Peak L Trip Report 08/05/2013

Peak(s):	"Peak L" - 13,235 feet
Date Posted:	08/05/2013
Date Climbed:	08/03/2013
Author:	k-berger

Upper Slate and Peak L
It was finally time to really explore the Gore range. After climbing Mt. Powell last year, and looking deep into the range, the seed for a "real" trip was planted. Our group of 5 packed in for 3 nights to Upper Slate lake with the intent to catch some fish, climb Peak L (2 of us) and relax in a beautiful place. Mission accomplished on all fronts. Let's just say the work to get to this place is absolutely worth it - I will be back for sure. My climbing partner and I found some variations to the "standard" route published online for Peak L which I thought may be useful to some, so here we go (captions above)... Just past the turnoff for the slate lake trail, starting the grunt work to upper slate - Peak L towers above Reflection of Peak Q from the rock outside our campspot on the first morning 30 minutes of work off of "pride rock". Did I mention the fishing was good? Dinner We left camp saturday morning around 5:30 and followed the faint trail around the south end of the lake to gain access to the slopes west of peak L. This trail is tough to follow and full off marsh and willows. I wore gaiters which were well worth it. Sunrise in the morning Ascending some "class 4" grass. Seriously, I didn't know grass could be this steep... Taking a break with Q and R behind The gully we took to the saddle on the right. This was before the low grassy point in the ridge View from the saddle looking back First look at the ridge on Peak L Soon you are blessed with this view... The knife edge is very exposed, lacks good footholds, but is absolutely solid. There is a 20 ft or so stretch of nerve racking exposure, but overall a very manageble obstacle. My partner, however, is averse to knife edges. We found this out together on Kelso a few years ago after he almost s*** himself as he approached the white rock. A very skilled scrambler, great routefinding skills, but can't do knife edges. He was prepared to wait below, knowing this moment in the hike was coming, but decided to try and find a way around. As soon as I popped over the knife edge, I looked down, and he was climbing up waiting at the saddle. I showed the approximate routes we took on a picture below, but the knife edge section is avoidable for anyone seeking to do so. The final summit pitch Climbing up the final pitch. Solid rock, great holds, decent exposure, but overall just FUN. Can you spot the climber? Summit views... Downclimbing the summit tower, can you spot the climber? Instead of decending the standard route back down, we decided to take the direct gully down to upper slate. Roach rates this as stiff class 3, which I would agree with, although we did find several class 4 moves on the way down. I would say this gully was more technical than the summit tower on L and loose in sections. Still an enjoyable route down and a fun variation from the "class 4" grass we came up. Here is our approx. route up and down. Red is my route up, blue shows my partners variation to skip the knife edge, and black is our decent. Peak L from Upper Slate Peak L has a spectacular summit perch, in a flawless basin, and so close to Denver. I can't recommend this enough (although I think some Gore enthusiasts will resent me making it sound appealing ) Maybe I should end on all of the tedious and terrible bushwacking that you have to do. It actually made the whole trip not worth it....... Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Upper Slate and Peak L

It was finally time to really explore the Gore range. After climbing Mt. Powell last year, and looking deep into the range, the seed for a "real" trip was planted. Our group of 5 packed in for 3 nights to Upper Slate lake with the intent to catch some fish, climb Peak L (2 of us) and relax in a beautiful place. Mission accomplished on all fronts. Let's just say the work to get to this place is absolutely worth it - I will be back for sure.

My climbing partner and I found some variations to the "standard" route published online for Peak L which I thought may be useful to some, so here we go (captions above)...

Just past the turnoff for the slate lake trail, starting the grunt work to upper slate - Peak L towers above

Reflection of Peak Q from the rock outside our campspot on the first morning

30 minutes of work off of "pride rock". Did I mention the fishing was good?

Dinner

We left camp saturday morning around 5:30 and followed the faint trail around the south end of the lake to gain access to the slopes west of peak L. This trail is tough to follow and full off marsh and willows. I wore gaiters which were well worth it.

Sunrise in the morning

Ascending some "class 4" grass. Seriously, I didn't know grass could be this steep...

Taking a break with Q and R behind

The gully we took to the saddle on the right. This was before the low grassy point in the ridge

View from the saddle looking back

First look at the ridge on Peak L

Soon you are blessed with this view...

The knife edge is very exposed, lacks good footholds, but is absolutely solid. There is a 20 ft or so stretch of nerve racking exposure, but overall a very manageble obstacle. My partner, however, is averse to knife edges. We found this out together on Kelso a few years ago after he almost s*** himself as he approached the white rock. A very skilled scrambler, great routefinding skills, but can't do knife edges. He was prepared to wait below, knowing this moment in the hike was coming, but decided to try and find a way around. As soon as I popped over the knife edge, I looked down, and he was climbing up waiting at the saddle. I showed the approximate routes we took on a picture below, but the knife edge section is avoidable for anyone seeking to do so.

The final summit pitch

Climbing up the final pitch. Solid rock, great holds, decent exposure, but overall just FUN. Can you spot the climber?

Summit views...

Downclimbing the summit tower, can you spot the climber?

Instead of decending the standard route back down, we decided to take the direct gully down to upper slate. Roach rates this as stiff class 3, which I would agree with, although we did find several class 4 moves on the way down. I would say this gully was more technical than the summit tower on L and loose in sections. Still an enjoyable route down and a fun variation from the "class 4" grass we came up.

Here is our approx. route up and down. Red is my route up, blue shows my partners variation to skip the knife edge, and black is our decent.

Peak L from Upper Slate

Peak L has a spectacular summit perch, in a flawless basin, and so close to Denver. I can't recommend this enough (although I think some Gore enthusiasts will resent me making it sound appealing

) Maybe I should end on all of the tedious and terrible bushwacking that you have to do. It actually made the whole trip not worth it.......

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Elliot	Gore deterants 8/6/2013 4:52am I think all summer gore TRs are supposed to just claim ”so many mosquitos I couldnt breath and most likely got the west nile virus....oh and the views were great, close to denver, no crowds paradise ect.” But really looks great and good to know the fishing is top notch as that is the reason I would like to visit slate in the summer months
lordhelmut	Some seriously sick shots 8/6/2013 5:19am Are contained in this here TR. Peak L is the finest overall peak in the state. It's one of the best scrambles, on some of the best rock, in one of the most remote basins, from one of the sickest campsites, next to one of the most beautiful lakes, surrounded by one of the most lush valleys, in the heart of one of the state's finest ranges. Thanks for the thorough description, sounds like you guys did it right up there and then to top it off with some fresh, local pescado for grub. Nice work.
mtnfiend	class 3/4 grass slopes 8/6/2013 2:58pm are definitely a defining feature of the gore. Looked like an awesome trip!
k-berger	Thanks for the comments 8/6/2013 6:01pm Elliot - Fish are really dumb up there, they were biting everything. You won't be disappointed. Helmut - Your trip reports of this area were used extensively by our group, so thank you sir. We were all on the look out for Shane from Alabama... mtnfiend - The grass is no joke. All we kept talking about was ”grassading” those slopes but alas, we forgot our gardening tools for a safe self arrest. Next time...
DArcyS	nice job . . . 12/16/2013 12:35pm I'm betting the fish were glad you weren't up there for the week to grab Q,R, and S. I get the idea you can also climb Peak L by its northeast ridge, which might be even easier still.

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