Who else got out last weekend?

I climbed a couple peaks in the Gore Range with the kids:



There wasn't a threat of thunderstorms at all anywhere near us all day. It was perfect weather for miles and miles around for as far as we could see, including the 14ers we could see from up there (all of the Elk Range, Longs, Holy Cross, Massive, Elbert, etc.).

Got up into the Mummy Range for a couple days. Put in almost 40 miles in 2 days! Got rained on both days, one day three times, some heinous bushwhacking
through old growth forest and marsh/bog and even took the pants off Bear Grylls style to cross a stream (upper North Fork) to get back on trail. Had an aggrevating but awesome time solo!



Whatcha doing in the Vail Valley, Scott?

Fine, I'll spray to get some votes on my sad pictures lol:



Forbidden Peak. I'm pretty stoked on the 'Scades these days.

I have some friends who got up on Clarence King in the Sierras and Ptarmigan Ridge on Rainier over the weekend as well. Eager to see if they chime in...

Whatcha doing in the Vail Valley, Scott?

I'm working in Kremmling all summer, so I'll be hanging around that area. The photo above is from the summit of Meridian Peak.

Hey Scott. Do you know what peaks those are in the background? I'm thinking about heading up to the Gores this weekend. Just not sure what I want to climb.

Foxy Long Bottoms wrote:Hey Scott. Do you know what peaks those are in the background? I'm thinking about heading up to the Gores this weekend. Just not sure what I want to climb.

Powell on the left, sawtooth ridge to the right of there? If so, same area I was talking about in the other Gore thread but I came in from the east, this would be from the west.

That's Peak C in the center, a pretty cool summit as I just discovered last weekend. If you like snow climbing, there's still quite a lot up there. I've posted some pics from the weekend here:
http://bit.ly/nmm6G2

Powell on the left, sawtooth ridge to the right of there? If so, same area I was talking about in the other Gore thread but I came in from the east, this would be from the west.

Yes, from the SW. We came from the north along the Elliot Ridge (approached by road from the east side of the Gores), but once on top of Meridian Peak you end up SW of Powell.

That's Peak C in the center

Yes.

Just not sure what I want to climb.

There are plenty of peaks to choose from and none are a bad choice. For better or worse, the Gores can be crowded on summer weekends (I don't mind meeting people in the mountains anyway), but the scenery is great. Bubble Lake is probably my favorite place I've been to in the Gores, but there are lots of neat places. Eagles Nest and the Grand Traverse are two of my favorite routes, but there are many other good ones too.

Scott wrote: Bubble Lake is probably my favorite place I've been to in the Gores, but there are lots of neat places.

That's where I was headed but never made it. How do you go to get there? I think next time, I come over the pass from the west instead of trying to come in from the east.

Mconnel, Bubble Lakes standard route is from the Piney Lake TH via Kneeknocker Pass. Ive heard of a "secret" primitive trail that traverses into the Black Creek Drainage from the Lost Lake area, however once into the Black Creek drainage you get no guarentees.....

Kane wrote:Mconnel, Bubble Lakes standard route is from the Piney Lake TH via Kneeknocker Pass. Ive heard of a "secret" primitive trail that traverses into the Black Creek Drainage from the Lost Lake area, however once into the Black Creek drainage you get no guarentees.....

Theron Welch posted a video of his trip to Bubble via Black Creek: http://www.gorerange.info/tag/bubble-lake/

Looks like a good time.

Kane wrote:Mconnel, Bubble Lakes standard route is from the Piney Lake TH via Kneeknocker Pass. Ive heard of a "secret" primitive trail that traverses into the Black Creek Drainage from the Lost Lake area, however once into the Black Creek drainage you get no guarentees.....

Yes, the "secret" trail is described in Ormes as being a "good trail." Even though I thought I knew exactly where it was, I saw nothing that looked much like a trail (other than game trails). Where it is supposed to be is pretty clear, but not really anything there. I spent a couple of hours covering about a mile, gave up, and traversed back to Brush Creek above Lost Lake. At the rate I was moving, I estimated about 8 more hours to Bubble Lake. Definitely Piney Lake next time!

We came from Lost Lake (possibly August or September 2001?). There is an old summitpost thread on it somewhere.

There was no trail that we saw and the timber is very tedious and slow especially before you reach the creek. We were however able to reach the lake and back in one day (but didn't have time to climb anything). We went there because it seemed to be the most remote area in the Kremmling area (where I was working-just like this summer), but it's still much less remote than several other areas in Colorado.

Even though it takes some effort to get there, it's still a cool lake and area, so it would be worth the trouble, at least if you want to see a less trodden area of the Gores (though the lake is still probably more visited than it might seem).

Since I'm working in the area, I wouldn't mind heading there again sometime if anyone is interested.

cool pics!!!

Scott wrote:Since I'm working in the area, I wouldn't mind heading there again sometime if anyone is interested.

Definitely interested. I'll drop a message.