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.

Skiing Mount Massive

I haven't posted in a while because we have been training for an adventure race this July. Not a lot of extra energy available to carry a camera and take pictures when you are huffing and puffing in running shoes or on a mountain bike. Sean and I decided to do a little "cross training" though so we packed our ski gear and ditched work this Wednesday to climb and ski Mt Massive outside Leadville, CO. I left my house at 0200 to meet Sean in Lone Tree at 0300. Why is it that I can roll right out of bed at 0130 to climb a mountain but when my alarm goes off at 0530 for work I have to hit the snooze bar five times before dragging my ass out of bed?? We kept to our schedule and turned off the pavement just as it was starting to get light out. I wish I had a picture of the nice gentlemen working the gas station in Idaho Springs where we stopped to get extra food. I think his name was Billy - Billy was a man of few words, had an extremely large belt buckle and a sweet handle bar mustache. He handed me an empty plastic bag to pack my purchased food in - best suited to work night shift!

Sean's new jeep at the 10.500ft trailhead

It was 27F at 0600 at the trailhead.

Sean starting up the avalanche path

We have skied a portion of this route before and this area had slid that year too. In the top left you can see light just hitting the top of our route for the day.

This crotch shot self portrait is meant to give an idea of how steep this climb is...STEEP



Another shot of the slope with the Elk Mtns in the distance


It was a little scary to limit my all fours contact with the snow to take my camera out and snap some pictures. A fall on this slope would be ill advised.

Sean tackling the steepest part of the climb

Now is as good a time as any to mention we did not make it to the summit. We made it to a false summit just over 14,000ft - from this point we could see the only remotely reasonable way to finish the climb was to drop our ski gear and traverse then climb a steep snowfield with a lot of vertical exposure. No problem, grab the crampons and ice ax and lets do it. Except Sean's crampons were broken living in a landfill somewhere and I left my ice ax in the jeep because Sean didn't bring his. Feeling like a couple of unprepared rookies we accepted our fate to not summit (again) and began discussing the ski descent. It didnt take very long to come to the agreement that neither of us were a good enough skier to ski down the steepest pitch at the top. It was probably close to a 45-50 degree slope and still pretty crusty from the overnight freeze (not to mention littered with boulders inviting a fall). I have a personal problem though...down climbing is not my strong suit. I was trying to decide if I wanted to cartwheel to the bottom on skis or crampons...neither option seemed appealing. Sean found a good down climb along the ridge though and we were able to clip into our skis on steep but more open and forgiving terrain. 


I made this pic bigger so you can see my sweet turns on the left, among my last for the season

Sean with an impressive backdrop across the valley

Me skiing the second to last pitch, just above the avie path

The necessary evil of the walk out if you want to ski 3,000 vertical feet in June

Getting there: From Leadville, CO head south approximately 3mi on US 24. Turn right on CO 300, continue about 3/4 of a mile and turn left at the Halfmoon Campground sign. To make it all the way to the trailhead at 10,500ft a high clearance vehicle with some low end torque is required so depending on vehicle its about 7-8mi from the right turn. There is a clearing on the right side of the dirt road to park in - trailhead sign and register is just ahead through the trees.

Route: This explains the route we took - not necessarily the preferred or easiest approach. We hiked approximately two miles with our ski gear on our packs. Be prepared to posthole through some snow drifts while still in the trees. You will come to a point where the trail breaks out of the trees onto an avalanche path - hang a right and start up the path and around the right of the waterfall. Pick your best point below the false summit block to head left over the ridgeline - continue up this ridgeline until you can see the high alpine bowl to your left. You can climb straight up this like we did (steep climb, crampons/ice ax highly encouraged) or you pick your way up to the next ridgeline and head left again. Either way will bring you to a false summit where we stopped our ascent. If you want to reach the true summit let me know how your snow or rock climb goes - its doable with the right gear. For the descent we pretty much backtracked on our ascent. Except for a couple 1-2 minute walks to cross over to the next band of snow we were able to ski all the way to the bottom of the avalanche path where the trail goes back into the trees.

Precautions: This late in the season its important to get an early start. I didn't wake up at 0130 for nothing. You need to get off the snow before it gets too warm. These slopes are steep and there is obvious wet slab activity. Unlike us, bring the right gear for an aggressive snow climb.


Backcountry Skiing Utah - cant ski in the desert

We wanted to cut down the length of our drive tomorrow so decided to drive back to the San Rafael swell to hang out in Buckhorn Draw for a day. So there isn't any skiing in this post...sorry. We drove about 30 miles on a dirt road so we had to make some minor modifications to the RV...the microwave shook right out of the wall. We spent the day sight seeing, climbing around on rocks, etc.
  

The microwave went back in no problem...

Bottleneck Peak

The RV in front of the petroglyphs



The Wedge. "One day all this will be yours" (photo by Rich)
Sean gave Rich a lesson on how to throw like a man from up here



Brian, Rich, and Sean on the edge of the wedge



Goofing off on some boulders



Sunset in Buckhorn Draw



Sunrise looking back toward I-70



Sunrise in Castle County

Getting there: Take exit 131 off I-70 and head north on Co Rd 332 (Buckorn Draw Rd). Drive until you like the scenery. There are petroglyphs, rock towers, the Wedge and Little Grand Canyon, not to mention plenty of bouldering options. 



Backcountry Skiing Utah - Tushar Mtns (day 3)

Today we set out across Puffer Lake toward Lake Peak. It looked like a long skin standing in the middle of the lake looking up at the summit but we made quick work of it. 

Crossing Puffer Lake again...Lake Peak is on the left

Me just below the high point of the snow (photo by Rich)

Brian finishing off the climb on his split board we cut on my table saw

We skinned up on a breakable crust so we took our time at the top to let the sun soften the snow up a little. The aspens on this mountain are very well spaced making it easy to carve turns.

 

The aspen glades here are perfect for skiing



Sean cruising through glades just below tree line



Rich landing after a little air in the trees

We were able to run it out all the way back to the lake...sure beats putting your skins back on to down climb to the lake. We spent awhile hanging out at the lake hitting jumps on one of the hills along the shore.

Me jumping through the trees over Puffer Lake (video by Sean)

Sean jumping a small cornice by the lake (video by Rich)

We skinned back across the lake and grabbed the frisbee and beers. It was 73F in the sun according to my watch.  Just as the sun was setting Rich and I decided to grab our gear and hit the small slope right behind the RV for a couple laps. Sean went with us after a little peer pressure. It was a nice steep slope with enough vert to get about eight turns in (or one turn and a fall if you drink as much as Sean did...too funny).

Tushar Mtns – Lake Peak

Getting there: I-70 turns into I-15, head south to exit 112 at Beaver, UT. Take route 160 west of the highway into town, turn left onto route 153. Drive past Eagle Point Ski Resort to the road closure just past Puffer Lake.

Route: We crossed Puffer Lake to the far side. Lake Peak is easily identified by its cone shape (see the first photo in this post - taken from the lake). We skinned up the drainage to just below a false summit at around 10,800ft.

Precautions: Standard avalanche safety warnings - see Tuesday's post for more local info. Watch out for open water on Puffer Lake. You'll need to go around the lake if the ice isnt stable.

Lake Peak route marked by blue arrow, RV parked on red dot

Backcountry Skiing Utah - Tushar Mtns (day 2)

Alright, we learned our lesson yesterday – you don’t need to skin four or five miles to find some good skiing here. Name of the game today was to find a ratio of skinning to skiing that is closer to 1:1.

Daily ritual of drying out our gear in the sun

Breakfast burritos...nice (photo by Rich)

We tackled a slope much closer to the RV that backs up to the property boundary of the ski resort. This ski resort, by the way, gets close to zero traffic. I think the four of us put down more tracks this week than everyone at the resort did. We skinned 30 minutes to get 800ft of vert…much better approach today!



At the top...you can see where we skied yesterday in the background

Rich, Sean, and Brian on the first pitch

We did two laps here and headed back to the RV for a late afternoon lunch, beers, and frisbee – we had the place to ourselves so it was the perfect place to hang out and relax. Then we went up the closed section of route 153 so Sean and I could try snowboarding and Rich and Brian could try skiing...we should probably stick to what we know. We switched gear back and built a kicker and hit some jumps before dinner.

Me trying to hit the jump switch...sad effort

Rich landing switch

Tushar Mtns – backside of Eagle Point

Getting there: I-70 turns into I-15, head south to exit 112 at Beaver, UT. Take route 160 west of the highway into town, turn left onto route 153. Drive past Eagle Point Ski Resort to the road closure just past Puffer Lake.

Route: We followed the shoulder of this slope from the road up to the Eagle Point border. This provides a good section of open slope which drops into aspen glades with a mix of conifers. You can easily get multiple laps in on this route in one day. You'll have to make a quick climb out of the basin back to road level but that only takes a few minutes.

Precautions: Standard avalanche safety warnings - see Tuesday's post for more local info. Make sure you stay off the ski resort property - it is private land.

Today's downhill is in yellow, RV parked on red

Backcountry Skiing Utah - Tushar Mtns (day 1)

We got an early start today to finish our drive to the Tushar Mtns. We drove up route 153 past Eagle Point ski resort to the seasonal closure.

This area of the Tushar Mtns is outside Beaver, UT

There was a large paved area plowed out on the side of the road – this will be our home for the next few days.

at the road closure

Since its mid week we don’t expect to have any company. We got our gear together and started skinning up 153 past the road closure. We got lured into this approach by an existing snowmobile track (big mistake).



Skinning up the road (photo by Rich)



This is the top of a bathroom - no shortage of snow. This is where we turned left off the road

We took the long way around to get to City Creek Peak and its subpeak to the north. We skinned for a long time for not that many turns but we still got some good skiing in today.

At the summit (photos by Rich)

Brian

Rich

We ended up having to put our skins back on in the Cullen Creek drainage that led to Puffer Lake near the RV...now we’re just pissed off. The sun was setting by the time we crossed the lake and we were all exhausted.

Skinning across Puffer Lake to the RV (photo by Rich)

Once back at the RV though, it was time to celebrate Sean’s 34th birthday. We popped the cork on a bottle of Russell’s Reserve 10yr Kentucky Bourbon and soaked up the last sun light of the day.  Before we knew it, the bottle was empty and it was time to eat Brian’s awesome chili. Still not roughing it. All in all, a good day in the mountains.

Russell's Reserve 10yr Kentucky Bourbon...awesome

Tushar Mtns – City Creek Peak Area

Getting there: I-70 turns into I-15, head south to exit 112 at Beaver, UT. Take route 160 west of the highway into town, turn left onto route 153. Drive past Eagle Point Ski Resort to the road closure just past Puffer Lake.

Route: We took the loooong way around on the closed section of route 153. I recommend skinning across or around Puffer Lake and heading up the Cullen Creek drainage. There is a lot of skiing to be had on City Creek Peak and its subpeaks.

Precautions: Standard avalanche safety warnings - see yesterday's post for more local info. Also, watch out for open water on Puffer Lake. Skin around the lake if you aren't sure whether or not the ice is thick enough.



City Creek Peak downhill shown on green arrow, RV parked on red