Vasquez Pass

Distance: 6 miles round trip
Elevation: 10,555 ft - 11,734 ft (at the pass)
Elevation Gain: 1,539 ft (cumulative)
Dogs: Off leash
Tags: #coloradooutdoors, #hiking, #CDT, #mountainpass
Nearby hike: Butler Gulch, Vasquez Peak Pass

Verdant Vasquez Pass

A trip to Vasquez Pass near Empire CO, will fill you will solitude and make you feel like you are worlds away even though you are close to the Denver Metro area. Part of this trail is on the shaded Henderson Spur Trail and part is on the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) as it winds its way from Mexico to Canada. The final pitch is across open tundra.

Looking down on the Henderson Mine

A typical lower segment in the trees. 

The trip starts in a large dirt parking lot across from the Henderson Mine just off highway 40 out of Empire. This lot also serves Butler Gulch, which starts a little further up the road and so can be a little crowded on weekends.  A small wooden sign marks beneath some power lines marks the trailhead. A small CDT logo is also present.

Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum)

The initial ascent begins with a series of gentle switchbacks that climb steadily through a Lodgepole and then a Spruce forest. The mine and its attendant noises are obvious here, but the solitude makes up for it. There were several pleasant water crossings and the higher you go the more often you will see wildflowers, which congregate around the many small rivulets that cross the trail.

Getting above treeline. The trail travels the ridge towards the cleft in the distance.

Jacobs Ladder

At 1.56 miles is the intersection with the Continental Divide Trail. There used to be a large wooden sign here, but it has since collapsed. Go left to "Vasquez Peak Pass" and right to Vasquez Pass and Stanley Mountain.

Looking south

A typical segment above treeline

At 2.0 miles the trees thin and the tundra appears. From this point on the trail weaves up and down on a narrow trail that does not get much traffic. The views to the south will have you stopping for a while to gaze fondly at the topography.

Looking southwest

Parry's Primrose (Primula parryi)

At 2.6 miles the trail curves sharply right and crosses another small stream. This is the turn off for Vasquez Pass, which lies 0.5 miles up the drainage to the left. On the way up, I bushwhacked across the tundra to the pass, but on the way down found a partial trail that fades in and out.

Looking back down the trail towards the Continental Divide

Almost to the turnoff

The pass itself is small but a pleasant place to lounge. Alpine Sunflowers dot the grasses in summer and the views to the south towards Granby are lovely. The probability of running into another human being is practically nil. This is a great place to get away from the hustle of the city.

Turning left and beginning to bushwhack up to the pass

Looking back down the gully

Looking back down the gully from a small "false pass" part way up (2.89 miles)

On the left side of the pass is a tall ridge to an unnamed 12K ft peak. To the right is Stanley Mountain. Why they call this Vasquez Pass I have no idea since there is another pass to the west that I have dubbed "Vasquez Peak Pass" since it sits beneath Vasquez Peak itself.

On the pass looking north

Looking up at the unnamed 12K ft peak. The slope is dotted with Alpine Sunflowers.

To get to the trailhead, take I-70 west to Hwy 40 and head towards Winter Park. Drive through the town of Empire. At around 7.3 miles from the highway, there will be a sign for the Big Bend Picnic Area. You will want to make a left turn onto a frontage road here. You will know you are in the right spot if Highway 40 curves sharply away to the right in the first hairpin turn it makes going up to Berthoud Pass. Follow the road towards the large Henderson Mine Complex. In front of the mine complex, a dirt road splits off and parallels the main road. Take the dirt road. Park anywhere on the left. A small trail marker (unnamed) is on the right. This is your starting point. If you go too far, you will run into the trailhead for Bulter Gulch.

Heartleaf Bittercress

Heartleaf Bittercress (Cardamine Cordifolia) grows abundantly along mountain streams. It occurs in huge bushy clumps with large deep-green leaves. It is a member of the Mustard family. The flowers appear in clumps at the top of long stalks.

A macro shot showing the larger plant

Another zoom image of the stalk

Saints John, Glacier Moutain, and the General Teller Mine

Distance: 7 miles round trip (including a diversion to the local high pt)
Elevation: 10,763 ft - 12,447 ft
Elevation Gain: 1,684 ft (net) 2,012 ft (cumulative including the bushwhack)

The view looking west from the unnamed 12,447 ft point. Buffalo Mountain is the large rounded mountain in the middle. My condo is on its slope.

I recently started out to hike Argentine Pass only to find out that Peru Creek Road was closed due to a rock slide. Since I was with a friend with a 4x4, we decided to drive up to the town of Saints John (see my winter outing) to see what it looked like in the summer. This turned out to be a superlative excursion above treeline on a lovely day without the threat of a single thunderstorm.

The northern extent of Glacier Mountain seen from Saints John

The trail we started out on

Crossing a small talus field. Cairns led the way.

We parked near the cabins in the town itself and then started walking. Since the creek was flooding the jeep road, we ended up walking up a trail on the left side of the valley, thinking perhaps this might be an official summer route. This trail soon fizzled out, however, but we kept playing in the woods in order to experiment with our GPS. Finally tired of bushwhacking, we cut straight across the creek, which was narrower here, and regained Saints John Road. From this point on, we followed the 4x4 road up to the ridge.

Rejoining the Jeep road

Looking down the valley. We normally snowshoe up the middle. That is Grays and Torreys in the distance.

It is amazing how different the place looked in the summer. In winter, we snowshoe straight up the valley but in summer, willows dominate the drainage and you have to stick to the road. I should warn purists, that this outing was not a pure wilderness experience. We did encounter numerous 4x4s, but since we were hiking faster than they could drive, it was quite easy to get us and the dogs out of the way.

The Wild Irishman Mine

Another view of the mine's iconic outhouse with the mountains in the background

This is the slope I have laboriously snowshoed up in the winter. Those boulders were covered with 20 feet of snow.

In winter, there is a small ridge to the right of the Wild Irishman Mine. This is the furthest up this trail I have ever gone. I had no idea that there was a road under all that snow that switch backed up the ridge. As we slowly ascended, we came to a vista point looking down upon the town of Saints John with Grays and Torreys in the distance. The perfectly symmetrical valley was a joy to photograph and I was feeling positively angelic for having gotten there with only quad power, particularly after several jeeps passed us with less than fit individuals at the wheel.

Beyond the Wild Irishman Mine, staring up at the switchbacks that will take us to the ridge

The valley vista. The symmetry was put there by a rational mind (geologic forces) just to please me.

Looking down on the aforementioned vista point from higher up the switchbacks

Beyond the vista point is a long series of steep, rutted switchbacks up to the top of the ridge. It was easy to stop and admire the expanding vistas to the west and marvel at the many Frosty Ball Thistles undoubted seeded there by some wayward alien species.

We've gained the ridge, the General Teller Mine is just ahead

The General Teller Mine

The road along the ridge, which is actually called Glacier Mountain, goes on seemingly forever, but we decided to make the General Teller Mine our terminus. This mine is a series of mostly collapsed buildings on the side of the ridge. Be sure to walk all the way to the bottom-most ruin for an expansive view of the Deer Creek Valley. I don't know what entranced me more, the secluded meadows below or the pastoral hills rolling off into the distance. Don't be fooled farms girls, this is not your mothers backyard. This bucolic scene contains Mountain Goats, which several 4x4ers reported seeing further up the road. Alas, we only saw tufts of fur on the road markers and in the duff.

At our lunch spot. Note the warren of 4x4 trails. This would be 4x4 paradise.

Looking down into Deer Creek Valley

On the way back down, we decided to take a 0.56 mile detour to a small promontory to an unnamed point at 12,447 ft that is the highest point between Saints John and mine. From here there are unobstructed views of Grays and Torreys, and Buffalo Mountain was clearly visible above the ridge to the west. Do take the time for this high-country diversion. You might just yodel!

Near the mine were two large cairns like gates on either side of the road. Note the plethora of Alpine Sunflowers.

Another view of the 4x4 trail with the mountains in the distance

It was on the road to this point that we ran into a nice retired couple from Maine who, with laptop shock mounted to their Jeep, 4x4 all over the country. They had remarked how Ginger, the hyper one, was speeding over the Tundra with seemingly in-canine ability. They were even more impressed to learn she had been doing this for the past 4 hours with the greatest of ease. They drove on even more impressed with native denizens of our fair state.

On the way to the unnamed high point. This road shoots off from the main one.

The view along the way to the high point. More misplaced symmetry :)

So, the next time you can't hike Argentine Pass, consider a journey to the General Teller Mine. The scenery is grand, and after encountering a few Jeeps carrying more than their fair share of human flesh, you'll be glad you risked cardiac arrest in order to live longer, pay more taxes, and provide such specimens with government funded diabetes medications.

Piney Lake

Tags: #mountainlake, #coloradooutdoors, #hiking, #canoeing, #gearguide
Hikes: Upper Piney River, Lost Lake
Critters: Marmot

Scenic Piney Lake

Piney Lake, near Vail, Colorado is one of the highest lakes in the state that you can drive to. There are several trails that leave from the area including Lost Lake which is on the way, and Upper Piney River, which leaves from the parking lot of the Piney River Ranch, a commercial outfitter at the lake. The outfitter has a limited restaurant (no ice cream!!), lodging, and canoe rentals for around $20/hour.

Is this not a classic Colorado tableau?

Piney Lake is accessed 12 miles BEYOND THE END of Red Mountain Road on the north side of I-70 in Vail. The route is over a rough dirt road that is passable in a passenger car if you go slow. It will take at least a 40 minutes if not more to get there depending on road conditions.

Directions: From I-70, take Exit 176 for Vail. Take the North Frontage Road west to Red Sandstone Road. Turn north here and follow the paved road about 0.7 miles to a fork with a dirt road on the left. There should be a Forest Service sign indicating this is Red Sandstone Road #700 (Reset your odometer here). Continue up this road about 2.7 miles to an intersection with the Lost Lake Road (#786) and continue left. At mile 6.5 you will pass Red and White Mtn Road-FSR 734. At mile 6.7 you will pass the Lost Lake Trail parking lot on the right and then reach an intersection where the Muddy Pass/Moniger Road goes left. Stay right here. (Some maps show the Red Sandstone Road changing number from FSR 700 to FSR 701 at this point, and some don’t, but regardless, you stay right to get to Piney Lake and the Upper Piney River Trail). At mile 9.1, you will cross the Piney River and see a trailhead for Lower Piney River Trail - FDT 1885 on the left. Stay right and reach a Forest Service parking lot on the right at mile 10.65 before the entrance to Piney River Ranch.

The outfitter

Lost Lake (near Vail)

Distance: 7 miles round trip
Elevation: 9,611 ft - 10,323 ft (max), 10,200 ft (at the lake)
Elevation Gain: 712 ft (net) 1,082 ft (cumulative)
Dogs: Off Leash

Serene Lost Lake

In my eternal quest to find Forest Service trails where we can let Ginger, the hyper one, run off leash, I discovered Lost Lake (one of the many with that name in the state) above Vail. The route to the trailhead alone was fun as it travels up a bumpy dirt road on the north side of Vail Valley. Wildflowers covered the green hillsides and verdant meadows appeared out of no where along the way.

While mostly in the pines, the trail did contain some Aspen

Heartleaf Arnica and Lupine

The trail itself traverses a ridge covered in Ponderosa Pines and occasionally Aspen. Having never done the trail before I was fearful there would be no views but this is not true. At 1.8 miles, there is a social trail heading off to the right with deep-sigh views of the Mount of the Holy Cross. It looked much larger from this vantage point than it did from Game Creek, which I found very interesting because I could see the Game Creek area across the valley. A little farther up the main trail, and there is an area of clear cut that also allows you this view.

A blanket of Heartleaf Arnica

Looking southeast at the Mount of the Holy Cross

I was enthralled by the carpet of Heartleaf Arnica and Lupine that blanketed the stark forest floor with blinding color. With all that yellow, the dead Ponderosas were hardly noticeable. My Id wanted to romp through them with wild abandon, but alas I figured the sight of a middle-aged woman frolicking in flowers would scare the local wildlife.

A trail segment after the big views showing a young pine forest

Two trail segments showing the pine forest and easy-going dirt trail

There is a small (200 ft elevation gain) hump in the middle of the trail. The descent from this small hill provides phenomenal views of the back side of the Gore Range. That was another pleasant surprise.

The view of the Gore Range from part-way down the small hill

The turn off to the lake

The lake itself does not have any dramatic background, but it was incredibly serene. There were large logs to sit on and eat lunch, and the seclusion was only marred by the occasional Jay trying to get to our sandwiches.

Views of Lost Lake

All in all, Lost Lake is a pleasant excursion particularly on a day when getting above treeline is problematic. That was another reason I chose this trail. The storms were going to start early. If you do go to Lost Lake, be sure to take the additional 15 minute drive and visit Piney Lake. The scenery there will knock your socks off.