Loch Lomond Trailhead
II. Fall River Reservoir Trailhead
III. West Chicago Creek Trailhead
IV. Empire–Republican Mountain Trailhead and Bard Creek Trailhead
V. Silver Plume–7:30 Mine Trailhead
XI. Loveland Tunnel West Trailhead
XII. Ptarmigan Peak Trailhead and Laskey Gulch Trailhead
XIII. Tenderfoot Mountain Trailhead
XIV. Meadow Creek Trailhead and Ryan Gulch Trailhead
XV. Peak 1 Trailhead and Miners Creek Trailhead
XVII. Mayflower Gulch Trailhead
XVIII. Copper Mountain/Spaulding Gulch Trailhead
XIX. Vail Pass Trailhead and Gore Range Copper Trailhead
Acknowledgments
My heartfelt thanks to all those who were part of the adventure. Your encouragement, good cheer, and enthusiasm mean the world to me.
Mountains of Thanks
To Sheila Powell—without you, the mountains are just big rocks. Thank you for your love and support both on and off the trail.
On the Trail
My golden boot awards (are those a real thing?) go out to David Tanguay, Jenny Salentine, Meredith “She’s the Cooniest!” Knauf, Dany Tanguay, Paul Retrum, Richard Harvey, Bart Deferme, Jayme Moye, Paul Lenhart, Lindsey Tate, Katie D’Amelio, Dr. Jon Kedrowski, and Kyle Sevits.
Canine Accolades
To my own pups, Mystic and Fremont, mountain companions without equal—good boys! Also Hayduke (for putting up with Hells Hole), Watanga and Agnes (for their inspiration), Clyde (who has developed into a top-notch mountain dog), Maizey (border collie extraordinaire), Lucy (my birthday buddy), and Sherlock (the wiggle that won the West). And a feline shout-out to Xanadu, my cat-o-grapher and companion on many late writing nights.
Behind the Scenes
Thanks to Wilderness Press—this book would literally not be possible without you! Also Ron Pratt, David and Lynne Dziezynski, Janet Seston, Amy and Michael Karls, Candice Blodgett, Doug Schnitzspahn, Lou Dzierzak, Fynn Glover and the RootsRated crew, Sarah Leone, and Mary Anne Potts.
Extra Special Thanks
Jon Bradford for your guidance, mountain expertise, and friendship over the years. Chris Tomer, thanks for all the forecasts! Emily Gillis for taking such wonderful care of the pets. Melanie Moffat, thanks for letting the pups crash with you when they couldn’t be in the mountains. Evelyn Pinney, for your support and help on the Vail front. Jennifer and John Danese, for insider’s info in the Frisco region. Also Jay Getzel and the Mountainsmith crew and Garmin for GPS equipment and technical help.
And finally, thanks to all those people whose names I may have missed. You know who you are—and apparently I don’t.
Introduction
This book exists because of a simple philosophical query: “What happens if I go right instead of left?”
In this case, right was a turn toward enigmatic Watrous Gulch; left was the weary path to the beautiful but busy Herman Lake. The seldom-traveled trail to Watrous Gulch eventually gives up altogether, dissolving into a green field of dazzling wildflowers. At its terminus is an amphitheater watched over by a trio of inviting mountains, all blissfully void of established trails.
These places awaken something in me. Troubles fade away in sync with the quieting traffic on I-70, not even a mile and a half down the trail but already light-years away. Focus shifts away from mundane routine toward the thrilling unknown.
My border collie Fremont and I linked up Mount Parnassus, Bard Peak, Robeson Peak, and Engelmann Peak on that day. Standing atop the highest point at 13,641-foot Bard Peak, I saw summits to the east—Silver Plume Mountain and Republican Mountain—that I had never hiked. I began to realize a wealth of great summit hikes potentially waiting along the I-70 corridor. Most of these relatively unknown mountains are gone in a flash, overlooked as eager adventurers drive to far-off, more-popular peaks. Given how wonderful my day out of Watrous Gulch had been, I began to give serious merit to the low-traffic, high-adventure mountains lining the I-70 corridor like open secrets.
And with that, this book was afoot.
It’s not that the entire suite of I-70 peaks between Denver and Vail are completely anonymous. The twin fourteeners of Grays and Torreys Peaks are among the most heavily trafficked mountains in all of Colorado. But what about Tenderfoot Mountain? Mount Solitude? Hagar Mountain? Uneva Peak? Peak 6? How about all those mountains that fatigued drivers have looked upon while trapped in gridlock, wondering if they even have names?
This book is the culmination of more than five years of touring and exploring those very mountains. Perhaps it was a trick of perception, but they just seemed to be getting better along the way. An organic transformation happens east to west as the accommodating peaks of the Front Range slowly morph into the wild and untamed mountains of the magical Gore Range. That so many excellent hikes and scrambles near to the Denver–Boulder metro area go
