FINDING THE LOST AND FORGOTTEN HISTORIC SUMMITS OF THE 15M MAPS IN THE GORE RANGE

Point 12,022, “Bloodshaw Mountain”

Point 12,010, Keller Mountain

Point 11,521, South Rock Creek Ridge

Point 10,977, Gore Creek Ridge

Point 12,111, “Little Powell”

Summit 12,119, Dora Mountain

Point 12,222 “Otter Creek Point,” Dora Mountain

Point 12,361, Dora Mountain

Point 11,655, Elliott Ridge

Point 11,453 Elliott Ridge East

Point 11,120 Elliott Ridge West

Point 11,770, Meridian Peak

Point 10,902, Eaglesmere Lakes

Point 11,654, Deluge-Bighorn Ridge

by gore galore

In my many years of exploring the Gore Range in equal parts of two centuries I have identified some 262 individual summits from various map sources, historical records and climbing reports. These summits are elevations at or above the lowest named summit elevation of Wichita Mountain, 10,855 in the Eagles Nest Wilderness. Three summits below this elevation are included as exceptions because of their historic or geographical significance.

Of these summits 243 are nontechnical and 19 are technical summit climbs. One of the nontechnical summits is lost and its location unknown. Another of these summits is inconclusive as to its location. I have climbed 240 of these summits and searched for the one lost and unknown summit without success and also the inconclusive summit. I have one more nontechnical summit to climb. It is quite possible that a few of these nontechnical summits may have not been visited before.

Of the 19 technical summits two are also lost and their locations inconclusive. It is possible that these two have not had a second ascent. Four of the technical summits are probably unclimbed. I have climbed four of the technical summits with another person with three as first known ascents, attempted the 13 other technical summits solo and searched for the two lost and inconclusive summits without success.

I have repeated many of the nontechnical summits by different routes and approaches and a couple of the technical summits by different approaches and attempts. I estimate that I have made more than 300 summit climbs and attempts by some 300 plus routes and still climbing with almost all of them solo in the Gore Range. And climbing this many summits and attempts and routes gets one into practically every corner of the range.

LOST AND FORGOTTEN HISTORIC SUMMITS

Some of the more obscure summits from a geographic or historic perspective that I have climbed are found on the 15M topographic maps of the Dillon 1929, Mt. Powell 1933 and Minturn 1934 quadrangles. Sixteen of these map summits with their elevations above 10,855 have not been transposed onto the latest 7.5M topographic maps of Vail Pass, Vail East, Willow Lakes, Mount Powell and Piney Peak that cover the same area.

With the exception of the Mount Powell and Eagles Nest 15M map summit elevations, I refer to the other fourteen 15M map summit elevations as the lost and forgotten historic summits in the Gore Range. None of these other map summit elevations are on any lists and probably no one else has ever set out intentionally to climb these summits. And sometimes mountaineering is not about the lists but about the nuances of the maps.

Some of these fourteen map summit elevations are evident once in plain sight. Some are not. Eight are ridge points, another is a saddle summit, three are summits of a mountain massif, another one is of a different massif and one is hidden deep in the timber.

One of the fourteen has a benchmark to indicate its summit. Most are above timberline but some require map and compass work as do a couple that have to be searched for below timberline. Two of the fourteen are section boundary corners.

Since no one will climb the fourteen lost and forgotten historic summits as objectives or for probably any other reason I offer some observations on them. And in my quest to climb these summits of trail, timber, tundra, talus and tops the common denominator among them is that I encountered no one else on these summits.

DILLON 1929 15M QUADRANGLE

Point 12,022 Benchmark, “Bloodshaw Mountain”

This is one of the more interesting summits because of the historic connotation of its benchmark. Hardly anyone climbs "Bloodshaw Mountain" and less than hardly anyone climbs the east ridge of the peak where the benchmark is located in a jumble of huge boulders.

I have climbed the east ridge of the mountain before but the climbing route bypasses the jumbled boulders and unless one is aware of this benchmark summit it will not be encountered.

My present climb began at Boulder Lake ascending out of the steep valley ridden with dead fall through the timber until I met the ridge proper. I had determined the general location of the benchmark summit beforehand from the map but the exact location took some looking before I discovered it on a flat boulder surface.

The benchmark is stamped:

U. S. Geological Survey

Cooperation With The State

Elevation

Above Sea

12,022 Feet

The date is absent.

There are several benchmarks in the Gore Range and I thought the surveyor field notes would indicate who placed them and other information. But when I contacted the U. S. Geological Survey in 1981 their reply stated that “The Minturn, Dillon, and Mt. Powell sheets were surveyed by plane table methods, as were most of that era, and no field notes were ever recorded.”

The Willow Lakes 1970 7.5M map does not indicate this benchmark.

Point 12,010, Keller Mountain

This summit elevation is located in the talus of Keller's northeast ridge at the 12,000 foot contour line. Its map symbol + indicates the corner of a section boundary line. It is slightly further right of the normal northeast ridge climbing route for Keller Mountain although I spotted two cairns in the vicinity. There are sweeping views of the Blue River valley and Williams Fork Mountains from this point.

The Willow Lakes 1970 7.5M map does not indicate an elevation figure.

Point 11,521, South Rock Creek Ridge

This point is located at the end of the north side of the South Rock Creek ridge line. I descended the ridge line to this summit after climbing Point 11,853 on my route back to the Gore Range Trail in 2018.

The Willow Lakes 1970 7.5M map does not indicate an elevation figure.

Point 10,977, Gore Creek Ridge

I had the idea that this summit elevation located on the ridge above the Gore Creek Campground was going to be easy but it wasn't.

I couldn't have chosen a worse day than August 20 when snow blanketed the high peaks and the undergrowth of the west ridge was saturated with moisture such that it penetrated my rain pants. I ended my misery at about the 10,680 foot elevation not knowing even with my compass direction how far and exactly what point I was searching for.

My second attempt led from the end of the frontage road at the campground for two miles on the bike path to Miller Creek where I turned east ascending through the timber to the bucolic meadows of the creek's beginnings.

The bed rock summit of Point 10,802 gave me a right angle direction to Point 10,977 such that when I finally ascended to the apex of the ridge I could match the curvature appendage of the map contour line to what I was seeing and what my compass was pointing me to.

Those early surveyors knew the relevance of this summit point because the whole expanse of the Gore Creek valley is front and center with the enormous extent of the Zodiac Ridge from Mount Silverthorne to Red Peak in the far background.

The Vail Pass 1970 7.5M map does not indicate an elevation figure.

MT. POWELL 1933 15M QUADRANGLE

Point 12,111, “Little Powell”

This summit elevation is the frontal point as seen from Lost Lake of the three other hidden points on the northeast ridge of "Little Powell." Further afield it is the outer point below the cliff step in the ridge. The northeast ridge is guarded by a miserable array of dead fall from the lake to near timberline and an endless boulder field to Point 12,111. Its charm in succeeding to this point is the view of three of the larger lakes in the Gore Range of Black Lake, Blue Lake and Lost Lake at the same time.

The Mount Powell 1980 7.5M map does not indicate an elevation figure.

Mount Powell, 13,534 Summit

The Mt. Powell 1933 15M map shows an historic summit elevation of 13,534 for Mount Powell. The Mount Powell 1980 7.5M map shows only a contour line summit elevation of 13,560.

I have climbed Mount Powell many times by numerous routes beginning in 1980 but too late in time for an historic elevation climb.

Eagles Nest, 13,397 Summit

The Mt. Powell 1933 15M map also shows an historic summit elevation of 13,397 for Eagles Nest. The Mount Powell 1980 7.5M map shows only a contour line summit elevation of 13,400.

In this instance climbing Eagles Nest can be from an historic or geographic perspective depending on the map. I have climbed it both ways and wrote of Eagles Nest from the historic perspective in my trip report “Climbing the 1933 Eagles Nest Route of the Original Gore Range Hipster.”

Dora Mountain, 12,119 Summit

Dora Mountain's historic summit elevation of 12,119 is located east and lower than the present day summit of 12,292 as shown on the Mount Powell 1980 7.5M map. A 1932 reference indicates that “a wooden cross, eight or ten foot high, stands on a point of Dora, and Heinie Cappel, a local rancher, claims he put it there.”

The Mt. Powell 1933 15M map shows this high point of the southeast ridge where the cross is located as the 12,119 summit. This is the point of Dora Mountain that is most visible in the lower Black Creek valley.

I wrote of climbing in 2016 and finding the cross location in my trip report “Searching for Parka Rock 'Aiguille' and Finding Heinie Cappel's Cross on Dora Mountain, Gore Range.”

The Mount Powell 1980 7.5M map does not indicate this summit elevation figure.

Point 12,222, “Otter Creek Point,” Dora Mountain

One of the great geological features of the Dora Mountain massif is the Otter Creek cirque formed by the remnants of the ancient glacier at its head wall.

Point 12,222 is the summit of the north ridge facing the Otter Creek cirque. I climbed it from Surprise Lake and it has enough visual prominence for me to call it “Otter Creek Point.”

The Mount Powell 1980 7.5M map does not indicate an elevation figure.

Point 12,361, Dora Mountain

Climbing Point 12,361 gave pause to reflect on just how big the Dora Mountain massif is. There are five summits on the Dora massif. The Dora Divide at the head of the Otter Creek cirque divides into two parts the huge north slope from the Dora Lake basin. The Otter Creek cirque further divides the massif into two lobes.

There are three ridges radiating from the massif. These are the north and northeast ridges of the Otter Creek cirque and the shorter southeast ridge facing the Black Creek valley.

The Dora Mountain massif area above timberline is about four square miles which is the second largest to Elliott Ridge's nine square miles in the Gore Range.

Climbing the north ridge from Surprise Lake and crossing the Dora Divide into the Dora Lake basin to the summit of Point 12,361 on the south side of the basin overlooking the Doig Lake cirque gave rise to the thought that everything on Dora Mountain is far away.

Point 12,361 is also one of those geographic oddities in that it has a higher summit elevation than the elevation of the historic Dora Mountain summit 12,119 further east.

The Mount Powell 1980 7.5M map does not indicate an elevation figure. The corresponding contour line of 12,320 is also higher than the true summit of 12,292 about one half mile to the east.

Point 11,655, Elliott Ridge Saddle

This historic and geographic point is the saddle elevation of a 1930's sheep drive trail as it dips between Meridian Peak and Point 11,942 now known as Elliott Benchmark.

It is interesting to note that with the Piney Peak 1980 7.5M map elevation of a 11,640 foot contour line for the saddle, Elliott Benchmark, 11,952 becomes a separate peak.

Hikers today on their way to Meridian Peak cross this saddle point on the Elliott Ridge Trail as a matter of geographic course perhaps not realizing that on the historic Mt. Powell 1933 15M map neither Elliott Ridge or Meridian Peak were yet named.

Point 11,453, Elliott Ridge East

The east side of Elliott Ridge is an amazing maze of studded bedrock crags formed by the retreat of the ancient glaciers and dotted by the cover of encroaching trees. The prominent features are denoted by map elevation figures such as this gem with a 200 foot east face overlooking a placid meadow below.

I found this summit by taking a compass bearing from the historic Elliott Ridge saddle until I topped this historic bedrock summit on a clear and quiet postcard picture fall day.

The Piney Peak 1980 7.5M map does not indicate an elevation figure but it should.

Point 11,120, Elliott Ridge West

I attempted to locate this elevation point on the lower west slopes of Point 11,772 of Elliott Ridge but found it as inconclusive. Its map symbol + indicates the corner of a section boundary line.

There is a well defined timberline that perhaps corresponds to this elevation point but I found no markings to indicate so.

The Piney Peak 1980 7.5M map does not indicate an elevation figure.

I previously wrote of the eight summits of Elliott Ridge in my trip report “Exploring the Known and Unknown Gore Range Summits of Elliot Ridge and Meridian Peak Massif.” To these eight summits I will have to add the above three for a total of eleven summits on the Elliott Ridge massif. Two of these summits are outside of the Wilderness boundary.

Point 11,770, Meridian Peak

The Meridian Peak massif has four summits. I wrote of three of these summits in my trip report “Exploring the Known and Unknown Gore Range Summits of Elliot Ridge and Meridian Peak Massif.”

This summit is appreciated from the Mirror Lake Trail that runs along its north base. It is climbed by a loose rock gully narrowing at its top. It has a summit that projects out over the Cataract Creek valley with the big wall of the connecting ridge between Eagles Nest and Mount Powell in front of you.

Point 11,770 can also be appreciated from the Upper Cataract Creek valley where it looms as a salient point that deserves an elevation figure.

But the Mount Powell 1980 7.5M map does not indicate an elevation figure.

Point 10,902, Eaglesmere Lakes

I liken this one as a treasure hunt with map and compass in the deep timber. The key was locating the tarn north of the summit. When I located it the hunt was practically over as I hiked back into the timber to come face to face with the menacing 40 foot contour line cliff face of the map. I made a counter clockwise traverse along its base to a break in the cliff face and got up onto its broad top and the apex of its bedrock summit.

I am continually surprised as how the early surveyors of the 15M maps located these small prominent points hidden in the timber and marked them with elevation figures

But the Mount Powell 1980 7.5M map does not indicate an elevation figure.

MINTURN 1934 15M QUADRANGLE

Point 11,654 Deluge-Bighorn Ridge

I climbed this point in 2017 from the Deluge Lake Trail talus slide crossing and through the timber to the grassy tundra slopes above and the talus strewn summit tops of two small contour lines. If you continue on this ridge you will eventually arrive at South Traverse Pass below Grand Traverse Peak.

The Vail East 1970 7.5M map does not indicate an elevation figure.

SURVEYORS OF THE 15M GORE RANGE QUADRANGLES

Topographic maps contain a lot of information in their symbols, colors, numbers and geographic names. I suspect few ever check the names of the surveyors listed at the bottom left hand corner of these maps. But from these names one can learn something of the maps and the surveyors of the time.

The Dillon 1929 15M map lists the name of S.T. Penick.

The Mt. Powell 1933 15M map lists the names of Max J. Gleissner, W.S. Gehres, T.T. Ranney, S.G. Lunde, J.B. Leachman, P. Blake, C.D. Mitchell, and R.O. Davis.

My Minturn 1950 15M map does not have any surveyor names and I only have a partial photocopy of the 1934 15M map.

In 1983 I located and corresponded with Robert O. Davis and Paul Blake. Mr. Davis wrote that he worked on the Mt Powell Quad a short period in 1931 "mostly around the Green Mountain area and I did not get into any of the high country.”

Of those names Mr. Davis wrote that only Blake, Mitchell and himself were alive at the time. Charles D. Mitchell climbed Mount Powell with a survey party of a packer, rodman/recorder and a Black Lake caretaker in 1931. Many years ago in the last century I climbed their route from the floor of the cirque by the northeast side snowfields.

Paul Blake also worked in the Williams Fork Mountains and on the Ute Peak Quad and was retired. S.T. Penick worked many years in the area and “he was much older than the rest of us.”

Paul Blake wrote that in his own experience “we road horse-back thru much of the terrain.”

Both men remarked of the “most spectacular country” and “most rugged sky-line” of the Gore Range. And those lost and forgotten historic summits are certainly a part of that.