Mt Powell (13580 ft) by Brian Schultz Friday August 10, 2001
Mt Powell is the highest peak in the Gore range. It may be just a thirteener but the route requires 4500 feet of elevation gain and a total hiking distance of 12 miles, which puts it on a par with many of the fourteeners. My body was already weary from so much hiking in the past two weeks but I was up to doing this with my friends Tim Briese and Steve Helle, who'd be meeting each other for the first time. Climbing in the Gore range would be a new experience for us all- we used Garratt & Martin's book for route information and found topo maps to be helpful, especially Trails Illustrated.
Steve and I met in Vail for dinner Thursday night and drove to the Piney Lake ranch afterwards where we carcamped in a tent area just before the gate. Tim would drive in from the Springs and meet us in the morning.
Tim arrived on time and we began at 6:20 AM to the left of the ranch gate on a trail that led around the left side of Piney Lake. The excellent trail gained very little elevation through a valley and into the woods but made up for it with distance gained as we edged closer to the rugged Gore peaks. We passed two stream crossings and stopped just before the third to contemplate our cut-off from the trail. Up to that point the hiking was easy. The main trail continued ahead, but away from Mt Powell, and though we could've backtracked to a camping area and ascended from there, we decided to just bushwhack up through the trees where we were standing.
We were over halfway in distance to the summit but the bulk of the 4500 ft elevation gain remained and we felt it as soon as we started up. We climbed close to a waterfall before angling up through the trees into a tall grassy area and rejoining what the book describes as a rough trail. Surprisingly, it was well trodden. However, the steep path produced quite a workout and the wet foliage soaked us as we pushed our way up. We negotiated some particularly steep sections around trees before finally topping out into a flat meadow and getting a closer view of what lie ahead. We also received a much needed break from the relentless elevation gain.
The dirt trail turned into a lightly trampled path through the meadow and steered us toward the fat gully on the ridge. But instead of taking it all the way up, we cut to the left on steep, grassy switchbacks to reach the 12,460 ft saddle. It was all very tiring and we still had over a thousand feet of gain remaining as we paused at the saddle and considered the next part of the route. That being a short but difficult downclimb to reach the drainage to our left between the ridges. We carefully made our way down and moved to the right side of the drainage where more steep climbing on talus, grass and scree further taxed our energy. Visibility was limited in the low cloud cover and worsened as we ascended.
I reached the flat area on top first. Socked in by dense clouds, I wasn't entirely sure where to go until Tim said to keep going to the right. It looked too easy but he was correct and a short scramble up the boulders put us on the summit. The time was 11:12. We weren't surprised to be the only climbers on top, as a matter of fact we didn't see anybody at all until nearly back at the ranch. We stayed for about thirty minutes viewing the surrounding peaks through the heavy but drifting clouds. It was cold on the summit.
We left Mt Powell at 11:45, admiring the stupendous view of Peak "C" as we descended the drainage and wondering how it could possibly be climbed. The intimidating peak towered above us at the 12,460 ft saddle and we guessed at its potential routes while taking a long break there. The saddle itself is a remarkable vantage point because you get to see the distance from Piney Lake to Mt Powell with just the turn of your head. Steve's sharp eyes caught some goats below in the meadow and though we could've stayed longer on the scenic ridge, we departed for the long grind back to the lake.
Fortunately, all the plants and grasses were dry on our descent below the meadow. The route we took down (the book described path) didn't seem as direct as the one we bushwhacked up in the morning but it did bring us to the main trail. The one and only person we saw on the trail all day passed by us in the valley, not far from the lake. He wasn't carrying a pack.
We pulled into the ranch at 3:05 and dropped our packs outside the cafeteria. It was open to the public for lunch but we went in only wanting something to drink- Tim treated us to lemonade at $2 a glass and we got our money's worth on the free refills, but we couldn't resist the chocolate chip cookies either- they were excellent.
Steep and strenuous best describes this hike but I really enjoyed it and look forward to climbing more thirteeners. Mt Powell wrapped up a fun and rewarding two week trip to Colorado.
Trailhead to summit- 4 hours 52 minutes
Total hiking time- 8 hours 45 minutes (including all breaks)