Week 14: Donovan Rice ‘back to ridge traverses’ as he enters Summit County on Great Colorado Route

“I’m going to make a game plan for the Gore Range, because that mountain range will kill you without batting an eye”

Donovan Rice has now been hiking the Great Colorado Route for 98 days and has walked approximately 1,320 miles.

His accounts during week 14’s hike included taking the low route south of the Mount Evans Wilderness, completing the Tenmile Range Traverse and getting ready to hike the southern end of the majestic Gore Range.

Rice also continues to pick up his pace, now averaging 13.46 hiking miles/day over the 14 weeks he’s been thru hiking. His goal remains to hike between 20-25 miles/day over non-technical stretches while still maintaining around 13.5 miles/day overall.

Blue Sky and Bierstadt would have been nice

On Day 92, Rice departed Bailey northward along Crow Valley Road, then took a short walk on US-285 before exiting the highway onto Deer Creek Road.

Rice then made his way toward Deer Creek Campground near the southern edge of the Mount Evans Wilderness.

“I’m parking it here for the night and evaluating conditions for tomorrow,” Rice said. “Looks like I might luck out, at least enough to move further along.”

Weather conditions and the forecast made it tough for Rice to commit to hiking not only this stretch but the high alpine overall during week 14, especially with lightning being a factor when afternoon storms rolled in.

“Lightning and extreme winds are my two non-negotiables,” Rice said. “Getting wet is fine, and getting snowed on is better than struck by lightning.”

Take the low route

For Day 93, Rice left Deer Creek Campground and continued toward the Mount Evans Wilderness. However, due to the weather forecast calling for lightning again, he chose to explore the escape routes of the GCR route near the 14ers.

“I dropped down towards Abyss Lake TH today,” Rice said. “I got the 13ers (Rosalie Peak, Epaulie Mountain and Epaulet Mountain) before it, but Blue Sky, the Sawtooth, and Bierstadt will have to happen another time.”

By taking the Abyss Lake Trail, Rice still hiked along the scenic trail and visited Abyss Lake, which was only about a mile out each way out of the way, while he hiked toward Burning Bear Campground.

“I didn’t quite make it to the trailhead because I had some foot problems, so I camped early,” Rice said of his shortened day. “I was super disappointed to miss the Sawtooth Traverse. It was one of the things I was looking forward to.”

On Day 94, Rice finished out Abyss Trail, making his way to Guanella Pass Road, then hopped on Burning Bear Trail, a trail that follows US-285 southwestward toward Kenosha Pass and the Colorado Trail.

Rice originally planned on hiking from the Argentine Spine southwest along the ridge to Georgia Pass, the high route, but factoring weather in and because he had hiked that section prior when he hiked the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), it wasn’t a big deal to take the low route.

That weather forecast came to fruition too.

“It was probably about knee deep at worst, and it was just get to the other side and keep on keeping on,” Rice said in his Day 94 social media post.

Rain re-welcomed Rice when he made it to the Colorado Trail, but he said he’s used to it, saying “I just don’t want to get struck by lightning.”

Rice had one other thought about taking the low route vs. the high route.

“The only novelty I’m missing that I don’t know about that other people have done is Square Top Mountain over to Argentine Spine,” Rice said. “It’s a great stretch and I was super excited to share it with viewers, but alas, can only do what I can do.”

Back in the high ROUTE again!

On Day 95, Rice made his way up to Georgia Pass after camping below treeline below it on Day 94.

Rice rode the Georgia Pass ridge, summited Mount Guyot then down to French Pass, skipping Breckenridge’s famous mountain to the east, Bald Mountain, because “it was out of the way and would have been an out-and-back.”

“Mount Guyot’s southern ridge was absolutely stunning with its sheer drops offs.”

In typical Rice fashion, Rice spent most of the day on the ridges making his way to just north of the Quandary Peak Trailhead to camp for the night.

“I went over Black Powder Pass, Boreas Pass, hiked Madonna Dome, then Red Peak over to Hoosier Ridge all the way to Hoosier Pass, plus took Bemrose Trail down to the Quandary Peak Trailhead,” Rice said of his long day above treeline.

Rice received a small resupply from a friend, including a new power bank, and said he’s “taking full advantage of the good weather while he can to keep pushing onward.”

Hey, I know you…

The story goes, Rice was near the Quandary Peak Trailhead in the afternoon when a friendly voice called out to him.

Tim Cooney, the creator of climb13ers.com, along with his wife Carrie, saw Rice on the side of CO-9 and pulled over for a quick chat.

They recognized Rice from his social media posts about the Great Colorado Route, and the three had a short exchange about hiking the Tenmile Traverse.

The “Climbing Cooneys” have been hiking Colorado summits since 1975. According to their website, they married in 1978 with Tim finishing all the 14ers in 1983 and Carrie finishing in 1987. In 1994, Tim and Carrie finished the 100 highest Colorado summits, and by 1995 they had finished the 200 highest. 

They finished all of the Colorado 13ers on Aug. 3, 2013 by summiting Boreas Mountain southeast of Breckenridge.

Welcome to Summit County

On Day 96, Rice awoke to start a big day that included summiting 14er Quandary Peak, then bagging a few 13ers and 12ers during another long day above treeline hiking the Tenmile Range Traverse.

The Standard Tenmile Traverse is one of Colorado’s great traverses, running approximately 16 miles from Breckenridge to Frisco along the ridgeline from Peak 10 in the south to Mount Royal in the north. But since Rice was hiking from Hoosier Pass, he adding on a few more summits off the standard route.

Rice hiked up and over Atlantic Peak, Pacific Peak including a view of the highest officially named lake in the U.S., Pacific Tarn at 13,420-feet.

“Pacific Peak takes the cake for prettiest mountain this stretch,” Rice said. “Just such a dramatic northern face.”

Rice also hiked over Crystal Peak before reaching the number-named peaks that rise high above Breckenridge.

Rice made some more progress across the rocky tundra form Peak 10 to the saddle between Peak 8 and 9, where he camped that night on the Wheeler Trail.

He was rewarded with an excellent sunset as well as sunrise the next morning.

Rice continued his push northward to start Day 97 from between Peak 8 and 9 along the Tenmile Range Traverse, hiking all the way to Frisco while taking in the epic views of the range’s remaining number-named peaks.

The initial four peaks (1-4) are traversed by precipitous scrambling ridges. In particular, the ridge between Peak 2 and 3 is challenging and route-finding is crucial. 

Fortunately, the weather cooperate enough for Rice he managed to make it to Frisco with no issues.

“I’m ‘zeroing’ tomorrow since it looks like it will be rainy,” Rice said.

“Then I’m going to make a game plan for the Gore Range because I was way too ambitious, since it is one of those things where that mountain range will kill you without batting an eye and it is best (done) pre-scouted. It is not something to go ‘full send’ completely blind and naive.”

On Day 98, Rice took a ‘zero’ day in Silverthorne and Dillon, catching up with a couple of Summit County friends and checking out the local food scene before finalizing his first day’s hike into the Gore Range.

What’s ahead for Rice

Rice will start week 15 hiking the southern half of the Gore Range, taking off from Frisco on the North Tenmile Trail.

The Gore Range has some Class IV and V routes within its boundaries, which Rice will avoid, however he said he’ll take a few days to thru-hike the southern end including summiting the Grand Traverse and visiting a few lakes.

Rice also said a lot of the day’s hikes will be weather dependent and could easily change his route, forcing him to decide to stay lower on mountain or bail down to town like East Vail to ensure his safety.

In his own words

Most satisfying moment from week 14

• “My most satisfying moment this week was staying on the ridge all the way from Atlantic Peak to Royal Mountain,” Rice said. “Such a cool test of endurance with endless views the whole way.”

Most challenging moment from week 14

• “The biggest challenge this week was bypassing the Sawtooth Traverse,” Rice said. “I was really excited for that section, but I can’t wait for perfect weather if I want to finish this thru hike.”

What he’s learned from week 14

• “My biggest lesson this week was the genuine need for low routes and escape routes for when the weather worsens,” Rice said. “Completing the full loop in one session would be impossible without them.”