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!!!
