Rockinghorse Ridge

Access: Pitkin Creek TH
Start: 0649, 10/6/2019
Partner: Corey Dobson
Climb Rating: 4
Duration: 1:01 to Pitkin Lake
                2:05 to Peak U (W. Partner)
                2:57 to Rockinghorse
                3:45 to Peak P
                4:35 to East Booth Pass
                5:33 to Booth Falls TH
                5:41 back to Pitkin Creek TH
Total Distance: 14.25 mi
Vertical: 7000'
Summit: West Partner (U) 13,041' ; Rockinghorse 12,680'; P 12,965'
Weather: 25-60F/bluebird
Nearest Town: Vail, CO

I'm a bit of a Gore Range n0oB. Backpacking takes too long; hiking takes too long; so it took me awhile to realize that going light, running the access trails, and power hiking the steep slopes to access the interesting stuff is totally reasonable. I only really started visiting Gore summits from the Vail side in the fall of last year (Ripsaw) and their mysterious draw has only grown in that time. I've been fortunate to befriend a group of Eagle runners that share the same running to scramble MO so this summer has been open season.

With warm high pressure extending into October, one last push deep and high into the Gore felt obligatory this autumn. Corey wanted to make a hard effort up to Pitkin Lake and West Partner while I'd been wanting to tackle Rockinghorse Ridge for awhile. So we decided to hammer the run up to Pitkin Lake then tap whatever's left in the tank for a push over to P from West Partner via Rockinghorse, concluded with a reverse traverse below Rockinghorse Ridge above the Upper Piney drainage back south to East Booth Pass and run back out to Booth Falls TH. Brandon Chalk gave great beta on this route. I thought the ridge could use a little more insight from the perspective of a rapid strike as opposed to climbing each and every spire in the course of a long day.

After originally planning on an 0530 start, we realized it's October. And Dark. And Cold. We pushed our start time back to 0630, even though... Still dark. Still cold (25F). I have no photos of the approach along Pitkin trail because I was mouth breathing through the entirety of it. Shockingly, a few flurries flew shortly before our arrival at Pitkin Lake before the skies completely cleared. The warm inviting alpenglow on the Partners hung only a couple hundred feet overhead. It taunted us while I warded off frostbite filling my bottles in a stream.

East Partner and the Partner Traverse from West Partner's south approach

Pitkin Lake with Outpost Peak and Holy Cross in the distance from the approach to West Partner

We ascended the grassy slopes south of West Partner mercifully meeting the sun halfway. After gaining the false summit visible from Pitkin Lake, the scrambling commenced. It was mostly a 3rd class blocky ridge run. Most of the exposure to the east was avoidable to the west typical of the range. I decided to have a go at a down sloping knife edge on the ridge proper. It abruptly ended in a cleft with a tricky down climb required to get off. Corey easily skirted it on a ledge west.

Navigating the knife edge leading to West Partner

Corey climbing West Partner's summit block

From West Partner, the descent onto Rockinghorse ridge started as an innocuous walk off. Before long, the terrain steepened drawing us back toward the ridge proper. Most difficulties could still be bypassed to the west.

Corey riding the ridge, Peak P in the distance

Standing on the ridge with West Partner behind

We bypassed all the towers besides Rockinghorse. From below the ridge proper, it was a direct climb from the west up to Rockinghorse. Corey gained it with some class 3-4 ledges on the west. I climbed it from the south with an awkward arm jam into an offwidth and some smearing. Felt like low 5th class without much exposure - 15 foot climb from a ledge.

A precarious tower we skirted to the left; Peak P in the background

The Rockinghorse

Atop Rockinghorse

The Spider and Fly looking down into Upper Piney from Rockinghorse

We had assumed we were past the difficulties of the ridge after summiting Rockinghorse until we walked upon the edge of a 40 foot cliff guarding a gully. I assumed I could skirt it with a short scramble down off ridge, but the cliff extended around to the west and south forming a peninsula around us. Barring backtracking and down climbing a couple hundred feet, it seemingly severed further access north.  Corey discovered a single crack in the face of the cliff that we were able to down climb at 4th-5th class. The exposure was a bit unnerving. This was near the low point of the ridge.

Down climbing to the P saddle after Rockinghorse

Down climbing the cliff bands; I'm in the center of the photo

The start of the climb from the the saddle onto the P ridge had another shorter, though equally tricky, down climb into a notch before a 2nd class ascent to P's summit. The summit of P offered impressive views of Q, L, Ripsaw, the Partners and the Spider. It's the deepest I've felt in the Gore thus far- only about 3.5 hours from the trailhead.

Corey climbing the ridge; Peak P behind

Pink Quartz

Looking down Slate Creek from P's summit; Q right; L left

We backtracked along P's ridge and started descending west from the ridge before the the last notch we had previously down climbed. From there it was traversing on grass and talus blocks above Upper Pitkin Lake over to East Booth Pass. East Booth Pass had a beautiful view into the Booth drainage and the upper tarn. From here, it was an easy descent on grass to the tarn followed by a steep grassy gully down to the lower lake and main trail where we were able to quickly descend to the golden valley below in under 6 hours roundtrip car to car.

Booth's Upper Tarn looking down from East Booth Pass

Running down along Booth

The Punch Buggy Traverse (Peak V/East Partner to W)

Access: Pitkin Creek TH
Start: 0540, 9/15/2019
Partners: Jon Harrison, Corey Dobson, Dan MacArthur
Climb Rating: 4
Duration: 1:20 to Pitkin Lake
                2:20 to Peak V (E. Partner)
                3:20 to Peak W
                4:53 back to TH
Total Distance: 12 mi
Vertical: 5200'
Summit: V 13,057'; W 12,775'
Weather: 40-65F/bluebird
Nearest Town: Vail, CO

After plan A, Peak A (Eagles Nest) fell through for the second time this summer, I was lucky enough to receive an invite for an audible up to the Pitkin Lake cirque for the VW traverse ("Punch Buggy"  copyright Jon Harrison 2019) from an Eagle crew that is more familiar with the Gore approaches from the west. I drove over late the night before and crashed in the back of my truck at the Pitkin Creek trailhead. After being lulled to sleep by the semis screaming down I-70, I was jolted back to the land of the living by my alarm at 0450.

Lackadaisically cooking breakfast like a mindless zombie was a mistake. I assumed the guys would be a little late to the trailhead since it seems like most everyone's on mountain time in Summit. However, this was a group of dads. Doting fathers who wish to keep pursuing Gore summits without upsetting familial harmony are punctual and efficient. And we were a group of 4 of them.

My oatmeal and coffee went down like light beer, and we were running upward and onward toward Pitkin Lake by 0540. We all discussed the prospects of the Partner Traverse but were leery of it without rope so we settled on a plan to traverse to W from V with basically no knowledge of the route beyond topos. Rope be dammed.

New slide path along Pitkin Creek

Alpenglow on W. Partner above Pitkin Lake 

IN THE SPIRIT OF THE GORE, I'm going to be intentionally vague and blah blah blah... I won't go into the details of E. Partner just because there's already plenty of beta out there. From the lake, use steep grass to gain the saddle, and then pick your way along the a system of ridges and gullies to gain the summit block. The south ridge to E. Partner was solid 3rd class without too much exposure beyond one slabby loose gully.

Accessing E. Partner's S. Ridge

Ascending E. Partner's S. Ridge

Climbing the crux of E. Partner

E. Partner summit shot

Dan contemplating life and "W"

Having made good time up to E. Partner and still feeling fresh, we agreed on making the plunge into the unknown with the traverse to W. Cursory searches for beta on it turned up nothing on summitpost and 14ers. We descended a couple hundred feet to a saddle with an unnamed subpeak. It was fairly guarded by airy slabs off the backside so we located a ledge to the left/NW around it. This ended at the base of a slabby wall. We thought we were going to have to descend a steep loose gully to bypass it but then found that the left arete of the slabs would go. 

NW passage

Somewhere on the ridge

The arete

Climbing the arete led to the ridge proper. It was a blocky, solid traverse that finally terminated in a cliff. Down climbing to the right/south we located a grassy ledge that paralleled the ridge. The ledge led to a steep unpassable gouge in the ledge. Luckily, some 3rd class scrambling regained the ridge, leading to an airy but solid catwalk that ended the difficulties of the traverse.

Corey having regained the ridge

Running the catwalk

W's summit was a short hike on grass and large blocks from this point.

The Eagle squad

Summiting

We descended directly off the summit on grass down to the Usable Pass drainage and rejoined Pitkin Creek trail. Pleasant, remarkably seamless Gore outing.

Keller Mountain East Ridge

Access: Rock Creek TH
Start: 0930, 7/11/2015
Climb Rating: 3+
Duration: 4.5 hours
Total Distance ~10 mi R/T
Vertical: ~3500'
Summit: 13,085'
Weather: 45-65F/mostly cloudy

Despite being only 1.5 hours east of Denver, the Gore Range remains one of the most isolated mountain ranges in Colorado. No 14ers. No roads traversing it. Rugged. Scarcely mined. And extending over 40 mi from I-70 at Frisco to Rabbit Ears Pass on Rt. 9. The range was formed by a thrust fault of the same type found in the famous Tetons resulting in steep spires bridged by serrated ridge lines. Glacial erosion carved out narrow valleys thousands of feet below. Eastern Gore Range valleys are teeming with lush foliage, big game, and they're peppered with tarns, lakes, and waterfalls. But all this drainage also yields some of the wettest valley floors imaginable saturated with mosquitos.

Keller lies east of the main ridge crest of the Gore Range. It is one of the few summits easily accessible from the Summit County side. The Rock Creek TH is accessed on your standard pock marked dirt road with ample backcountry camping all along it. But on peak summer days expect the lot to be overfilled by 11. The trail head provides access to the Gore Range Trail and by extension many of the eastern drainages that the it intersects.

"In the spirit of exploration and discovery of the eastern Gore", I will not go into a whole lot of detail about this climb. From the Rock Creek TH, continue a few miles past the intersection with the Gore Range Trail along a well trodden trail that climbs gradually to one of the few abandoned mines in the Gore - the Boss Mine.

Valhalla's east ridge from Boss Mine

Along the base of the mine tailings there is a small line of rocks overlying the trail marking a STOP. From here a faint trail forks right, climbing over and around the mine tailings. The trail fades in and out but the route is obvious.

Typical trail segment above the tailings

Occasionally a small cairn may be seen near treeline in a vast meadow devoid of any other signs that a human has ever been there.

Continue upward and onward to the east ridge line. Above treeline, with the first false summit in sight the fun part of the climb begins.

The first false summit from treeline

A class 2 talus field serves as a warmup for the class 3 climbing ahead.

From left to right - 1st false summit, 2nd FS, true summit dressed in white

From the top of the first false summit, the second false summit looms directly ahead with the true summit of Keller lying innocently behind it. To keep the climbing at class 3, carefully consider the route and do not be afraid to drop left or right off the main ridge.

Holy Cross in the distance from the 2nd FS with North Traverse on the left

The down climb from the top of the second summit can be tricky. It can be made easier by climbing left and hugging the ridge. Once the ridge line is regained the summit is a brief class 2/3 climb away.

For a variation on the descent, an old trail not shown on most maps can be accessed by staying along the ridge line past the Boss Mine. The trail eventually intersects the Gore Range Trail.

Left to right: Valhalla, Grand Traverse, North Traverse, and Keller

Boulder Creek drainage from the summit, the XYZ ridge in view

Peak Z

Looking SE into the Rock Creek drainage from the east ridge

The Rock Creek drainage with Valhalla on the right

 

Elvis's Crotch Couloir (Buffalo Mountain)

Access: Ryan Gulch TH above Wildernest in Silverthorne
Start: 0800, 4/11/2014
Total Distance ~5 mi R/T
Duration: 4 to 5 hours
Vertical: ~2500'
Aspect: North
Weather: 30F-45F/clear, 10-20 mph winds above TL
Conditions: from high to low - hard pow, soft pow, corn, slush

Silver Couloir is one of the lines in 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America By Chris Davenport et al. Little Elvis Couloir is the line skiers right of Silver. And Elvis's Crotch is the rarely ridden, narrow deep cut couloir that bridges the rocky ridge between the top of Little Elvis and the bottom of Silver. It is best to ski it in soft stable spring conditions, as an avalanche or fall on this line would be high consequence.

The Approach:
From Ryan Gulch TH, proceed to the first marked trail intersection and turn left up the Buffalo Cabin trail. Continue through the trees to TL, gaining the ridge between the glacial cirque in Buffalo and the northern summit.

Glacial Cirque with Tenmile Range in the background

Topo credit: the late George Dirth, http://grandlin.es

The top of Little Elvis is 100 to 200 yd before the first/southern access to Silver. Upon entry to Little Elvis, the entrance to Elvis's Crotch is guarded by a jagged rock pinnacle skier's left ~100' down.

Rock Pinnacle at top of Elvis's Crotch

Elvis's Crotch entrance is 45º sustained into a narrow choke that approaches 50º.

Choke at the top of the photo

The rest of the line is 40-45º with another narrow choke before the entrance to the bottom of wide open Silver. The chokes vary in width considerably with the snowpack. On this day, both the top and bottom chokes were little more than 2 yds across.

Approaching bottom choke

Beneath bottom choke

Looking down on Silver proper

Bottom 1/3 of Silver proper

The exit of Silver is skier's right into the trees along an aqueduct at the base of Silver above the Gore Range Trail. Exiting Silver can be a pleasant skin along an established skin track or a grueling bootpack over deadfall with ample route finding. After only a couple hundred feet along the aqueduct is the right turnoff onto the moderately steep uphill Buffalo-Willow Connect. It is not uncommon to miss the right turn and continue along the Gore Range Trail adding unnecessary miles to your trip. The Buffalo-Willow Connect will lead directly back to the Ryan Gulch TH.