Left Booth Lake TH at 4:55am. Dark and a light rain. The rain intensified within the 1st 30 minutes. I put on my Gore-tex pants and found myself quite cozy. Somewhere between the falls and the turn for Druid and West Booth Passes rain turned to snow and dawn brightened things up-just a little. The first snows do a great job of highlighting trails, even the ones that are barely there. The wildflowers were fighting to hold their ground. Purple Bellflowers looked strong and healthy. Sedges and grasses were also striking with the blanket of fresh snow. I had a day ahead of me so Booth Lake was brief. The tarn below E.Booth Pass held my attention for a few minutes. As did West Partner and Outpost Pk. Looking forward to the ski season. The grassy ramp to the pass was slick. I kept close to the rock on climber’s left. The trekking pole was proving its worth already. After 4h15m I reached last winter’s snow meeting this winter’s snow on E.Booth Pass. As I switched to my mountaineering boots, I reminisced about July’s Peak H trip and the thieving marmots in the valley below.

The descent to Upper Piney Lake was slow, but enjoyable. Lots of loose rock and dirt and snow. I followed what appeared to be goat tracks down the steep chute. I appreciated the line that the previous descender had chosen. It was about 10:15am when I reached the shores of Upper Piney Lake. Lunch time. Bagel, pepperoni, and string cheese. I had decided before leaving the house to pack my big thermos with lemon ginger tea-a favorite with chocolate-as I do on most of my ski tours. Good call. I guess I sat for 45 minutes or so. The clouds played on the ridges and peaks as the snow lightly drifted down from above. I contemplated Spider and Web for a good while. The sitting didn’t keep me warm, but the tea helped me to linger. Anticipation of Crater Lake and that side of Druid Pass finally motivated me to head out.

Rounding Spider was simple enough. Once I got passed all the ponds the trail was visible. Its a familiar area and I’ve been on the wrong side of a pond or two before. I did catch myself a little high on the traverse at one point, but I quickly climbed down out of a boulder field just before the trail showed up. Once things opened up in the marshy area, I headed east at about 11k’. I have seen Crater Lake many times, but this was to be my first up close and personal. The weather started ramping up. The trees leading up to the bench and lake provided nice shelter. Druid Pass looked inviting as I made my way to the lake. I looked back at Spider and the summit was gone. By the time I finished making water, all the summits were gone, as was the pass. Interesting situation. Fortunately, I had a good enough look at the terrain leading to the pass. It was still a bit concerning to be climbing steeply towards a pass I only believed to be there. I couldn’t see shit. I looked back after about 10 minutes of climbing and the lake was gone.

I nailed it. Split the uprights. Somehow there was more snow on the south side of the pass. I felt like I was home-at night with the lights out. I knew where I was, but I needed to take my time. It was still steep enough to slip and bust my ass. It took about an hour or so to get to the “west booth ck” trail. It was so easy to follow with the snow highlighting it through the timbers and numerous dead falls. I finally stopped for another lunch-about time.

When I hit Booth Creek and the Booth Lake Trail I was struck by the idea that, when I passed by this point earlier, I hadn’t thought much about the fact that this was where the loop part would start and end. Just above the falls, I stopped to get back into my comfy trail runners. The colors that weren’t visible during the early morning darkness were now going off. The clouds finally made way for some of that famous Colorado blue sky. A perfect ending to a perfect fall day in the mighty Gore Range.

Wasn’t feeling the alpine start. I was pretty cozy. Its funny how 6:30am can feel late. The coffee was strong and oatmeal was…well, it was oatmeal. I was able to shave a 1/2 hour off my time to the top of Usable Pass by staying off the snow. On the pass, I strapped on the crampons. I only had to lose about 100′ on the snow field on the Boulder Creek side. I stayed fairly high on the traverse. The snow was perfect. I came off the snow near what looked like the most solid/usable rock. I’ve been on dirtier rock. I went right for the ridge between 12,710′ and Peak X. I’d call it mostly high class 2 with plenty of 3 and 4 moves available if you wanted to spice it up. From Usable Pass it was about 1 hour 45 min to the summit. Boulder Creek was looking as lush as the rest of the Gore. Cool views to the east of Central Pass, Bergschrundt Pass, and the west side of Keller. There was so much grass growing on Keller’s steep side. East Thorn stuck out nicely as did Valhalla. To the North, I enjoyed Q,R,L,S,&T. I didn’t see a register on Peak X, but then again, I didn’t look too hard. I summited about 10am and hung around for about a 1/2 hour. I took my time climbing down. The west side of the the ridge was most usable for the top 500′ or so. I took a different route down. I found some solid rock on the southeast side of the ridge. It made for some good times. Huge clusters of Columbine had me constantly stopping and going for the camera. I got back on the snow at a lower point than where I exited earlier. I was looking forward to getting more snow time. I was also looking forward to the glissade down the Pitkin side of the pass. I made it back to camp about 5 hours after my departure that morn. Lunch was delicious. I took a high westerly exit from E.Pitkin. I bet I hit the trail about 500′ below Pitkin Lake. Not a soul was seen until the TH. It was a 9 hour 38 minute day.

3:30 am came early, usually does. Something seemed different. It seemed to be getting brighter. As I exited the tent to get the coffee and oatmeal cranking, I noticed the northern slopes of Spider were becoming quite defined. Full moon! Camera! I tried. Have a look. Not to bad given the time of day. It was about 430am when I finally stopped playing with the camera and got some coffee in me. I was on a schedule and had an appointment in Vail at 6:30pm. I figured if I left camp by noon I could make it to Booth TH by 5:30, home to Edwards for a shower, and back to Vail. Ta-Da. First, I needed to get up on Ripsaw Ridge and visit the summit of Peak H.
Route finding was fairly straight forward. The moon sure was bright. I used the headlamp for about 30 min. I stuck with the snow. It was solid. I shot for the bench at about 12,000′. The sun was just starting to hit the southern end of the cornice on the south ridge of Peak H. I wanted to try the rock first. I felt under qualified as I moved into class 5 moves with a no fall zone. Fun down climb. Fortunately, I only made about 10 moves. I knew as soon as I put on my crampons and started wielding the ice axe that I was making a better decision. I was still solo. I love that feeling of doing everything I can to make my next move work. I was only on the steep snow for about 20 minutes. It was awesome. Once off the snow, the remainder to the summit was a mellow class 2 scramble. Nice view! All I could think about was how cool it would be to spend some time skiing around in the June Pass area. Talk about out there! I signed the register. 1st since 2007. Down climbing steep snow is a little less intense than rock. Maybe that’s just me. Its one of those deals that has me wanting to do it again as soon as I get through it. I enjoyed the view and picked out some glisading lines for the remaining descent to camp.
Side note: Marmots will chew on your Jetboil and trail runners, try to steal both, and just for good measure, piss on/in said shoes. I’m not so concerned about the Bears in the Gore Range. Keep an eye on the Marmots!
Left camp at noon. TH by 5pm via W. Booth Pass. By the way, its a flower fest out there.

Departed Booth TH @ 4:54am. Love that trail that goes to w. booth pass. Its changed a lot since I’ve first used it. There’s something to be said for an unmaintained trail and the way nature reroutes it.I switched to the boots and gaiters where the trail peters out (10,800′) and you climb steeply NE to tree line (11,200′) and N to the pass (11,795′). Plenty snow in the woods up to treeline…more above. I climbed some snow on the NE side of the pass…just S of Fly. Booth Lake is mostly frozen. Sure was nice having all that snow to travel on, especially through the marshy areas as I made the bend around Spider and Web towards Upper Piney. I arrived at the lake @ 12:30pm. Lunch and nap time.

I finally got around to finishing my movie on 2009′s trip into the Black Creek Drainage.  We shot about 30 minutes of video footage and I used about half of it.  That’s a pretty high ratio.  Well, it was hard to get a bad shot in that wild part of the range. This video also include footage of two remote climbs in the area:  Peak “I” and “The Elephant”.