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.

Mike and I finally conceded that it was too late in the year for an attempt of a Ripsaw Ridge traverse.  For one reason or another, we had to delay the trip until the middle of September.  Then the first snowstorm came and we had to postpone the trip and on this weekend we were expecting snow again.  At the last moment, it looked like the weather would hold, but it was going to get down into the teens in Vail, which meant even lower for our planned campsite around 11,400 feet.  Since we were going to attempt a traverse, we wanted to go as light as possible – no tent, no sleeping pads, light sleeping bags.  Well, it was too cold for that.  To make this long story chock full of contingencies short, we decided the night before to just take a day hike to Upper Piney Valley and try to climb Peaks “C Prime” and “D”.  These are the two neighbors due south of the more popular Mount Powell and Peak “C”. 

We met at the familiar spot at 5:30, took Mike’s jeep out to Vail and Piney Ranch and began hiking around 7:30 or 7:45.  There wasn’t a soul up at the ranch and the morning air was quite cold and crisp.  Most of the aspen leaves had fallen off but there were still pockets of golden leaves clinging to the branches.  Not long after we started hiking, the old trail detoured into a new trail.  The old trail follows the broad, flat river valley for nearly two miles and inevitably crosses lots of mud bogs.  There are also two trails in most places where there should be one, so I guess it was closed for re-vegetation.  I wonder if the detour trail will ultimately be the main trail because it’s not a good one at all.  It climbs unnecessarily high above the valley, then descends back down to the level of the waterfall.  You probably gain about 500 unnecessary feet on that trail.

I led us back down to the falls which were as dry as I’d ever seen them.  What was normally a ground-shaking rumble in Spring was probably only running at 10 to 20 percent of it’s full power!  Such is the nature of Fall.  We passed the Peak “C”/Mount Powell turnoff and headed into Upper Piney Valley.
 
The next objective was to find a spot that would afford us a reasonably easy ascent into the basin beneath Peak “D”.  From “Piney Bristles” a couple of weeks earlier, I’d seen a nice grass ramp running up to the basin, so I was hoping we could find a way to intersect with this ramp and follow it up.  Not far after we turned southward into the valley and we had a pretty good view of “The Spider”, we saw a chute heading up the slopes toward the basin.  So, we decided to go ahead and head up.  The ground was pretty rough with lots of fallen trees and rocks, all semi-covered by the wilted summer vegetation.  After a couple of hundred vertical feet we turned right and passed above some cliffs and emerged on to the grassy ramp.  We could see our route the rest of the way up.  It involved crossing the creek, climbing up to the waterfall and then to the basin.

The waterfall here is quite an anomaly for Colorado falls in that it’s a true vertical drop of about fifty to sixty feet.  Normally, if you look closely, you can see these falls all the way from Piney Ranch.  This time of year though, it’s invisible from far away and up close.  It’s not much more than a fine mist.  It’s probably awesome in Spring though.  I’ll have to return to check it out next Spring, no doubt. 

Normally you’d climb well to the right of the falls to get into the basin, but, after getting a close-up view of the falls, we decided to climb directly up the buttress on the left-hand side of the falls.  Mike started really close to the falls but backed off a bit since the cold water had formed a film of slick verglas on the rocks.  So, we climbed up the 4th class, exposed arete for about sixty feet and emerged onto the rocks level with the waterfall.  Right above us were two mountain goats:  a billy and a kid.  Suddenly the billy started walking towards us.  We weren’t sure if he was being curious or protective.  I started walking towards him to see if he’d stop.  He didn’t.  So, we turned and started going up into the basin on the left side.  They both started following us.  As we went higher, we saw even more goats.  Eventually, we ended up in the basin which had all sorts of nice tarns in it with thick amber grass all around.  The basin was completely surrounded by higher ground except for the spot where the waterfall was.

Right in front of us was the towering ridge that we needed to get on to climb both peaks.  We decided on a long grassy ramp that led up to the middle of the ridge between the two peaks.  This part of the climb was quite a slog.  Fortunately, it was a grassy slope which is common in this area as opposed to a loose scree-filled couloir.  I’m not sure exactly how long it took us to climb to the ridge but it took about an hour probably.  On the way, we both got really hungry but we were set on taking a lunch break on top of the ridge where all the views were.  Near the top, the wind really started picking up, which is something uncommon to the Gores.  We climbed over to the eastern side of the ridge out of the wind, but in the sun, and enjoyed the awesome views and some lunch.  We decided to climb Peak “C Prime” first which looked like a high thin rocky fin thrust into the air.  It definitely didn’t look easy.  After a twenty or thirty minute break, we set out along the ridge.  The ridge quickly turned into a 3rd class scramble and as we started up the peak, which started at a small notch, became 4th class.

The easiest way to climb the peak is to drop on to the southeast side of the ridge and climb up the slabby and exposed face.  Though it’s exposed, the rock is really solid.  We didn’t get onto the face right away.  Instead, we stayed on the left-hand part of the ridge and entered a forty foot steep dihedral.  After this, we got onto the slabby face and climbed it to the top.
 
The true summit of the peak is very much like Sunlight Peak in the San Juans.  It’s an exposed upright column.  We both took turns standing on top and posing for a summit shot.  Unfortunately, the lower part of the ridge fades into the column so it doesn’t look quite as exposed.  Still, it’s not as bad as Sunlight; there’s not a direct drop off the peak from the summit column.  I took some more pictures from the top and we headed down.  We took the easy way down which was to stay completely on the face until you see the notch that joins the main part of the ridge.

Back at the spot where we had lunch (and had subsequently dumped our packs), I switched out my film.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking and opened up my film without rewinding it!  D’oh no!  Thankfully, only a three or four pictures were ruined but I was able to duplicate them.

We put on our packs and headed towards Peak “D”.  The ridge along the way looked quite convoluted but not really that hard.  We were wrong about that assessment!
 
The majority of the ridge to Peak “D” was 3rd class but there were plenty sections of slow 4th class to climb through.  At one point we climbed up a very steep section of the ridge.  As we were climbing up, we could see sky through the back of the face!  Obviously, we were climbing up a tower.  We got to a wide ledge and Mike continued to the top through a narrow 5th class chimney.  Sure enough, this tower was impassable.  There’s a very prominent rock outcropping to the left (north) of Peak “D” that looks like an eagle’s beak.  We were on top of that.  So, we climbed back down thirty feet or so and traversed around.  We were close to the summit at this point fortunately.  The last 100 feet to the summit were mostly 4th class mixed with a little easier 3rd class stuff.

On the top, like Peak “C Prime”, there was no sign of any other climbers.  There certainly was no register but there wasn’t even a cairn.  We built cairns on both.  Unfortunately, I’d forgotten my peak register.  I put my last one on Peak “O” (“Little Powell”).  We spent a long time on top of Peak “D” studying the rest of the ridge and admiring the remote Black Creek drainage.  Peaks “E” and “G” (“F” was obscured by “E”) looked immense and difficult from this angle.  A one day traverse of this ridge would definitely be an accomplishment.  Maybe we’ll try it next year.
 
We wanted to get off of Peak “D” by an easier route so we continued towards Peak “E” with plans to drop down the saddle near the basin on the south side.  Along the way, we crossed some of the loosest couloirs that I’d ever been in.  Mike decided to continue down one of the couloirs because we had to pass over another rocky rib to get to the slopes that led to the low saddle.  And we couldn’t see what this terrain even looked like.  I decided to risk it, hoping for grassy slopes.  Before I left, we turned on Mike’s transceivers and headed our separate ways.  I had to climb back up a grassy ledge to get to the other side of the rib.  As I suspected, there were nice grassy slopes that led down to the saddle.  I radioed Mike a few times on the way down and upon arriving at the saddle, took a short break and took some pictures.  I was able to spot Mike, who was a speck coming out of the melted-out couloir.  I started bounding down the saddle which was fine dirt.  We met back up in the high part of the basin.
   
The fall sun was starting to arc towards the horizon.  We didn’t have much sunlight left and had a long hike out in front of us.  We still took the time to go check out the beautifully sculpted tarns that lay in the lower part of the basin.  We took a few pictures here and rested a bit.  Then we headed down.  We actually took a different way down, thinking it might be better.  Actually, it was a lot better, though I bet it would be fairly hard to follow up.  We were able to stay in moderate grassy slopes most of the time.  Sometimes we even were able to follow a game trail.  To the left was a large talus field that will serve as a landmark when I come back again.  We joined back up with the main trail right at a spot in the trail that crossed a small creek – the creek that was flowing out of the Peak “D” basin.  At this point, the sun was glowing golden on the upper parts of the valley.  By the time we made it to the falls, the sun had set.  And by the time we were with a mile of the Jeep, the stars were out. It was super quiet up here…pretty neat.

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Mike and I had been planning a major Gore Range trip this weekend but our plans were dramatically changed when an early and very strong snowstorm moved through the state.  However, we decided to take a much easier trip on Sunday where we could do a bit of scouting on our postponed trip.  We decided to climb “Piney Bristles” which is a small, rocky point along the western ridge bordering Upper Piney Valley.  From the opposite side of the valley, “Piney Bristles” is a pretty impressive little peak and although it’s an easy peak to climb, that doesn’t degrade from enjoyment of climbing it and the amazing views that it affords.

We left Denver very late, around 9:30.  We drove down Red Sandstone Road and then took a right-hand turn on Lost Lake which is a bit bumpy but nevertheless a well-maintained road.  We drove maybe two or three miles to a sharp switchback in the road where we began our hike.  There was a faint logging road which we followed for a while, although we weren’t on it very long.  For the most part, we just used our routefinding and navigation noses to find our ways to an open meadow where we could see the ridge which we were heading for.
 
In some parts of the woods, we did see footprints so there surprisingly must have been another hiker up here today or at the earliest, yesterday afternoon.  After following through the meadow, we headed for hilly ridge coming off the main ridge which we headed up.  The climb was steep and we slogged up the slope for quite a while until the moment when we opened up onto an open talus area which lead to a 11,754 foot point along the ridge where we could see the rest of our route.  We could see Piney Bristles to the north, but we would have to head slightly south to connect with the main part of the ridge then head back north passing several points until attaining the summit.  We dropped down a short slope covered in deep snow then emerged onto a 3rd class ridge that was partially mixed with trees; we were still below treeline.  The ridge was 2nd class the rest of the way and was mostly a rock hop along talus, and avoiding dense trees.  There was a very pleasant hike through a high meadow before arriving at the base of the short rocky summit of “Piney Bristles”.

The climb to the summit is a short, perhaps only 100 foot, 3rd class scramble.  Once on top, Mike took out his binoculars and we surveyed Ripsaw Ridge, opposite of the valley.  I also took several pictures of the surrounding peaks and the valley (below).
 
Ripsaw Ridge towers three thousand feet over Upper Piney Valley.  The ridge’s highpoints (Peaks “C”, “D”, “E”, “F”, “G”, and “H”) are at about 13,200 feet and the valley is at about 10,200.  The ridge does indeed look like an impenetrable wall.  The valley is very gentle and rises very slowly over about three miles.  All the views we had were perfect.  The weather was perfect – very little wind, lots of sun, and zero haze.

After spending about an hour on the top and studying various parts of the ridge and access points, we headed down.  We climbed back over the ridge and climbed up the short snow slope to the point where we accessed the main part of the ridge (below).  However, instead of heading back towards Point 11,754, we headed further south.  By heading this way we would be able to descend a wide grassy gentle bowl and, at the same time, hook back up with the creek that we used to help us navigate in the opposite direction.
 
Because we started hiking so late, it was getting pretty late (about 5:30) in the afternoon and the sun was already starting to set some.  However, we thought about climbing an unnamed 12er on the opposite side of the bowl.  Mike decided that he wanted to just enjoy the basin beneath the peak but suggested I run up it real quick and take some pictures.  So, I headed up.  So I headed back up and got back on the ridge and the remainder of the climb consisted of talus covered in slick fall snow.  Normally, these sorts of conditions make for much slipping and sliding but in reality, it wasn’t bad at all.  I zoomed up the 700 feet to the summit and arrived up at the top in only 24 minutes.  From here I had great views of the southern part of “Ripsaw Ridge” as well as excellent, up-close views of “The Spider”.
 
(Right) Here’s the nice view of the ridge from the top of the summit.  The relief of the ridge is much more obvious from this side.  The setting sun helps out a lot too.

I took several shots from the top of this summit.  To the west was another summit.  I couldn’t really tell if it was any higher than the one I was standing on.  It looked a tad higher so I strolled along a wide talus ridge covered in new snow to the second summit which indeed appeared to be higher.  There was a third summit even further to the west but it was shorter and wouldn’t afford better views AND it was getting late in the day so I didn’t bother going.  Since the views weren’t as good from this summit, I headed back to the first.
 
I didn’t stay on top much longer.  The sun was starting to go down and we didn’t have the luxury of a trail to hike out on so I headed back down to the bowl where Mike was waiting (left).  We headed back out this different drainage.  Before we entered the forest, I paused and took this picture looking back on the little peak I climbed.  We bushwacked through a comfortable forest.  Eventually we ran into something that looked like a rough blazing of a trail.  We followed it for a good while and eventually ended up in the wide meadow with the faint logging road.  We actually found a way to follow the road back all the way to the car.  On the way in, we obviously took a right-hand turn instead of a left-hand turn and that road eventually faded into nothingness but we were still able to make it to the meadow.

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We waited until late June to attempt a neat looking couloir on “Corner Peak” (Point 12,709) and the connecting ridge that led to Mount Powell’s saddle (aka “Cataract Points”) so that Dan could come along.  Dan, Ken, and I left Denver around 1pm and took a leisurly approach to Piney Lake near Vail.  When we arrived at Piney Lake Ranch, we discovered that they were now charging $5 to enter!  Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be too strictly enforced because the guy attending the gate said we could just hike around on a new trail that paralleled the ranch and we were welcome to come in the other direction.  So, we packed up, put on our sunscreen, threw on our packs and headed out.  
 
This was maybe the 6th or 7th time I’ve made the hike along the flat slopes along Piney River.  I enjoy it every time I go.  

It was 53 weeks ago that Ken and I were here attempting Peak “C” and Mount Powell.  I don’t know if it was the extra week, but there seemed to be less snow on the mountains this year.  We definitely had more snow this year but perhaps this June was extra hot and melted out the snow a lot faster.  I have pictures from late July of 1997 where there was even more snow than there was this year, three weeks earlier. 

Anyway, we took a break at the falls where we climbed down to the base and took some pictures.  Dan was duely impressed with the waterfall.  This is one of the best falls that I’ve seen in the state.  We headed down to the base of the main section of falls for pictures (left).  The cataracts continue on steeply down the rocks past this, but this is the tallest section.  These two falls you see in this picture probably total about 75 feet.
 
After branching off of the main trail about 5 minutes past the falls, we began the steep ascent up to the spot that I had picked out on the map – the confluence of the main creek coming off of the Mount Powell/Peak “C” basin and the smaller perennial stream coming off of Corner Peak.  After plowing through the classic dense foliage and filthy black mud, we arrived at the spot which featured a perfect campsite as well.  Dan and I scouted around a little more up on the slopes towards Corner Peak perhaps trying to find a more private campsite since this one was almost right on the trail.  We found some nice spots but they were so far from a water source that they actually would have been more of a pain, although one had quite a spectacular view (below).

After setting up camp, building a small fire, and eating some chow, I decided to use the remaining light to scout the route, which is totally undocumented.  I went up to the confluence and crossed to the right (south) side. Actually we were camped maybe 100 yards below the confluence.  I climbed up about 100 feet to a small saddle to find another charming little basin to camp in.  I then turned westward and climbed up 3rd class ledges about 200 more feet to an aerie with a commanding view of the basin.  From there, I took several nice sunset shots, but more importantly I was able to spy most of the route on Corner Peak.  To my dismay, I noticed the couloir was almost entirely melted out.  No precipitation and a hot June was obviously the culprit.  The couloir looked very steep and intimidating from here so I was a little relieved that it was indeed melted out.  I went back to report the bad news to the other guys.  We were all bummed about the news and the two of them didn’t really want to attempt Corner Peak but I did.  They had a good point by saying that we ought to wait and try the couloir next year when it was in better shape as opposed to “forcing” a climb of the ridge.  I was a little more bummed but understood.  Dan was all fired up about climbing Peak “C”, which still seemed to be in good shape since it’s climbing couloirs faced north and west.  So, Ken decided that he’d lead Dan up Peak “C” and I decided to explore the basin and take pictures and maybe try traversing the ridge backwards.

Ken and Dan were planning on getting up at 5am.  Of course, the alarm didn’t go off and we all slept until 6:30.  We got ready really quickly though and headed out.  

My first plan was to climb up the the small notch above Kneeknocker Pass on the route to Mount Powell and take pictures of the stunning view of Peak “C” from there.  Last year, my lens was broken and my Peak “C” pics didn’t come out very well.  At the base of the first couloir we split up.  I made quick progress up Mount Powell and was able to take some neat shots of Dan and Ken climbing the first couloir (below).  At the notch on Mount Powell’s south ridge, I took several pictures of Peak “C” with different settings to ensure that I’d have a good picture, then headed back down.
 
Back near the base of the basin, I started heading west towards the western Saddle of Mount Powell where I would have a good view of the upper Cataract Creek Basin, which is the basin used to climb Eagle’s Nest. From the saddle, I started to climb the Cataract Points. The first one wasn’t very big but was pretty tough – difficult 3rd class. The next one was a very high point, the one along the ridge east past “Cataract Sentinel”, Point 12,626.  This Cataract Point was way too difficult for me to attempt alone and as the terrain got really tough (difficult 4th class), I backed down and headed back to camp.  Along the way I took several stunning shots of Peak “C” and Ripsaw Ridge.  I figured I’d head back to camp and meet Ken and Dan there.  I arrived at 11 am convinced that they would be back at camp.  The weren’t. So, in the meantime, I had a little food, laid out in the sun, then refreshed myself with some creek water.  When they weren’t back by noon, I started to think that something was wrong so I decided I would climb up on the slopes of “Cataract Sentinel” (Point 12,626) so I could have a commanding view of the basin.  I left my pack at camp, drank a lot of water, then strapped on my camera and fanny pack.  I zoomed up the peak.  About halfway up, I saw Ken glissading down the 1st couloir and then I saw Dan slowly backing down.  They were OK so I decided I would at least back this peak so I continued up.  I blew my whistle at them but they didn’t hear me.

This peak is a joy to climb and I highly recommend it.  The lower ramparts consist of grassy ledges that are solid and a pleasure to hike up.  The upper part of the climb is very craggy and a great 3rd class scramble.  I’d recommend following my route:  From the confluence of the two creeks (the one coming from Powell, and the smaller one coming off of the Corner Peak basin) head up the steep grassy slopes on the left side of the creek.  Cross the creek and move onto the lower slopes of Cataract Sentinel when it becomes easy.  Traverse past some smooth rock slabs then start up the grassy slopes. Soon, I realized I was in a grassy gully that’s easy to follow.  If you’re consistently follow the easiest, grassiest section, you’ll eventually pop out on top of a rocky ridge.  I started climbing the rocky ridge which was an awesome 3rd class scramble. From here, the views are stunning.  I still couldn’t see Corner Peak from here but I followed the ridge up to a false summit and then could see it.  However, this being a false summit, the ridge hooked to the right and continued up.  A very steep tower appeared to be the top.  I continued on and reached to top of the tower and realized that this was another false summit.  I could see the real summit beyond this point about a hundred yards.  There appeared to be a cairn!  After this final scramble I found myself on the top. A bout one hour and 1800 feet later, I was on top!  There was even a summit register!  Of course, only a handful of people had signed it, a few of which I recognized as guidebook authors and others who have climbed all of the 13ers!  In other words, some major hikers and climbers!

I took a picture of Peak “C” from the top…a neat angle to view the peak.  After sitting around for about 10 minutes, I headed down.

I headed down a different route.  I saw a gully that looked like it went straight down to the Peak “C”/Mount Powell basin.  I figured that if headed down to the basin that would be about 300 feet of trail that I could use to descend.  This route was further east than my ascent route and was a little trickier.  For one thing, the gully was a bit looser as there was a good bit of scree.  Also, near the bottom, I had to wander of mini maze of cliffs but was able to pick a safe route to the base.  I hooked back up with the creek and trail and followed my way back to camp where Dan and Ken were waiting.  It all worked out in the end.  We all enjoyed our respective climbs.  The hike out was rather grueling.  We were all spent by the time we arrived back at Dan’s truck at Piney River Ranch.

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