Gore Range Recommendations

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highplaces
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Gore Range Recommendations

Post by highplaces »

Looking for suggestions in the Gores. Day hikes or overnights. Maybe a central location to setup camp and do a couple of dayhikes from there. Have been to Keller, really enjoyed it and would like to explore more. Anyone have favorite routes/peaks you'd be willing to share?
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Brian Thomas
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Re: Gore Range Recommendations

Post by Brian Thomas »

Isn't "the first rule about the Gore Range is that you don't talk about the Gore Range", or something like that?
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Floyd
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Re: Gore Range Recommendations

Post by Floyd »

Anything on the east side besides Keller makes for some tough going and LONG approaches due to the private property issues. The Vail side is probably where you want to be for an intro to the range.

The Pitkin Drainage makes a great backpack http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... m=tripuser" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Piney Creek for Powell is a nice option too. I would save Peak C/G for snow climbs though. On the south side, I've been up Meadow Creek a few times and you can hit Red, Deming, Eccles Peak, and Buffalo from there. There are some nice camping spots high in that basin as well.

I have a few other Gore TRs on this site and LordHelmut has a number as well. Between the 2 of us, we have the more popular parts of the range pretty well covered. D_Baker and jbchalk have a couple of good ones too.

Long story short, pick a basin and do some reading on here or summitpost. I haven't been to an area I wouldn't recommend or seen one I wouldn't want to visit. It's a great range. Appreciate it and take care of it for those of us that really treasure it.
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boudreaux
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Re: Gore Range Recommendations

Post by boudreaux »

The Gore Creek Trail on the westside of the range in Vail. From there you can do Grand Traverse Peak, Valhalla, Snow, Hail, Silverthorne, Red, Deming, West Deming. Deluge and Gore Lakes trail branch off the main trail.

Booth Creek for the Spider and the Fly

Pitkin Creek for E and W Partner

Piney River Trail gives you access to Powell, Peak C and the Ripsaw Ridge.

These are all out of Vail with direct access to the high basins and no private property issues.
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Matt Lemke
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Re: Gore Range Recommendations

Post by Matt Lemke »

Eagles Nest....Piney Creek over Game Pass (pass to the left of Kneeknocker looking up)
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Re: Gore Range Recommendations

Post by tylermacguire »

Brian Thomas wrote:Isn't "the first rule about the Gore Range is that you don't talk about the Gore Range", or something like that?
It's refreshing to see I'm not the only one who still feels this way!
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Re: Gore Range Recommendations

Post by MtHurd »

For less of a drive from Denver, hike up to Salmon Lake from Silverthorne and camp. Next day do East Thorne and Mt. Silverthorne. East Thorne has a short section of some fun 3rd class, maybe one or two 4th class moves depending on your routefinding. View from Mt. Silverthorne rivals anything in the Gores. You can hike out the same day but it'll be a long one.
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Floyd
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Re: Gore Range Recommendations

Post by Floyd »

tylermacguire wrote:
Brian Thomas wrote:Isn't "the first rule about the Gore Range is that you don't talk about the Gore Range", or something like that?
It's refreshing to see I'm not the only one who still feels this way!
I feel that that adding more "mystique" and suspense to the range would draw more people than more information. But, that's just my opinion and not meant to be confrontational in the least. It's a special place, no doubt. But I could say the same for many areas of the state occupied by lower elevation peaks. I think RMNP and the IPW, for instance, are very comparable. As soon as you venture off the 14er trails of any range there is SUCH a wide variety of spectacular spots - some more than others and some hold more value to individuals than others. But to tell someone they can't go there would just be more antogonizing and breed the "rebel attitude" than making knowledge accessible and "inviting" people to go. I mean, you were a teenager once too, right? That being said, I too like keeping the route information vague as the range will beat you up if you don't know what you are doing. That alone should deter those that aren't just seeking the easy summit checkbox.

If you want to "blame" anyone for me encroaching on this sacred area, blame Roach. His Classic Peak list as well as a certain degree of curiosity looking at the jagged peaks from I-70 lead me to explore the range and I've cherished every opportunity to visit it.
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boudreaux
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Re: Gore Range Recommendations

Post by boudreaux »

Matt Lemke wrote:Eagles Nest....Piney Creek over Game Pass (pass to the left of Kneeknocker looking up)
I went over that pass once, but ended up climbing up a cooley to Powell. Some of the toughest climbing I ever did, especially getting around chockstones. I remember seeing quite a few goats there too.

I was headed up to West Deming on Monday, but the weather wasn't looking too good, so I went to the west ridge of Quandary, which reminded me of the Gores. The Gores are low enough to be under the radar of the 14er bagging crowd and the steep, technical challenges scare off the rest in most cases. I have never shared a summit in the Gores, once you step off the trail, you never see another soul.
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Scott P
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Re: Gore Range Recommendations

Post by Scott P »

To me, it’s very weird that people consider the Gore Range to be some sort of “secret”. Unless you consider the Indian Peaks as a separate mountain range (and most don’t), the truth is that the Gore Range (especially the Eagles Nest Wilderness) is probably the most well-known (even to out of staters) range in Colorado that doesn’t contain any 14ers.

All of the ranked peaks are climbed quite frequently, all the official trails are heavily used and just about every summit is visible from a highway. Unless it is winter, I usually have met people along the trails and even some of the “isolated” peaks in the rage had something like half a dozen names in the registers a year.

As far as not running into people, it can happen, but I’ve seen people (which is not a bad thing) on most of my approaches and even on several peaks. For example, I’ve met people on Meridian Peak, Grand Traverse Peak, Keller and even on North Traverse I could still spot people at a distance on nearby Keller. The Gore Range is a lot of things, but one thing it is not is a secret or with perhaps a very few exceptions a place for solitude (unless you go in winter), unless you have a strange definition of those terms.

The reason why the Gore Range is so well known is because of its beauty. Because of its fault block geology, it is different and narrower than most ranges in Colorado and in the Eagles Nest Wilderness at least, it tends to be more rugged and spectacular than several other ranges in the area. It is a land of rugged peaks, beautiful lakes and wildflowers. Since snowfall is fairly heavy, the snow outlast some of the higher ranges in the state, adding to its beauty.

That said I love the Gore Range, and I do have a few favorites, which are discussed below:

Perhaps my favorite place is Bubble Lake, but it’s probably one of the hardest places in the range to get to. For an easier basin to get to, the one NE of the Corner Peaks is superb.

My favorite gentle peak (so far) is Meridian because you are blessed with super views the entire way along the long ridge. Lots of wildlife too.

Eagles Nest and the North Traverse to Grand Traverse ridge run are good ones. Peak Q is an awesome mountain. I haven’t done East Thorne, but it certainly looks impressive from all the nearby summits and I’ll have to get it this year.
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Matt Lemke
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Re: Gore Range Recommendations

Post by Matt Lemke »

Scott,
Have you ever been to Duck Lake at the head of the Black Creek Drainage? Close to Bubble Lake and just as hard to get to IMO
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Re: Gore Range Recommendations

Post by tylermacguire »

Floyd wrote:
tylermacguire wrote:
Brian Thomas wrote:Isn't "the first rule about the Gore Range is that you don't talk about the Gore Range", or something like that?
It's refreshing to see I'm not the only one who still feels this way!
I feel that that adding more "mystique" and suspense to the range would draw more people than more information. But, that's just my opinion and not meant to be confrontational in the least. It's a special place, no doubt. But I could say the same for many areas of the state occupied by lower elevation peaks. I think RMNP and the IPW, for instance, are very comparable. As soon as you venture off the 14er trails of any range there is SUCH a wide variety of spectacular spots - some more than others and some hold more value to individuals than others. But to tell someone they can't go there would just be more antogonizing and breed the "rebel attitude" than making knowledge accessible and "inviting" people to go. I mean, you were a teenager once too, right? That being said, I too like keeping the route information vague as the range will beat you up if you don't know what you are doing. That alone should deter those that aren't just seeking the easy summit checkbox.

If you want to "blame" anyone for me encroaching on this sacred area, blame Roach. His Classic Peak list as well as a certain degree of curiosity looking at the jagged peaks from I-70 lead me to explore the range and I've cherished every opportunity to visit it.
Totally fair point of view. To be clear, I would never try to tell someone they cannot go into the Gore nor am I looking for someone to blame. Furthermore, I would be very willing to show hiking partners some of my favorite areas in the Gore but, it is not something I talk about in a public forum.
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