Backpack/Ridge Scramble: Deming Mt, Eccles Pass, Red Buffalo Pass (Gore Range, Colorado)

Trip date: September 15-16, 2018

Caltopo map here:  caltopo.com/m/BCHU

Well it's official.  I think I'm obsessed with the Gore Range.  Just two trips to this area so far but I've liked everything I've seen so far.  Crowds are low, wildlife is abundant and the scrambling is spectacular.  The only downside is that you have to drive on I-70 to reach this area :(

I'm toying with the idea of a complete "Gore Range Traverse" for next summer.  I'm not aware of anyone having down this as a scrambling backpacking trip before but it seems possible.  My overview map of the Gore Range is here: caltopo.com/m/M01P.  

For this trip I started at the Tenmile TH immediately outside Frisco.  This cut down on driving time compared with going to Vail.  Also FYI, there's an excellent shuttle system in Summit County.  This could be used to go between Frisco and the Copper Mountain Ski Resort.  

Day 1

Caltopo map here:  caltopo.com/m/BCHU

After ~3 miles I left the trail and headed towards the ridge line I'd chosen for an off-trail adventure. The whole area is braided with good game trails so the bushwhack towards the tree line wasn't too bad.  

Dragon Elk

Just below treeline (~11,500') I found one of the strangest things I've seen in my entire life: a mostly intact, upright elk skeleton with a craned neck like a dragon.  I inspected it pretty closely and it seemed to be totally natural. 

It was so bizarre that overnight I began to think it must have been an art installation and I had simply not noticed screws. I went back the next morning and everything appeared "natural" apart from it's positioning. I found the lower jaw and 2 of the legs within 30 feet.

I suspect it died in deep winter, subsequently froze and the connective tissue became fixed.  When it began to decompose in the spring/summer it remained in that position.  If anyone has seen something like this, I'd love to hear about it.  

Looking south towards the Tenmile Range

Looking north into the Gore Range

Scramble on way to Mt. Deming (Class 3/4)

The scramble starts after passing the ridge at 12,601'.  

First views of the scramble on the way to Deming Mt.

For this part, I dropped down on the right side (in the shade) and then headed up the left side. Some notes in the caltopo map about where I thought the cruxes were.

From here it's tundra/talus for the majority of the remaining ridge except for 1 very short section of class 3 (see below)

Looking east. Grays and Toreys Peak in the distance on the right.

Near the very last section of scrambling I saw a mountain goat, which was actually the first I've seen up close.  A friend informed me that apparently RMNP has done a really good job of getting rid of them as they are destructive, so this is probably why I'd never seen one up close.

I had to stow some stuff for the scramble and dropped something important down a gully.  I looked for a while but never found it.  The mountain goat refused to help out.  ​

Looking back at the last little bit of scrambling. If you find a small stuff sack down that gully I'd love to get that stuff back :/

I'd planned on camping at Gore Lake but the scramble was more time consuming that I'd planned on so I settled for a camp just west of Red Buffalo Pass.  On the way down I caught a porcupine in my headlight about 20 feet away.  It's quills were raised and it seemed tense so I left it alone and didn't pursue a picture.  This was another "first" animal sighting.  

Day 2

I took the trail most of the way back passing back over Red Buffalo Pass and then Eccles Pass.  This is a really pretty valley and it was nice to see it down low.