The Saw - Jigsaw - Rocking Horse

Booth TH to Camp below Booth Lake: 4.5 Miles - 2800ft - 2hrs 5min

Camp > Black BM > West Partner > Camp : 6.75 Miles - 4750ft - 12.5hrs (not all vert is created equal)

Black Benchmark 14ers.com Page
Peak H 14ers.com Page
West Partner 14ers.com Page

Lay Of The Land

The remote ridge between Peak C and West Partner Peak offers incredible views, sustained high quality 3/4/low 5 scrambling on solid rock with significant exposure. The ridge is fairly navigational... so you will be exloring and evaluating various route options most of the day.

This long ridge has historically been divided into four primary segments.

Ripsaw: Peak C to Peak H
The Saw: Peak H to Peak J
Jigsaw: Peak J to Peak P
Rocking Horse: Peak P to West Partner Peak

I am not quite sure why Jigsaw gets it's own designation and isn't included as a part of The Saw. The terrain is similar and I can't imagine setting out to do just the Jigsaw as an objective. In my mind it is naturally a part of Rocking Horse. But hey, the Gore is the Gore... strange, mysterious, weird and filled with history and lore. Thats what makes it so special.

This report covers Black Benchmark to West Partner Peak. I was stormed off of Ripsaw on Peak G a few years earlier, so I thought it appropriate to start on Black Benchmark.

Access

The obvious choices for accessing Peak H (start of The Saw) are from Piney Lake or Booth Falls. We chose to do an overnight from Booth and run the ridge from north to south for the following reasons.
* The 'trail' between Upper Piney and the junction below Knee Knocker Pass is terrible. Deadfall, marshes, over growth, muddy, easy to loose the trail and end up schwacking. Not a fun section.
* Running the ridge north to south offers more climbing (vs. down climbing) of spicy terrain
* Running the ridge in the direction of camp pyschologically encourages you to complete the ridge vs. dropping early because you are getting further from camp.
* The overnight was nice as it gave us fresh legs and a 4.5m 2800ft jump on the day. We also didn't have to deal with the trailhead logistics discussed below in the wee hours of the morning.
* It was nice to have dinner at camp after completing the ridge.
* Although we hiked out after getting back to camp, we had the option to hike out the next morning if desired.

Booth Falls Trailhead Logistics

As of the date of this report, the Booth TH allows drop offs only... no parking... no exceptions. "Unattended Vehicles Will Be Towed". To solve this problem we requested an overnight parking exception for the Pitkin TH from the Vail Police and ran a 1.3 mile bike shuttle between the two trailheads. This made things easy on both ends of the trip. No fussing with the bus or walking the road.

There were also self service e-bike rentals at the Booth TH. So thats an option as well. You just take the risk that bikes are available when you need them.

Approach

In contrast to Summit County, Vail side access to the Gore is relatively boujee. The trails are well maintained, no deadfall, no downed trees, no overgrown vegitation, stairs built into steep sections etc. The hike from the Booth TH to camp was pleasant and easy. Our camp spot was stellar... flat, soft and easy access to water. Bugs weren't too bad but bring repelant and watch out for the marmots!

Traversing The Ridge

There are so many ways you can traverse this ridge. I doubt it has been done the same way by any two groups. This report should give you a general flavor for what to expect. Go in with the expectation that you will be constantly navigating and climbing/down climbing exposed pitches in the class 4 / low 5 range. If this kinda thing is your jam, you will remember it as one of your best days of scrambling. I know I will.

Ripsaw Ridge