FOLLOWING THE PIONEER BACKPACKERS/CLIMBERS AND HIKERS OF GORE RANGE PASSES, FRANZ MOHLING AND THE BOULDER CMC, DR. JOHN HOLYOKE AND BOB ORMES

Grand Traverse Peak, 13,041

Point 11,641

Point 11,684

by gore galore

Like the mostly unnamed and comparatively unknown peaks of the Gore Range so too are most of the early explorers of the range unknown with long forgotten names. The best known names of Powell, Hayden and Hagerman sought out to climb Mount Powell in 1868, 1873 and 1913; Carl Blaurock led Colorado Mountain Club outings climbed many of the unclimbed peaks of the interior during 1935 and 1948; and the itinerant mountaineers such as Kenneth Segerstrom and Stan Midgley climbed remote peaks like Peak Q in 1933 and Grand Traverse Peak in 1943.

While most of the high peaks of the Gore Range were climbed by the 1970's virtually nothing was known of the high unnamed passes of these mountains. Crossings of the range north of Red Buffalo Pass were rare and largely unknown before this time.

In the decade of the 1970's a backpacking/climbing traverse, a hiking trip and the publication of a route/climbing Atlas were pioneering efforts at crossing and identifying the high interior passes of the Gore Range.

In 1973 Franz Mohling director of the Colorado Mountain Club Boulder Group's Mountaineering School led a 9 day “big trip” of a backpacking/climbing traverse of Colorado's Gore Range. This nine person group traversed the range from Gore Lake to Piney Lake via eight major mountain passes over 12,300 feet while climbing nine peaks along the way.

In 1977 Dr. John Holyoke made a valley hopping game of crossing five main valleys (Gore, Deluge, Bighorn, Pitkin and Booth) along the major length of the southwest side of the range from Vail. His route was derived from a composite of many explorations over a decade. In the summer of 1977 he hiked the entire route from Piney Lake to the Gore Creek trailhead, approximately 24 miles and 7,300 vertical feet in 13 hours.

In 1978 Robert Ormes published his “Gore-Tenmile Atlas,” a map of routes used or suggested for cross country travel to the peaks and passes of which many were identified for the first time. This Atlas is out of print and very hard to find now.

In 2019 I attempted to cross the pass from Deluge Lake into the North Rock Creek valley to explore two unnamed points in the Grand Traverse cirque but was unsuccessful due to reasons later described. As a consolation I climbed the east ridge of Grand Traverse Peak from the pass.

My failed crossing of this pass and climbing the Grand Traverse Peak that the 1973 backpacking/climbing trip did precipitated this trip report of mountain passes in the Gore Range. Since I have crossed or stood atop all but one of the eighteen passes named in the Ormes' Atlas, I decided to vicariously follow the trip reports from the Boulder Group and that of Holyoke. I have added my own observations from many personal trips to what these pioneers encountered on their backpacking/climbing and hiking traverses of Gore Range passes.

1973 CMC BOULDER GROUP'S MOUNTAINEERING SCHOOL GORE RANGE TRAVERSE

This August 4-12, 1973 trip began at the Gore Creek campground Friday evening August 3 where “we shuddered at the crowded campsites.” As most who frequent the Vail side of the range know there is still that shuddering aspect to the parking area at the Gore Creek trailhead to this very day.

After a Saturday morning car shuttle to Piney Lake they stopped in Vail to pick up a few forgotten items. “From the difficulty of finding flash light batteries and water bottles, we concluded that Vail must not have much of a climbing community.” This was probably true in that time but obviously not now.

Saturday evening they pitched their tents at Gore Lake where it rained until Monday. Monday morning five climbed Mt. Silverthorne, 13,257 and four climbed the 13,024 foot peak above Snow Lake. This peak was later named Snow Peak on the Ormes' Atlas.

Monday afternoon they packed up camp and headed over the Gore-Deluge Pass, 12,500 on a steep grassy slope. This pass is now known as SNOW LAKE PASS from the Ormes' Atlas which has the annotation (good). Three climbed Snow Peak, 13,024 from the pass.

“Then many of us had our first opportunity to descend a scree slope – slip, slide, jam your ice axe in for balance, convince yourself that the ground beneath you is not supposed to stay still, finally get into the rhythm of semi-glissading on your feet, then the rocks get bigger than your feet and mess the whole thing up – what a time we had!”

The north side of Snow Lake Pass has an annoying amount of scree leading to some rough talus at the bottom. There is a hidden goat trail in the grass off to the right of the pass that lessens some of this scree surfing.

They made their camp below Deluge Lake near timberline. Tuesday morning they were on their way to the Deluge-Rock Pass, 12,400 up another steep grass slope. The Ormes' Atlas names this as EAST TRAVERSE PASS. I have also known it as SNOW BELLY PASS the origination of which is unknown to me.

Six of them climbed South Traverse Peak, 13,041. When I climbed this peak in 1980 I also knew it as South Traverse Peak. Later from the Ormes' Atlas I would see it labeled as the Grand Traverse peak.

“Our descent into the upper Rock Creek valley was on snow, hard and steep at the top.” Franz and Bill set up a fixed rope for the first part which Mike, Clyda and Shirli used, while the other four “took off in standing glissades at a very fast, but fortunately well-controlled rate.

Shirli went down the rope first - “it wasn't nearly as bad as expected” and descended the slope. Mike's descent went unnoticed until someone suddenly saw him below the fixed rope wildly out of control. “We held our breath as we watched him rolling over and over, axe held firmly in arrest position but not catching in the snow, equipment flying in all directions.” Mike amazingly emerged unscathed. Franz lowered Clyda an extra rope length and Bill calmly walked down the slope on his crampons.

This permanent snow field below East Traverse Pass or Snow Belly Pass as I like to call it is one of the more difficult pass crossings in the Gore Range. I have been at its top several times and have crossed it twice in June months with crampons and ice axe, once to climb a north facing snow route on the east ridge leading to Palomino Point and another time to climb the north face of Grand Traverse Peak.

It is a pass in a deep cirque shaded by the east ridge of the Grand Traverse and Point 12,670. My approach to this pass in September of 2019 from Deluge Lake was with ice axe only. I could immediately see from the hard marble snow that without crampons I would only duplicate Mike's out of control fall from 1973 and about faced in retreat. And I would like to think that Mike “rolling over and over” during his fall is the origination of the Snow Belly Pass name but it is a story too good to be true.

They camped in the upper Rock Creek valley near an unnamed lake with elevation 11,590. Wednesday morning six of them headed for the Rock-Bighorn divide, 12,340. This divide is known as CENTRAL PASS with the annotation (good) on the Ormes' Atlas.

At the pass they dropped their packs and scrambled to the summit of North Traverse Peak, 13,079 “and signed in as numbers 14-19 on the register left by Harold Walton in 1957 – another reminder of how little frequented this area is.” When I climbed North Traverse from this pass in 1980 I seem to recall signing a register.

They followed the ridge northeast over a 12,860 foot summit to the ROCK-BOULDER PASS, 12,800. The other three climbed directly to this pass and then down scree and snow into Boulder Creek. This pass is probably little known as it doesn't appear on the Ormes' Atlas. I have climbed Point 12,860 which is the western most summit on the ridge line of Keller Mountain but was unaware that a pass existed at its northeast base.

They then headed towards the BOULDER-SLATE PASS, 12,600 which proved to be quite an experience. Due to a map reading error six headed towards the wrong pass where they discovered their error on top of the scree slope staring down into Pitkin Creek to the west. This one is named USEABLE PASS on the Ormes' Atlas. As its name implies it is a serviceable pass between the Pitkin Creek and Boulder Creek valleys.

Straightening out their route finding they joined with the others going down more scree and snow into the S. Slate Creek valley. I believe their Boulder-Slate Pass which is not shown on the Ormes' Atlas lies somewhere on the ridge between Point 12,710 and Peak X, 13,085.

Thursday four went off to climb East Partner Peak, 13,057 via a snow route and possibly being something of a route I climbed on the north face of this peak in 2012.

Friday they started off towards the S. SLATE-N. SLATE PASS,12,600 between Peak P and Peak Q. “The steep hard snow up to the pass brought crampons out of the pack.” This pass is also not shown on the Ormes' Atlas.

At the top of the pass all but two took the ridge to the west summit of the triple-summited 13,230 foot peak. It proved a disappointment, however, as the next summit was the higher one. It wasn't feasible to make the traverse as the ropes had been left at the pass.

“The peak was promptly named Mt. Trident, after the three-pronged spear of the classical god.” They apparently were unaware of the lettered peaks of the Gore Range as this was Peak Q.

They descended the north side of the pass via snow. Three of them again used the rope, “this time without incident” although another necessitated a self-arrest when he briefly lost control.

This north side snowfield partly on the north face of Peak P is one of the larger in the Gore Range. I have climbed it to the pass with ice axe and crampons for climbs of Peak P and the west summit of Peak Q.

Then it was across a 12,600 pass without mention between Peak J and the southwestern Point 12,685 of Peak K, 12,920. I have used a short ridge on the north side of the pass for a descent off of Peak K.

Saturday morning the group split with three of them taking a shortcut over a 12,300 foot pass to Bubble Lake. This pass named BOOMER PASS on the Ormes' Atlas lies between Peak 12,845 and The Elephant, 12,865. I have traversed the ridge of this pass while climbing both peaks.

The rest of the group went over a pass to climb a peak and descend the Black Glacier. This 12,500 foot pass lies between Peak G and Peak I, 12,922 and is called JUNE PASS on the Ormes' Atlas. It is the only one of the eighteen named passes on the Atlas that I have not crossed or stood atop. The peak climbed by the group was Peak F, 13,230.

Then it was over a minor 11,550 foot pass from Bubble Lake into a Black Creek campsite close to Mt. Powell. Sunday morning found them trudging up their eighth and final pass unnamed then but now known as KNEENOCKER PASS, 12,300. They dropped their packs just below the pass and climbed Mt. Powell. They then descended their last steep scree slope from the pass.

Kneenocker Pass is one of the more familiar passes in the Gore Range because it is the main approach to the highest peak in the range. There is now a fairly well defined path in the scree that is evident as a scar from Powell Basin. In 1980 when I first climbed Mt. Powell there was hardly a scratch in the scree slope leading to the pass.

The CMC Boulder group summed up their traverse noting that private ranches bordering the east side of the range block access from that direction. “Steep passes such as we were travelling over were the only other accesses, and there are few people willing to do such rugged travelling.” Much of this is still true today.

FRANZ MOHLING was born in New Jersey in 1930. He earned his doctorate in theoretical physics at the University of Washington in 1958. It was in the Pacific northwest that he began his serious climbing career.

For twenty years he was a physics professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. During this time he was also a leading figure in the Colorado Mountain Club where he helped establish and direct the mountaineering school.

He distinguished himself with climbs in the Himalaya, the Cordillera Blanca and on Mount Robson, Mount Waddington and Mount Logan. He died in an avalanche with two friends while making his third attempt on Mount Logan in 1982.

A climbing companion of him would say, “Franz would work out his day in a journal by a lone candle in the tent.” The Mohling Traverse from the summit of Lone Eagle Peak to Iroquois in the Indian Peaks is named after Franz Mohling.

The pioneer backpackers/climbers that accompanied Franz Mohling on the Gore Range traverse were Shirli Voigt who wrote the trip report with the use of Franz Mohling's journal, Tim Schuld, Glenn Davidson, John Quist, Ken Lindberg, Mike Smith, Bill Napier and Clyda Napier.

1977 VALLEY HOPPING IN THE GORE

Dr. John Holyoke followed a one day route crossing five valley passes from Piney Lake to the Gore Creek trailhead in 1977. These five passes of which I am familiar with from using them to climb various peaks are the following.

PINEY-BOOTH PASS, 12,050. This pass is the low point of the ridge which leads west from West Partner Peak. It is known as EAST BOOTH PASS on the Ormes' Atlas.

BOOTH-PITKIN PASS, 12,200. This pass is at a level spot on the lower south ridge of West Partner Peak. It is just north of Point 12,215. The Ormes' Atlas does not have a name for this pass but shows a crossing route.

PITKIN-BIGHORN PASS, 12,600. This is a ridge crossing near Point 12,620 west of Skiers Point that comes with a “WARNING: This is climbing with moderate exposure,” from Holyoke. The route is an arduous 2,100 foot climb from Pitkin's east bowl. This crossing is not shown on the Ormes' Atlas. It is the hardest crossing on Dr. Holyoke's route.

BIGHORN-DELUGE PASS, 12,160. This pass crosses the southwest ridge between Grand Traverse Peak and Peak 12,485. It is named SOUTH TRAVERSE PASS on the Ormes' Atlas.

DELUGE-GORE PASS, 12,650. This pass crosses the low point of the north ridge of Snow Peak, 13,024. It is named SNOW LAKE PASS on the Ormes' Atlas. Dr. Holyoke notes the loose scree of the north side that the CMC Boulder group slid down in 1973. He also mentions the old but very welcome trail that leads through this loose scree of which I have called the hidden goat trail.

JOHN B. HOLYOKE was born in 1915. He was a practicing pathologist in Denver.

He became a member of the Colorado Mountain Club in 1940 when he climbed Longs Peak and completed all of the 14,000-foot peaks in 1977. It was said that John had mountaineered all around America and the world.

He was an avid jogger and ran the Boston Marathon in 3 hours and 33 minutes at age 66. He also held the original round trip summit speed record of 5 hours and 22 minutes for the Grand Teton set in 1939 with Joseph Hawkes. The record stood until 1973.

In addition to “My addiction – Lord Gore's namesake” as he wrote was the Sangre de Cristo Range where on August 14, 1981 he died in a climbing accident on Crestone Peak.

It was said that John had a passion for the mountains and he was “a man who truly matched his mountains.”

BOB ORMES (1904-1994) is well known in the history of Colorado mountaineering. He was the author of the “Guide To the Colorado Mountains” which was the main source for the mountains of Colorado for nearly fifty years. In its day it was known as the Ormes' Guide.

He published his first atlas in 1959 with “The Pikes Peak Atlas” which has several editions. There followed a series of atlases for the Gore and Tenmile Ranges (1978), three different ones for the San Juan Mountains (1978), the Holy Cross region (1978) and the White River Plateau of the Flattops (1978), the Sangre de Cristo Range (1985) and the Elk Range (1988). As Ormes would write, “Many of the peaks and valleys he visited were at least as pleasing to explore for routes as the regions of fourteeners and far less travelled.”

All but the Pikes Peak Atlas are out of print and hard to find. I have used my torn and taped and worn and creased Gore-Tenmile Atlas to follow many of the used or suggested routes in exploring the peaks and passes of the Gore Range following in many instances those pioneer backpackers/climbers and hikers of 1973 and 1977.

2020 AFTERWORD

I returned in July 2020 to climb those two aforementioned unnamed points in the Grand Traverse cirque from an approach route in the North Rock Creek valley. Point 11,641 is at the lower entrance to the Grand Traverse cirque. Its northeast ridge above the valley is covered by the boulders of the moraines of the cirque requiring such a tedious ascent of boulder hopping across seemingly endless acres such that I wonder if anyone had ever come this way to climb this remote peak.

I received a reprieve from the moraine boulders on my descent to an island of greenery supported by numerous drainages flowing from the moraines. Point 11,684 is a hill like summit above four tarns and marked by the krumholtz hugging its leeward side and the open slopes of its windward side.

Both of these remote summits are pedestals from which I could admire the wonder of the extent of the Grand Traverse from Snow Belly Pass on the left to the slopes of the hidden Central Pass on the far right. And from these summits I let my imagination run as I visualized Franz Mohling and the Boulder CMC group descending Snow Belly Pass and making their way across the jumbled expanse of the Grand Traverse cirque and descending the wildness of the upper reaches of the North Rock Creek valley on their pioneer backpacking/climbing trip of Gore Range passes in 1973.