Backpacking to Gore Lake

As difficult as it is to accept, this was the final weekend before Evan’s senior year of high school. He’s been asking about getting out for a backpacking trip, so this weekend was our last opportunity to do beat the crowds by getting out on a Friday. We selected the Gore Creek trail, partly because I wanted to show Evan the dramatic Eagle’s Nest wilderness, and partly because the trails on the south side of the wilderness area are easily accessible from I-70.

All of the trails on this side of the wilderness ascend steeply out of the Vail Valley, and this one was no exception. The trailhead is near the Gore Creek Campground in East Vail, which draws even more people to the location. Fortunately, there are several branches to the trail, many of them leading to lakes, so even though we were on the headliner trail, we were hopeful that the lake wouldn’t be crowded.

About 4.5 miles in, we reached the branch to Gore Lake. Evan wanted nothing to do with camping down by the creek. He wanted a lake. So, we kept pressing upward. The first half mile and the last quarter mile are crazy steep. I was about wiped out when luckily the trail flattened for a while to wind through a meadow. Evan spotted a deer in one of the meadows that he nicknamed “Andy” (I have no idea why). Then we made our final push.

My legs were cramping during the last climb. I had to stop every 100 yards or so. I don’t remember ever feeling quite so tired. We made it to the lake around 6:30 and had to hustle to find a site and get set up before dark. We ended up hiking all the way to the far end of the lake (naturally), where we found a reasonably flat spot in the open with a view over the lake. All in all, we climbed more than 6000 feet during this hike due to the ups and downs along the way!

We pitched the tent, set up sleeping bags and chairs, filtered some water, fed the dog, and finally sat down to eat as it started getting dark outside. Evan absolutely loved his Buffalo Chicken Mac freeze-dried meal! Before we finished eating, the full moon began to rise above the mountains and peaking around the clouds to the east. It made for some very dramatic views! It was too cloudy to watch for the Perseid meteor shower, so we turned in for bed feeling plenty exhausted.

I woke up at 5:45 to check out the lake around the blue hour just before sunrise. The sky was completely clear by this point, other than the wildfire smoke that had blown in overnight. That caused most of the mountains around us to appear a bit hazy until well after the sun had come up. I climbed up the mountain behind our campsite to get an overview of the lake, and just kept going. I made it about 500 feet above camp. The views were excellent!

After breakfast, a family of mountain goats appeared on the lake shore to get a drink. When they saw us, they scampered back up the hillside going right past our camp. I scrambled to switch to my telephoto lens, and naturally, this is when the camera battery chose to die. I just got everything replaced in time to see them pass by the camp on the nearby ridge. Then they circled around to the back of us, and incredibly, all four came together to look back down at us as if posing for a portrait. This is one of my all time favorite backpacking photos.

Then it was time to break camp and make the long trek back down the mountain. Down is less tiring than up, but it still wears on the knees. It’s even worse for dogs, especially a black dog in the summer sun. Laika really struggled on the way out. For the last two miles, she would pause in every patch of shade, and sometimes would simply lie down in the trail and refuse to move. With much coaxing, and a couple of stops in the creek to cool down, we made it back to the car, utterly exhausted.

This trip is not for everyone (although there were plenty of people headed up the trail Saturday), but we were both glad we went. High alpine sites like this are simply amazing locations. We can’t wait to try another one – after some serious rest!