Suggested hikes in the gore range/Eagles Nest area? Summits, alpine, lakes, and fishing!

[Michael K]

Hi. I'll be spending a couple weeks in Colorado in July and driving there from Texas. I think that I want to concentrate most of my adventures in the Vail and Gore Range area because I just love how those jagged peaks and the terrain looks based on pictures and video that I have seen.

The kind of hikes that I want are hikes without mobs of people, alpine lakes, and summits. I plan to do some day hikes, loop/through hikes, and some base camping to do some fishing and summit bagging. I don't want to do any overly technical climbs involving ropes etc. What hikes are a must? Any tips and suggestions?

Two hikes that have really caught my eye so far……for backcountry base camping are:

1) Hiking to Gore Lake and then doing dayhikes to surrounding lakes (Snow and deluge lake) and surrounding peaks.

2)Hiking the Upper piney Trail to upper Piney Lake and again exploring the surrounding peaks.

Any suggestions on what peaks to climb and lakes to fish? There are two unnamed lakes to the North and Northeast of Upper Piney Lake that look interesting, but I'd have to go over a significant elevation change, which may make them too difficult to reach. Are there fish in the Piney River this far upstream?

Two other hikes that I was considering are:

1) Pitkin Lake

2) Upper Slate Lake

Is pitkin lake and the trail a "mob" scene? Also, how is the hike to Upper Slate Lake. It looks like the route has become much longer and limited with lots of private land issues (even limited around the lake). Thanks for any help and feel free to PM me!!!

[Michael K]

Not sure why I did not receive any feedback on this thread. Just for clarification……I don't necessarily need fishing information. I'm looking for advice and experience with gore range area hikes and fun summits to try. Thanks!

[Randy Martin]

I would suggest posting something on 14ers.com as well. I suspect you will get a lot more feedback on that site particularly when it comes to peak bagging and that site is Colorado focused and so many more similarly interested visitors on the site.

[Randy Martin]

Just happened to see this thread on 14ers.com you may want to look at

http://www.14ers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=35425

[Mary D]

I haven't been there since the mid-1950s when I was a teenager. I'd love to go back some time. I hope you'll file a trip report!

I have a vivid memory of traveling up the Black Creek trail. It's a dead end valley and although it was good trail, it was obvious that not a lot of people had been there. It was beautiful up there with high peaks at the head of the valley (an especially scenic view from the toilet installed up there). Stream fishing was excellent–so good that we didn't explore farther up the valley. On the way back to camp from fishing I spotted a doe close by (she was upwind of me) and stopped to watch her. A minute later twin fawns popped out of the bushes and started nursing. They couldn't have been more than 50 feet away, but of course I didn't have a camera with me. The trio appeared several times while we were there, but not nearly as close!

I recently found an article about that trail. It has been abandoned but can still be followed:
http://www.denverpost.com/travel/ci_15831477

It sounds as though the valley hasn't changed much in the past half century, which is a good thing!

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