Trekking in Colorado - Gore Range

August 2000

I started out in the afternoon, from Elliott Ridge Trailhead, over 10 miles way up forest service roads, not all of them in great shape. I made it with my little Hyundai, but there were some nervous times. The trail follows the ridge top, and although it looks pretty easy on the map, there is still a fair amount of up and down, especially at the end heading up to Meridian Peak (12,390'). I found I was doing pretty well with endurance under 12,000' at this point, but those last 400' were difficult. The ridge is all above tree line of course, and there is a good view of the Green Mountain Reservoir, the surrounding mountains (all the way up to RMNP), and of the north end of the Gore Range. It is indeed a rugged range, few or no trails get back into the heart of it and the only two places to cross it on trail require a 70-mile loop trail. One might find other places to get across in between, maybe. The wind was really blowing along the ridge, I put my Frogg Toggs on and kept them on the entire 8 miles.

I meet up with two guys at the peak (which is really just a sub peak of this range surrounded by higher peaks). They were out looking for animals, we did see a golden ferret who came to check out my pack, but nothing other than that. Apparently there are often goats that come out in the evening here. My plan was to then head down to Mirror Lake and camp, but on the way down I found pretty much the perfect campsite, on a plateau with a few shallow lakes right at tree line.

From my tent was a perfect view just about all around, the lakes, the peaks, then in back was Mount Powell at 13,500' and Eagle's Nest at 13,200' (see photo at right). The lake was actually two lakes seperated by a small piece of land. The campsite was at about 11,400'. There was little sign of use in the area, but there was a couple camped across the one lake from me. I went to bed early as a storm was moving in, one problem with being this high up is the wind, I was scared for a while that the wind would damage the tent, but it held up wonderfully.

The next morning I had breakfast and then headed out to explore the area. I meet my neighbors, Dave and Ella, a very nice couple from CO who have headed out to this area for a long time. They gave me some pancakes! We talked for a while and walked around a little before it was time for me to head off for the day if I wanted to get any hiking done. I headed down the mountain, the trails here can be very difficult to follow in the grassy areas as there isn't enough traffic to keep them clear. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can be inconvenient for the hiker. The trail if when you find it follows a small stream cascading down from the ridge. I found the trail again at the bottom of the valley and headed out toward Mirror Lake.

Mirror Lake is pretty, but not dramatic. It does have a nice campsite or two around it. I was more impressed with Upper Cataract Lake which is quite large and nestled right up next to the mountain. Very dramatic. There are, however, lots of over used campsites around it, probably owing to fairly easy access. At this point my knee was hurting again, so I took a break here, but not too long before heading back. I had decided to take Dave up on his offer of some cognac by a campfire and so was heading back for that campsite. At about the time I made it back to Mirror Lake my knee started hurting very badly, I stopped for some meds and a break, and wasn't sure I was going to make it back. However, I hobbled on the last few miles up hill and finally made it back to my site.

I tried to call my wife from a near by rock, but no cell phone reception anywhere around here. So I had a Lipton dinner, got camp all set up, and then went next door to sip cognac with Dave and Ella and watch the Milky Way. The sky was very clear and every star was visible. Lots of falling stars went down as well. We had a good discussion, a nice drink, campfire, and bright stars are especially good at promoting talk. Finally it was getting late and chilly, I headed back to my warm down bag and my last night on the trail for this trip.