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by Joe Kramarsic
I have never been a peak list climber. I once tried the
Fourteeners but became stalled after about a dozen climbs. I have never given a
thought about the Hundred Highest, much less counted how many mountains it
would take to climb the Thirteeners. Climbing so many Old Baldys, Sheep
Mountains, and various talus piles around the state seems to be something of a
chore.
Having said this, I belatedly find that I have climbed a
peak list. It is not just any list, though: it’s a collection of treasured
peaks that should whet the appetite of any ardent mountaineer. These are the
fabled twenty-six lettered peaks of the Gore range. I climbed the first of
these, Peak C, on my second attempt in the fall of 1979. I finished the last
one, Peak X, in 1983. During this time, I wasn’t just climbing to summits; I
was also exploring approaches and routes, as well as researching information on
past climbs and climbers in a range largely overlooked by most others bent on
climbing much higher peaks.
The origin of the lettered peaks began with a climb of
what would become known as Peak C by Carl Erickson and Edmund Cooper on July 2,
1932. They invented the lettered system of nomenclature for the peaks
surrounding the Black Creek Valley from A through O. Since Eagles Nest and
Mount Powell had already been named, the A and B letters are never used. In
1933, the lettered system was extended from P through T to include the peaks of
the Slate Creek area. The final lettered peaks of U through Z were designated
in preparation for the 1966 Colorado Mountain Club wilderness outing in the
Gore Range. The April, 1966, issue of Trail & Timberline noted, “Logically
the lettering system could be extended to include the peaks around the head of
the main (actually south fork) Slate Creek, and the alphabet would last just
long enough to get the job done.”
The following are the ABC’s of the Gore Range. I climbed
them in no particular order, as I came back for multiple ascents on many of the
peaks.
Eagles Nest, 13,400´
Bob Ormes described Eagles Nest as “a northian ruffian of
the Gore Range.” The rugged
appearance and the dramatic rise of its northern aspects from the Cataract
Creek Valley give a vertical introduction to the Gores. I suspect most people
climb the mountain by its east ridge from Dora Mountain. My favorite route is
the curving northeast ridge from Upper Cataract Lake with its two
“jags”—as the first recorded ascensionists described it. It is the route
Kenneth Segerstrom and Harold Weaver climbed on July 26, 1933, to settle the
long-standing question of whether the mountain had ever been climbed before.
They prepared their tobacco can register during an electrical storm and crawled
the last few yards to the summit, where they found an empty .30-.30 shell in a
crack. The question now answered, they struck the words “first ascent” from
their register.
Ken Segerstrom was the great pioneer climber of the Gore
Range. He was a geologist by training and was the first to take an enthusiastic
interest in climbing in the range. In addition to his March, 1935, T&T
article, “Map of A Portion of the Gore Range,” his other articles on climbs
were instrumental in creating the interest for the CMC to hold its highly
successful 1935 summer outing in the Gore Range.
I had the good fortune of being able to visit with Ken as
we talked about his climbs from the past and looked through his album while
seated at his kitchen table in 1986. Ken had many accomplishments in Colorado
mountaineering dating from 1925. He mentioned to me the pristine and wild
nature of the Gore Range as its great attraction. Ken passed away in 1992.
Mount Powell, 13,560´
In the era of peak lists, Mount Powell attracts the most
interest because it is the Gore Range’s highest peak. If the mountain is
thought of in this manner, almost all will climb it from the Piney Lake
approach by the standard southeast side route to bag the summit.
Those who look at Mount Powell as the great alpine
mountain that it is will be captured as I was by the possibilities of routes on
the glaciated aspects of its east-side cirques. Here in a remote setting are
some of the Gore Range’s finest snow climbs on the mountain’s east face
couloir, northeast face couloir, northeast face ramp, and north face.
Interestingly, the 1936 issue of The Colorado Magazine
reported that the Colorado Mountain Club found on its 1935 outing the rusted
tin can and a deteriorating paper record left by Major John Wesley Powell in
1868 on his first ascent of the mountain. Additionally, it recorded subsequent
ascents by the Hayden Survey in 1873 and the Percy Hagerman party in 1913.
In 1982, I followed a curator of the Colorado Historical
Society down to the basement that held treasures from the state’s past.
Navigating the maze of rows of shelving—and after much looking—the
curator reached to a top shelf and brought down the dusty and apparently
neglected tin can and its rolled and fragile paper pages. I later mentioned my
experience to a CMC member. In 1985, Russ Allen became instrumental in having
the CMC Foundation fund a project to preserve the register and its contents.
Colorado’s oldest summit register is now preserved in sealed plastic for
viewers on request at the Colorado State Museum.
Peak C, 13,200´
Of all the lettered peaks in the Gore Range, this is the
best known because it is located next to Mount Powell to the south. It leaves
an indelible image on those climbing Powell because of its startling north
face. Few will return to climb this peak, though, because it is not very high
on peak lists. It has what may be considered a “classic” route in the southwest
couloir, especially in spring when it is filled with snow. Perhaps the
least-known route on Peak C begins from the Bubble Lake Basin on its east side.
This southeast side route follows snow, rock, and grass gullies and ramps
across the top of the exhilarating north face.
A picture of Peak C in William Bueler’s book Roof of the
Rockies (1974) provoked my enduring interest in the Gore Range. I only made it
to the Powell basin below Peak C on my first attempt in 1979. That was before I
found out that the Red Sandstone Road continued past the Lost Lake Trail head
to Piney Lake. It was able to climb this peak on my second try and early enough
in time that the register from the Colorado Mountain Club outing of 1948 was
still on the summit. I remember spotting in the register the entry of a
well-known climber from the 1950s, Ray Northcutt.
Peak D, 13,047´
This peak continues the southward journey of the lettered
peaks from C to H known as the Ripsaw Ridge. Peak D has symmetrical north and
south ridges as seen from Piney Lake. Its most inviting route, though, is its
hidden east ridge from the Bubble Lake basin. This climb typifies the remote
aspects of Gore Range routes. I sought out routes such as this because of the
exploratory nature of the range where even the standard routes, if they could
be called that, had few ascents.
Peak E, 13,200´
I climbed this peak from the Piney Lake side on my first
try in 1981. The register from the Colorado Mountain Club outing of 1948 was
still on the summit. Discovering these historic registers always elates me.
There were only a page or two of entries, and I signed my name, tightened the
screw top, and placed the register back in the rocks.
In 1985, I returned to climb Peak E from the Bubble Lake
basin on the east. This is the remote and rough side of the peak that sports a
600-foot northeast face. To the right of the face is the north couloir that
tops out between the 13,120´ false summit and the main summit. A herd of
mountain sheep accompanied me on this snow climb; they kept to the rocks to the
left of me. As I methodically climbed the couloir, the sheep would keep their
distance from me, then stop and, in their curiosity, wait until I closed the
gap, whereupon they would scamper on ahead. The sheep and I climbed the couloir
and the rocks in this manner until I reached the ridge at the false summit,
where I saw them no more.
I was anxious to see if the register on the summit was
still there. It was, and I grabbed it in anticipation of unscrewing the cap. No
amount of force or pressure would dislodge the cap. Swearing at the unknown
person who would tighten the cap so much that it couldn’t be undone, I began
swinging the cap into the rocks, first with one hand and then with both hands
in the hopes of loosening it. When this did not work, I tried wedging the cap
between two rocks several more times. At the end of my patience, I gave a
half-hearted attempt to unscrew the cap, and it turned loose. Eagerly scanning
the register for the last entry to further chastise this person, I sheepishly
signed my name underneath my own name: I was the person four years before who
had tightened the cap too tight on Peak E’s register.
Peak F, 13,230´
Hidden among the crests of the Ripsaw Ridge, Peak F is
located on the north side of the col between it and Peak G at the head of the
large Black Creek snowfield. Descending Peak F to the col and then climbing
Peak G is like closing the door behind you. There is now a substantial amount
of terrain behind or below you to reverse to your starting point.
Peak G, 13,240´
This great peak has three summits of 13,200´, 13,240´,
and 13,160´ on the south side of the Black Creek snow field col. In recent
years there has been some question as to the map accuracy of the highest point.
This is a moot point to me because, if you have come this far and closed the
door behind you, it is beneficial to climb the three summits while you are on
the peak. When I climbed Peak G in 1980 by the northwest ridge from the col, I
remember thinking that I had better not fall here or they would never find me.
It also has a fine-looking route in a remote setting that I would like to
climb.
Peak H, 13,080´
Peak H is a long way in no matter whether you approach it
from the Piney River Valley or the south fork of Black Creek. The top of the
peak is split in half by the southeast couloir. The sight of this electrifying
couloir when seen from adjoining peaks to the south and east prompted the name
of the “Straight Arrow Couloir” as it shoots straight up and splits the summit.
I climbed this couloir by bushwhacking the south fork of
Black Creek until nightfall, where I dropped my sleeping bag near the game
trail and crawled inside. I was a little further away from the peak than I
wanted to be—especially when I awoke to the overcast skies the next
morning. Rushing toward the base of the peak, I entered the couloir and began
climbing the somewhat-easy 760 feet of snow toward the top. I could see the
weather deteriorating, but I had come too far to give up. I began a race with a
fast-moving storm, sprinting toward the front, gaining the summit in the face
of the storm. As was my custom, I went through the few scraps of paper in the
register. As I hurriedly put the register back in place, the intense storm was
on me. I grabbed my pack and iced axe, entered the top of the couloir, and
glissaded down and down until a flash caught my eye and the top of the peak
exploded in a burst of light and sound. I considered my luck and fortune for
some time after that experience.
Peak I, 12,922´
This peak is so well hidden in the Upper Black Creek
Valley that I had trouble locating it on a map. I originally thought Peak I was
located on the west side of the range. I then wrote the Forest Service about
the locations of the lettered peaks but received no reply. I was fortunate to
come across Kenneth Segerstrom’s “Map of A Portion of the Gore Range” in the
March, 1935, issue of Trail & Timberline. It showed the location of the A
through T lettered peaks, except for the letter I. Curiously, the I letter was
omitted from the original peak designations. I was to learn later that when the
CMC climbed Peak G during its 1935 outing in the Gore Range, they mistakenly
climbed the peak to become known as Peak I, which they referred to as GI.
Peak J, 12,942´
Another remote peak that is located at the apex of three
valleys—the upper Piney River on the west, Slate Creek on the east, and
the south fork of Black Creek on the north. This peak is quite attractive from
the latter two valleys. It sports a sharp northeast ridge route with snowfields
decorating its north face. I climbed this peak among others from a camp in the
upper Slate Creek Valley.
Peak K, 12,920´
Peak K is not often mentioned among the great peaks of
the Slate Creek Valley, such as Peak L or Peak Q, which garner much of the
attention. The great attraction of K lies in that it is seldom climbed. When I
climbed this peak in 1982, the register from the Colorado Mountain Club outing
of 1935 was still on the peak. According to the register, Peak K was not climbed
again until 1969, when Bruce Bryant and Greg Lee of the U.S. Geological Survey
made the ascent. Bryant coauthored the study Mineral Resources of the Gore
Range-Eagles Nest Primitive Area and Vicinity, Colorado in 1970. Thirty-four
years between the first and second ascents seems lengthy, but it is not the
longest period of time between ascents of a mountain in the Gore Range. If I
remember correctly, my ascent of Peak K was among the handful that had been
made to that time.
Peak L, 13,213´
This chisel-shaped peak along with Peak Q commands
attention from Upper Slate Lake. Its southwest ridge route has knife-edged
sections that make its ascent interesting. The true shape of the peak is not
readily evident until one climbs higher.
Peak M, 13,120´, Guyselman Mountain
The east side cirques and ridges of Peaks M, N, and O are
one of the great sights of the Gore Range while driving Highway 9 in the lower
Blue River Valley. This trio of remote peaks seemingly at close range is
guarded by steep bushwhacks to their bases. Peak M has a long approach with a
great route in its northeast cirque and upper east ridge.
Peak M was named Guyselman Mountain for a pioneer
ranching family in the lower Blue River Valley. Previously known by its
lettered designation, its formal name appears on the 1980 Mount Powell
quadrangle map.
It is quite uncommon to find a summit register on a named
13,000-foot Colorado mountain that has gone unsigned for almost sixty years,
but that is what Stan Wagon of Silverthorne and Steve McCormick of Frisco found
when they climbed this mountain in 1994. The register was found remarkably
well-preserved in a small, metal cylindrical tube. It was placed September 1,
1935, and signed by Carl J. Erickson and Irwin Smith of the Colorado Mountain
Club. The rest of the register pages were blank.
Stan communicated his find to me, and both of us climbed
the mountain in 1995. Stan had left some space below their signatures to record
my ascents from 1981 and 1984. In my usual search of a summit for a record, I
had inexplicably overlooked this register on both of my climbs. The summit in
those years did not have a semblance of a cairn.
Previous research indicated that Guyselman Mountain was
climbed about two weeks before the register was placed. During the Colorado
Mountain Club outing of 1935, club members made the apparent first ascent when
the mountain was known by its lettered designation of Peak M. This historic
summit register is no longer on the mountain, as it resides in the CMC
archives.
Peak N, 13,121´
The soaring east ridge is the distinguishing feature of
this rugged peak. It is among the finest alpine routes in the Gore Range. The
route-finding on this committing and steep third- and fourth-class ridge is
unrelenting until one nears the summit.
Peak O, 12,920´, “Little Powell”
Early ranchers in the lower Blue River Valley named this
peak Little Powell. They mistakenly thought it was Mount Powell, and the
pioneer climbers in the Gore Range climbed it to confirm that the real Mount
Powell was located further to the west. This was the first mountain climbed by
a CMC party in the Gore Range in 1931. A combination of dense timber and
endless talus characterizes its northeast ridge route from Lost Lake.
Peak P, 12,965´
This peak along with Peak J forms the head wall of the
Slate Creek cirque. After the long hike into Upper Slate Lake, it seems just as
far bushwhacking the upper valley to the snowfield that guards the east ridge
route. You are as far from anything as you can possibly be when standing on
this peak.
Peak Q, 13,230´
This is the commanding peak of the Slate Creek Valley. It
is huge and forbidding on the approach from Upper Slate Lake. Ken Segerstrom,
Edmund Cooper, and Burbank Buffum made the first ascent in 1933 by way of the
north face couloir. Their route description makes it a want-to-do route for me.
They left their register in a tin can that was found on the second ascent in
1934 by a CMC party. When a CMC party climbed the mountain in 1961, they noted
they made the seventh ascent of the peak. When I climbed the peak in 1982, I
was hoping to find this register, but none was on the summit. A question
remains as to whether the main summit can be climbed directly from the west
over a shattered pinnacled ridge. I have written that “a look at the ridge to
the true summit will convince one to descend,” but Stan Wagon says it has been
done.
Peak R, 12,995´
The north face defines this fine peak on the south side
of the upper Slate Creek Valley. Segerstrom wrote on the possibility of good
ice work in the couloir and chimneys on the north face of Peak R. I first
climbed this peak by its north ridge in 1982, but I never forgot Segerstrom’s
words or the sight of the north face. I returned in 2006 and climbed the Regal
Couloir on the north face, descending by way of the Royal couloir to the east.
These couloirs steepen to fifty degrees.
Peak S, 12,857´
This ridge-like peak connects R and T and is not as
distinguishing as others in the Slate Creek drainage. Stan Midgley first
climbed it in 1944 and called it “Consolation Peak” because it was not as fine
a peak as R. This ascent was part of a bicycle trip by Midgley through the
Colorado Rockies. It was one of eighteen peaks he climbed in the Gore Range, of
which ten were first ascents. Midgley was one of the fortunate who attended the
1935 Colorado Mountain Club Summer Outing and one of the few who returned from
that outing to climb again in the Gore Range, doing so in 1942, 1943, and 1944.
A chemist by training, he turned his hobbies of
mountaineering, bicycle riding, and photography into a successful full-time
career as a travelogue lecturer after winning a national contest in the 1946.
He made more than four thousand appearances in all fifty states and Canada, and
he showed his films more than four hundred times on television. One of the
great treasures from my Gore Range research is Stan’s nine-page letter in small
agate-like handwriting with routes drawn on maps in response to my simple
query. Stan retired in 1992 and passed away in 2000. It can be said that, while
Segerstrom was one of the great pioneer climbers in the Gore Range, Midgley was
the great exploratory climber.
Peak T, 12,640´
Peak T is a paradox. This sharp spearhead-like peak is
quite impressive as seen from the Blue River valley. However, as one approaches
Upper Slate Lake, Peak T loses its identity as it blends into the ridge on the
south side of the lake. It was this aspect that led me to climb the wrong peak,
climbing Peak 12,385´ on my first attempt at T.
When a CMC party climbed the peak in 1961, they noted
that there was no evidence of previous climbers. Most importantly, they didn’t
climb the actual top boulder. In 1983, I made the possible second recorded
ascent of the peak. Like the CMC party before me, I considered my efforts a
climb of Peak T without climbing the true summit of the intimidating block. On
August 25, 2002, Stan Wagon, Jim Koegel, and I made the apparent first ascent
of the balanced block of the true summit of Peak T, possibly the last first
ascent of a major mountain in Colorado.
Peak U, 13,041´: “West Partner Peak” and Peak V,
13,057´: “East Partner Peak”
These two peaks are big and bulldog-like in temperament.
Nasty and gnarly, they each have their own valleys and lakes at their base. The
comfort of the trail approach ends when you tackle these two. They were quite
intimidating when I climbed them in 1980 with little information as to a route
except for the lines on a topographic map. This aspect was typical of the peaks
I climbed in the Gore Range, as there were no guides available for routes on
the mountains. I simply made my own through use of maps.
Peak W, 12,775´; Peak X, 13,085´; and Peak Y, 12,960´
These three peaks are among the more remote summits in
the Gore Range. The normal approach to Peak W is guarded by a trail-less valley
of the south fork of Slate Creek.
Peaks W and Y are located on the same ridge dividing the
south fork of Slate Creek from the Boulder Creek Valley. I climbed Y from the
trackless valley of the south fork of Slate Creek. I don’t recommend this route
unless you like a real bushwhack approach featuring marsh areas, stream
crossings, mud, avalanche debris, deadfall, and so forth. The normal approach
to X and Y is from the trail-less upper valley of Boulder Creek.
Peak Z, 13,245´
Looking north from Dillon and Silverthorne, Peak Z fills
the Blue River Valley with its long northeastern ridgeline. I climbed this
ridge with Stan Wagon, who has been at the forefront of much of the recent ski
mountaineering descents in the Gore Range. We approached this climb from the
Gore Range Trail leading into Slate Creek. We missed a direct cutoff to the
base of the ridge, whereupon Stan thought we became lost. I insisted otherwise,
because we were exploring a route that had seldom been done. The route is long,
crossing the northeastern end of the ridge known as Bloodshaw Mountain, and
then four ridge steps to the summit. A nice glissade from below the summit got
us down to the east cirque and then into the Boulder Creek Valley for the
return.
Over the last decade, I did a number of exploratory
climbs with Stan until he became lost to his pursuit of ski descents. Among
these were the first ascent of the Buffalo Horn on Buffalo Mountain, the first
ascent of the aforementioned Peak T, the Red Diamond Ridge of Red Peak, the “Recent
Pinnacle” in the Gore Creek drainage, and the first known ascent of the
complete northeast ridge of Mount Valhalla. I thought Dinosaur Crag #5 would be
a first ascent, only to find a cairn on its summit on our climb of the south
face.
I was fortunate to climb in the Gore Range at the right
time, when it was virtually empty by Colorado standards. Several historic
registers were still present on the summits; climbers from the 1930s were still
alive and willing to share their experiences; and I made the most of the time
given to me.
The Gore Range has changed as more climbers have
discovered it. I hardly knew of the scar that exists today on the route to the
saddle below Mount Powel. The once pastoral two-lane highway leading out of
Silverthorne past its trailer courts has given way to stop-and-go traffic with
high-end condos and trophy homes dotting the Blue River Valley. But if you look
through all the traffic and high above the rooftops, you will still see those
Gore Range mountains in all their alpine splendor.