RED PEAK (13,189')
ECCLES PASS LOOP HIKE
October 7, 2006
By Tim Briese
Relatively few people climb mountains in the Gore Range, perhaps because there are no 14ers there. This should not be so, because this rugged range offers fine wilderness opportunities and magnificent views, with generally easy access off of I-70 west of Dillon.
A hike and climb in the Gores had been on my wish list for quite some time, and I finally took the opportunity to do so. My plan was to take the Meadow Creek Trail up to Eccles Pass, on a route described in 100 Hikes In Colorado, by Scott Warren, one of my longtime favorite guidebooks. From the pass I would continue on the Gore Range Trail on a grand loop all the way around Buffalo Mountain, perhaps climbing Red Peak along the way if conditions permitted.
I left home early in the morning with my lab Allie and drove to the trailhead, which is located along the west side of I-70 just west of Frisco. At 8 a.m. we embarked on the trail, climbing briskly up through groves of leafless aspens. It was a beautiful cloudless day, with perfect visibility. Traffic noise from I-70 polluted the air for the first half mile or so, but soon after I entered the Eagles Nest Wilderness the soothing sounds of the forest took over.
The hike was a pleasant and scenic one up a valley on the Meadow Creek Trail to a high grassy basin. In the basin I came to a trail junction and continued to the right on the Gore Range Trail. From this junction it was a short climb to the northwest up to Eccles Pass, were I arrived at 10:30. The distance I had covered from the trailhead up to the 11,900' pass was about five miles, with 2700' of elevation gain. I felt strong and enthusiastic this morning.
There were beautiful views from the pass, and I sat and enjoyed them for half an hour. To the south I could see the Tenmile and Mosquito ranges, and to the east lay the impressive rounded summit of Buffalo Mountain. To the north I gazed down into the basin where I was headed next, and studied a route that I could take up to Red Buffalo Pass and Red Peak. Although there was a little snow lying in the basin, the route to Red=s summit looked very doable, and I decided to give it a try.
From Eccles Pass I descended about 500' on the Gore Range Trail into the basin to the north. I passed a couple of small lakes along the way, and Allie couldn=t resist jumping in for a cold swim. From the basin I hiked up grassy slopes to the west and climbed a few hundred feet up to Red Buffalo Pass, at 11,750'. From the pass I could look eastward down a valley several miles to Silverthorne, and westward to the eastern end of Vail. I had hiked to a point nearly halfway between the two towns. Red Buffalo Pass was once considered as a route for I-70 across the Gore Range. As I stood there I pictured in my mind=s eye a freeway coming up that beautiful valley and climbing toward the pass, and I was glad that it had been built around the southern end of the range instead!
From Red Buffalo Pass I climbed up the ridge to the north a mile and a half to the summit of Red, on mostly easy terrain with some areas of blocky talus. It took just over an hour to climb from the pass to the summit. As I climbed up over the last few rocks to the top I was shocked to see another climber sitting there, the first hiker that I had seen all day. I=m sure he was equally surprised to see me! The young man told me that he was from Breckenridge, and that he was out on a hike to enjoy the mountains today. He had come up the valley from the east on the Gore Range Trail, on the route that I was planning to take on my return. He warned me about a sketchy stretch of trail on the east side of Buffalo Mountain that I would be on later. I enjoyed fine views all around from the summit, particularly of Lake Dillon and Buffalo Mountain off to the east, and the rugged Gore Range stretching away to the north. A particularly pointed peak about a mile and a half to the northwest, which I identified as Mt. Silverthorne (13,357') on my map, caught my eye. I immediately added it to my mental list of peaks for consideration for a future climb.
After spending a leisurely half hour on the summit I decided that I had better get going, because I had many miles to go to get back to my truck. It was about 1:30, and the October sun was already retreating into the southwestern quadrant of the sky. The other climber went down a very steep slope to the southeast, but I deemed it more prudent to descend a slightly gentler slope to the southwest. I went down a long slope of scree and grass and in an hour descended 2000' to the valley below, where I regained the Gore Range Trail and began to follow it down the South Willow Creek Valley to the east.
I met three older hikers coming up the trail, two men and a woman, who seemed to be laboring rather heavily from the exertion. They told me that they were attempting to do the same loop hike that I was doing, less Red Peak, but in the reverse direction, and they inquired about the rest of the route. I cautioned them that they had a long ways yet to go. After I left them I wished that I had asked if they had flashlights or headlamps along, because they might well have needed them if they indeed went all the way around the loop. I thought it possible that I might need to use mine as well!
I hiked rapidly down the trail in the afternoon sun. The valley was very scenic, with a pleasant stream, meadows, and rocky outcroppings in the woods. I crossed a couple of areas that had been cleared by avalanches. As I hiked past the north slopes of Buffalo Mountain directly across the valley, I marveled at huge boulders, perhaps the size of cars, or even small houses, at the base of extensive talus runs.
After a couple of miles I reached a junction and turned to the right on the Buffalo Mountain Trail (my map called it the Buffalo Cabin Trail). This trail was much more faint and sketchy, so I had to pay close attention to stay on it. The trail essentially disappeared when I came to a talus slope in the woods. I overtook a woman hiking with her dog there, and she told me that she had lost the trail at this point when hiking here the previous weekend, and she had come back to find it now. We looked around for it together for a few minutes, but after failing to find it, she decided to turn back again. I told her that I would find my way even if I had to bushwhack, because I had to go this direction in order to get back to my truck.
I thrashed about in heavy, downed timber for a while trying to find the trail, becoming increasingly concerned about the lateness of the day, having no desire to be lost in the woods at night. It was about 4:30, and it already seemed rather dark in the woods because Buffalo Mountain blocked the rays of the sinking sun. After failing to find the trail I decided to try my GPS to establish my location. I knew that its performance was often spotty in heavy timber, but I found a tiny clearing in the woods and was happy to find that it worked. Within moments I determined the coordinates of my location and pinpointed where I was on my map. Then I headed uphill to the right and found the trail after going a couple of hundred yards. Multiple trails confused me for a few minutes, but once I convinced myself that I was on the right one I cruised rapidly down the trail a half mile to the Ryan Gulch Road. I followed the road a short distance south and found my way to the Lilypad Lake Trail, and set forth upon it.
I still had over two miles to go to reach my truck, so I clipped rapidly along. The Lilypad Lake Trail was quite a scenic one, winding past several ponds and lakes in charming settings in the woods. At Lilypad Lake I came upon a photographer capturing some scenic shots on this clear, beautiful evening. I switchbacked down through some aspens toward Meadow Creek, admiring the last rays of sun shining on Lake Dillon and on the surrounding peaks. I had covered many miles today, and it felt good to be approaching my truck. I was impressed with how well Allie had done today, too. My eight year old lab was still scampering down the trail like a puppy at the end of the day!
I finally reached the trailhead about 6 p.m., after hiking 16 miles and climbing 5000' of elevation gain in ten hours today. What a fine hike it had been, an all-day adventure exploring a beautiful new place! This is one of my favorite sort of hikes, a long, scenic loop on a picture perfect day in the mountains.
