilderness.