Ethan B. Holland

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Vail YOLO Adventure Part IV: Hiking to the top of Grand Traverse Peak with my daughter, Rori, 33 years later – First part – up to Deluge Lake

August 25, 2026

This is part one of three sections where Rori and I hike up to the top of Grand Traverse Peak. 1) Deluge Lake 2) Grand Traverse 3) Heading back down

On August 12th, Rori and I woke up at 4 AM with the intention of checking off the only item I’ve ever had on my bucket list: climbing to the top of Grand Traverse Peak in the Eagles Nest Wilderness, overlooking Vail and I-70.

When I was 19, I was a ski bum in Vail, and I would run home at night under the stars, with the moon illuminating the Gore Range in front of me and the dry snow crunching under my feet. It was about a five-mile run from Lionshead back to the house in East Vail.

The Gore Range is visible from all over Vail, whether you’re skiing, walking in town, or driving on I-70. The Gores are the iconic postcard shot. However, they are not part of the town of Vail. They’re not part of Vail Resorts. They are the great wilderness backdrop that Vail aura farms.

The Gore Range vistamogging above Vail the night before our hike.

Two years ago, I had a chance to visit the Gores for the first time, 31 years after I was a ski bum. The weather didn’t allow me to get too close to the top. I snowshoed up as far as I could and had to turn around.

Now, 33 years later, I had what might be my last chance to get to the top, and I got to have Rori with me. I trained all summer on the StairMaster for the 4,600-vertical-foot climb to 13,060 feet. However, because of weather, we had to move our hike up by one day, and I only had overnight to acclimate to the elevation.

I’m a night owl, so getting up at four is basically torture. We looked at the stars from the balcony of our Airbnb, which was across the street from the house where I lived when I was 19. In the first picture of the stars, you can see the wall of East Vail that greeted me every morning when I took the shuttle into work. On the other side of that mountain wall is the town of Vail, and directly behind us is the Gore Range.

4 AM: In this picture of the stars, you can see the wall of East Vail that greeted me every morning when I took the shuttle into work. On the other side of that mountain wall is the town of Vail, and directly behind us is the Gore Range.

When we got to the trailhead, thanks to our early start, Orion sparkled in the morning sky, just like it did at night 33 years ago. It’s absolutely remarkable for me to have an Orion sighting in the summer.

Orion is visible in the last photo, just about to set behind the hillside as the dawn light fills the sky.

We hiked with headlamps for the first hour, and then daybreak greeted us. The first part of the hike to Deluge Lake is notoriously steep. However, we knocked it out pretty easily, and I was very proud of us. We saw a dusky grouse on the way up, which was kind of fun. I had never seen one before. Once we got to Deluge Lake, we saw a few yellow-bellied marmots.

Most of the first two miles, the infamously steep portion of Deluge Lake Trail, was in the dark, and we did surprisingly well and made great time. There are three talus field crossings which are not difficult.

However, the highlight, depending on who you ask, was hearing two mountain lions chirping distinctly around us. One was in the bushes off the trail to the north, and the other was significantly up the mountain to the south. We acted like it didn’t bother us and kept hiking until we reached the talus field. There were also some chirping pikas.