Week 15: Donovan Rice relishes his time in the Gore Range, eyes Rocky Mountain National Park on Great Colorado Route

“It was pretty straightforward at first, but then it got way too steep and loose for my appetite; if I’m sketched out, it’s inappropriate for the GCR”

Donovan Rice has now been hiking the Great Colorado Route for 105 days and has walked approximately 1425 miles.

His accounts during week 15’s hike included two days exploring the southern Gore Range, hiking the Vasquez Peak Wilderness and crossing Berthoud Pass, and beginning his push north along the Continental Divide toward Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rice also continued to pick up his pace still, now averaging about 13.8 hiking miles/day (103 days) over the 15 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.

The Gores are not a bore

On Day 99, Rice left Frisco’s western end via the North Tenmile Trail for the Gore Range, with his first night’s goal of reaching Deluge Lake.

He hiked along the ‘cruisy’ trail for a few miles before linking up with the Gore Range Trail, ascending him into the high alpine toward Eccles Pass.

“Eccles is accessed via the Gore Range Trail,” Rice said in his Day 99 social media post. “When you get to the top, the views are just so freaking cool. 360 panoramic views.”

During the day, Rice also came across some familiar wildlife faces while hiking near Gore Lake.

“I even got to meet some friendly locals,” Rice said.

In all, Rice went over three passes on the day (Eccles, Red Buffalo and Snow), taking in the views and becoming enamored with the Gore Range with every step.

He also walked along the shore lines of three lakes (Gore Lake, Snow Lake and Deluge Lake), eventually crashing out for the night at a tucked away abandoned cabin near the trees on the southeast side of Deluge Lake.

Reaching Valhalla

On Day 100, Rice celebrated the ceremonial feat by hiking along more breathtaking trails and ridgelines in the Gores, first making is way up 13,061-foot Grand Traverse.

“Luckily it’s just tundra to the top, so it’s pretty straightforward,” Rice said of the ascension of Grand Traverse in his Day 100 social media post. “Up at the top, you get this great view of Valhalla.”

Rice pushed further north along the gullies between Grand Traverse and North Traverse, staying off the ridgeline proper, cheating left across the gullies.

“Be very careful with your footwork, because it is very loose,” Rice said.

Rice also said the hike across the gullies never went above Class III terrain, route finding was rather straightforward, and wanted future hikers to beware some exposure exists while making the traverse to North Traverse.

The terrain north of Rice’s position, once he reached Keller Pass, impressed him even more.

He tried to make his way down the loose boulders to Upper Boulder Lake from Keller Mountain, but ending up turning around, saying in part “it was pretty straightforward at first, but then it got way too steep and loose for my appetite.”

Rice ended up bailing down North Rock Creek drainage, bushwacking his way down the low route east to Boss Mine.

Rice caught back up with the Gore Range Trail after hiking out of North Rock Creek and made his way to Boulder Lake, then out of the Gores via Harrigan Creek Trail.

“Even if the Gore Range didn’t go exactly as I had planned, I did get to enjoy these beautiful views,” Rice said.

For Day 101, Rice took a ‘zero’ day in Summit County, saying in part, “I took a mental health day since I haven’t had a true ‘rest’ day since Westcliffe.”

Goodbye Gores, Hello Continental Divide

Rice left Summit County on Day 102, heading east on the Acorn Creek Trail first, then south on the Ute Peak Trail just south of Ute Peak.

He opted to hike south toward Ptarmigan Peak and through the Ptarmigan Peak Wilderness instead of hiking north toward Byers Peak and through the Byers Peak Wilderness.

“It just looked like it was better for weather, and might be prettier,” Rice said. “I had several people suggest I go that way instead.”

Rice said the views of Hagar Mountain, The Citadel and Pettingell Peak were “OMG” as the triple-peak set came into view while hiking along the South Fork Trail.

Hagar Mountain, The Citadel, and Pettingell Peak (the highest peak in Grand County), make up a popular triple-peak traverse one mountain ridge north of the Loveland Ski Area.

Rice continued along the ridge, eventually descending to the Bobtail Mine, crashing out for the night.

“It was insanely, insanely beautiful once you get over to Bobtail Creek,” Rice said.

For Day 103, Rice left the South Fork Trail at the Bobtail Mine and ascended up Jones Pass Road to Jones Pass, joining the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) at the top.

Rice stayed above treeline most of the day as he hiked the CDT just south of the Vasquez Peak Wilderness.

Rice summited Stanley Mountain on his way to Berthoud Pass, closing out the day’s hike atop the pass.

Stanley Mountain is part of the larger massif that houses the Stanley slide path, an avalanche slide path that crosses US-40 twice on the south side of Berthoud Pass.

Lingering early-morning rain showers welcomed Rice for Day 104 as he jumped back on the CDT northbound at Berthoud Pass.

The ridge traverse, starting from near Mount Flora, brought more excellent views of the Continental Divide and high-alpine Colorado tundra as Rice hiked his way northward toward the James Peak Wilderness.

“The early morning rain made for nice photography,” Rice said. “I’m nearing Rogers Pass, but it looks like lightning is forecast around 4 p.m.”

Rice made it over several of the James Peak Wilderness peaks, and across Rollins Pass near the Moffat Tunnel, before calling it a night near the Skyscraper Reservoir in the Indian Peaks Wilderness (IPW).

On Day 105, Rice set out hiking back up to the CDT from Skyscraper Reservoir to Skyscraper Peak in the IPW, continuing his march north toward Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rice skipped and wanted nothing to do with the LA Freeway, a Class V traverse that connects Arapaho Peaks to Longs Peak.

“Wednesday looks rough, but I should be able to get to Coyote Park before too late,” Rice said in a text on Tuesday to the Rocky Mountain Journal. “Hopefully Jasper & Neva don’t slow me down too hard as well.”

Rice said by taking the lower CDT route first past King Lake, then to Skyscraper Reservoir, “the CDT gets an okay view, but the eastern ridge will be better” indicates Rice hopes to make the GCR route follow the ridgeline, allowing hikers the best views along the route possible.

Rice camped out in Coyote Park for the night.

What’s ahead for Rice

Rice will start week 16 hiking more of the ridgelines in the Indian Peaks Wilderness from Coyote Peak to near Gourd Lake, including Hopi Peak east of the majestic and very scenic Lone Eagle Peak south from Crater Lake.

“I’m almost certainly won’t have reception during that time,” Rice said.

Once Rice finishes out the IPW, he said he will drop into Allenspark and formulate a new plan for attempting Longs Peak and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rice had stated earlier securing backcountry camping permits for Rocky Mountain National Park is factoring into his plans to hike through Colorado’s most popular national park, but will make it work somehow, someway.

In his own words

Most satisfying moment from week 15

• “My most satisfying moment this week was exploring the Gore Range,” Rice said. “I may have had to cut it short, but I have a solid list of things to revisit later to expand and refine the route.”

Most challenging moment from week 15

• “The biggest challenge this week was getting enough sleep,” Rice said. “I’m wearing a lot of hats, and there are far worse problems to have, but I’m pretty maxed out bandwidth-wise.”

What he’s learned from week 15

• “My biggest lesson this week was how difficult I’ve made this section,” Rice said. “I don’t like to ‘sufferbrag’ and I’m having far more Type I fun than Type II, but woof, this section is a doozy.”