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#3636534 - 09/02/12 03:49 AM Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics)  
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BeachAV8R Offline
Lifer
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So with Kai at two and a half, Marisa and I haven’t had the opportunity to do much in the way of hiking the past couple of years. With a lot of trepidation, we invited our family down to watch our son while we took our first trip away from him since he was born. I’m pretty sure we took being away from him harder than he did being away from us since my Mom, Dad, and Aunt took great care of him while we were away.

For our hike, I picked an ambitious return to the hills by choosing a pair of 14ers in the Colorado Front Range. We had been out to Colorado before with summits of Longs Peak in Estes Park, and a winter ascent of Pikes Peak east slope in the winter. Marisa had never stood on the summit of a 14er after reaching her breaking point on the Narrows of Longs Peak back in 2003. So I was impressed that she was game for a double summit attempt. I chose the popular “easy” peaks of Grays and Torreys just west of Denver, but I didn’t want to take the very busy north slope trails to the summits. So I did some research and found many of the locals out there recommended the more secluded southern approach to the mountains via Chihuahua Gulch. We also wanted a fun camping experience since we love the backcountry so I decided on a three day trip where we’d hike up to a camp in the woods, camp one night, attempt the summit(s) the second day and return to camp, then hike out on the third day.

Our route would take us up Chihuahua Gulch to camp a couple of miles in. The second morning we’d hike east up Ruby Gulch to an abandoned mine. Then we’d climb to the top of the southwest ridge leading to the summit of Grays Peak (14,278’). From there we’d decide to either backtrack if we were wiped out, or traverse the saddle between Grays Peak and Torreys Peak (14,275’) and continue to descend via the saddle between Torreys and Grizzly Peak. The Google Earth map, while impressive, didn’t even come close to reflecting how awesome those mountains were.



Our first night in Colorado we drove up to Keystone a few miles from our jump off point. The Ski Tip lodge was incredible place to grab a good night’s sleep prior to heading into the hills.



We took a short hike around the lodge and enjoyed the quiet. I’m sure in the winter the place is a zoo.



The next morning we headed up Peru Creek to the start of the Chihuahua Lake (Gulch) trail starts.





The road up Chihuahua Gulch is available for high clearance off road vehicles. I’m impressed by guys that take even their stock Jeeps and other vehicles up this road – they really know how to drive. We saw a couple ATVs on our hike, but no other hikers.



We reached our first water crossing about twenty minutes in…



Eventually the road rose up above to the first area of beaver dam created lakes. As we exited the denser forest below the view above opened up and we could soon see Grays and Torreys peaks rising above the valley to our northeast. It was pretty daunting to see how high they were and the memory of how hard these climbs were started to come back to me.



The forest service road continued up the west side of the valley, climbing gradually and providing great views of the valley. I could see trout swimming in some of the ponds and was anxious to get to camp so I could break out my fly rod.





There are two distinct flat areas of the gulch separated by steeper terrain where the water cascades down. Here we are crossing the stream where it starts the drop from the upper to the lower set of ponds.



Marisa looking bright in the first hour of the hike…



After just two hours of hiking we found a good campsite very near where we planned to start our loop hike the next day. This was a great plan since it had us carrying our heavy packs just a couple of miles and only about 700’ of vertical elevation gain from the trailhead, saving us energy for the following day. We fell into our old familiar roles as if we’d done it just yesterday and had camp set up quickly.



The view down the valley from our campsite nestled in the trees on the east side of the valley…





We had just finished setting up camp when we heard the telltale rumble of thunder. I had just rigged up my fly rod and was walking toward the ponds when a slight smattering of rain started. Crap. It was around 3PM or so and as the rain picked up in intensity I decided to head back to camp. Then the rain really let loose and soon turned to hail. Soon, the camp was covered in pea sized hail and we hunkered down, miserable in our tent.



The irony of the drought in Colorado and the severe wildfires of just a couple of weeks ago was not lost on us. The fire ban had just recently been lifted and we couldn’t believe it was raining on us. We had marinated and frozen some steaks the previous night so they were just about completely thawed out as I looked out from under the tent fly. With nothing better to do, I decided to go out and do battle with the rain and try to get our campfire started. The next two hours was nothing short of exhausting work as we got some embers going and I constantly tended to the fire trying to keep enough flames to overwhelm the rain pouring down. Fortunately much of the wood was just wet on the outside and using my Wyoming saw I was able to cut some large logs from fallen pines to get a deeper fire going.







Cont...



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#3636535 - 09/02/12 03:50 AM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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BeachAV8R Offline
Lifer
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After two hours of exhausting work, the rain finally relented and moved off to the east. It is something else to saw wood and go gathering wood and blow on a fire at 11,000’. Everything you do winds you when you aren’t acclimated to the altitude. We were just grateful that the rain had stopped so that we could enjoy our luxury meal. We stuck our steak filets in a grilling basket and laid them next to the hot coals.





We poured ourselves some red wine in our titanium coffee mugs to round out the meal…



Instant garlic mashed potatoes were the side and Marisa found some smooth river rocks to act as plates for our steaks. They turned out perfect and we really enjoyed our meal as the sky grew dimmer in the west. Some threatening clouds rolled around, but the rain held off and eventually the skies cleared and the moon rose.



We heated up some water to take bird baths and get cleaned up, enjoyed some hot cocoa and chocolate, then finally got into our sleeping bags around 11PM. Sleep was fitful and it got surprisingly cold (40s?). For some reason I had expected a bit warmer temperatures since Denver was reporting 98 degrees during the day, but I should have known that those high mountain valleys can cool off significantly faster. I shivered through the night cursing that I hadn’t brought my warmer sleeping bags instead of my summer bag. I was too lazy to get up and put on my thermal underwear, which I *had*thought to bring, instead suffering stupidly through the cold.

Eventually I tossed and turned and at one point I awoke and flipped on my camera to check the time. 5:30 AM! Time to get up, start breakfast and get a move on the trail. It was very cold and very dark and I headed out to my Jet Boil skillet and mixed up pancake batter to make El Grande Pancake. I also heated up some water and we enjoyed a hot cocoa/coffee mix while we ate the pancake. I didn’t have much of an appetite and only ate three spoonfulls of pancake while Marisa wolfed down the rest. As we rummaged around in the dark getting our packs ready for the extremely long and difficult hike ahead I glanced once again at the clock on my video camera. I laughed.

“Tell me what time it is,” I said to Marisa.

She looked at her camera and said “6 AM”. Uh…well, I forgot to do the two hour deduction from east coast time and we had actually gotten up at 3:30AM on mistake after only getting about four hours of sleep. She took it well and I swore that it wasn’t an intentional mistake. This east coast time mistake would later prove to be extremely fortunate and save us a lot of misery.

So a bit after 4AM we started heading up the forest service road until it branched off for Ruby Gulch to the east. It was typically spooky walking with just our headlamps illuminating our view since the moon had already dropped below the western ridge of the valley. In typical Clark Griswold fashion – we found next year’s Christmas tree at around 12,500’…



After a bit over an hour of walking we were above treeline and had come to the abandoned mine near the top of Ruby Gulch. We sat and waited about 15 minutes and took a break while we waited for a little bit of light to start helping us identify the route up the southwest ridge of Grays Peak.



We soon had enough light to start moving and we slowly started working our way up the slope to gain the southwest ridge. The route took us up the ever increasing slope and it is hard to describe how labor intensive it is to move up the slope for flatlanders like us. We took a cue from the high mountain mountaineers and used the “rest step” technique to just slowly and methodically work our way up the slope.





We saw a herd of deer at one point crossing the grassy area just above us on the slope but my pictures were blurry.



Soon we spotted a herd of mountain goats cresting the ridge above us and they slowly worked their way across the steep slope effortlessly while we slogged along below them. They are beautiful animals and they live in an incredibly harsh environment.



For a couple of hours it seemed we continued to plug along to gain the southwest ridge. Eventually the grass/alpine foliage gave way to rocks and a little bit of scree. The footing was pretty good, but the angle of the slope continued to increase.



Every so often I’d look up and hope to see the top of the ridge, but it always seemed the same distance away. It was just a matter of picking small goals and working toward them, then picking new goals.



As the slope increased we headed slightly more toward the west to take some of the slope out of the climb. Our goal was just to reach the crest of the ridge so that we could start working upward along the spine.



Finally we made it off the slope and onto the spine of the southwest ridge proper. This is looking down the spine with Ruby Gulch on the left from where we ascended and Chihuahua Gulch on the right where we had made camp.



Looking further to the northwest we could see our descent route if everything went according to plan. The ridge running from the upper left to the center of the picture is the southwest ridge of Torreys which would lead us to a saddle from where we could descend further. Chihuahua Lake is tucked in to the south slope of Grizzly Peak there.



We worked our way up the southwest ridge of Grays and the rocks finally revealed a bit of a path from prior hikers.



The slow but steady progress took us ever higher. The scale of things out there is so tricky and what looks like a short hike away can be hours and hours. I love how small it makes everything and everyone feel…



We stopped near a bump just prior to the final 400 vertical feet to the summit. We slathered bagels with cream cheese and fueled up for the final push. The slope above would get increasingly steep and there was nothing to do other than step, breathe, step, breathe.





The angle got pretty impressive and Marisa’s fear of heights started to kick in. The final 400’ is pretty ugly medium sized scree that feels unstable underfoot. Once again, you just plug along uphill and finally, miraculously, you finally realize you can go no higher.







I couldn’t believe how well Marisa did. She hung in there and toughed it out and really impressed me with her ability to overcome her fear. The route was beautiful, but not easy for us low-landers. But our reward was a hike where we saw no other hikers until we reached the summit and the knowledge that we took the road less traveled. Marisa on her first 14er summit – Grays Peak.





Cont...



#3636536 - 09/02/12 03:50 AM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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BeachAV8R Offline
Lifer
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Lifer

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We didn’t dawdle since we had more mission ahead of us. We had said we’d decide upon reaching the summit of Grays that we’d assess how we felt and decide on a course of action. We didn’t really want to go back the way we came, so we hustled down the saddle between Grays to summit Torreys peak as well. It can be pretty daunting to look at when you are so exhausted already, but our plan was to complete a loop hike and we stuck with it.

The view across to Torreys Peak…



Marisa on the slope leading up to Torreys with Grays Peak in the background. We were both starting to feel the pain now.



On top of her second 14er!



Looking back at Grays Peak and the ridge we had ascended. Our lunch spot had been that little bump you see on the ridge in the center of the photo…



Looking down the southwest ridge of Torreys toward Chihuahua Gulch. Our campsite was near the small lakes in the center of the photo. It seemed so close, but would take us hours more to reach.



We made a quick call to our parents and our son and kept our summit stay on Torreys to just a few minutes. I was eyeing some clouds to our south that were starting to puff up, but I wasn’t overly concerned at their rate of building. We headed down the southwest ridge of Torreys toward the Grizzly/Torreys saddle.



Looking down the ridge toward Chihuahua Lake…







The descent down the ridge was exhausting. A whole different set of muscles and just relentless pounding and shifty rocks. We kept our breaks to a minimum because the clouds behind us were really starting to rocket upwards and I could almost feel the buildup of energy in the air.



We couldn’t head straight down the slope so we stuck to the plan and traversed down and westward toward the grassy saddle between Torreys and Grizzly Peak. It looks so close, like you could be there in 15 minutes, but it is quite a long way and actually quite steep. The photos don’t really reflect either the scale or steepness of most of the route. (Guess you had to be there..)



You can see the clouds starting to darken behind Marisa as she makes her way down toward the saddle.



We finally break off the difficult rocks and onto more of a grassy area that makes the descent a bit better. The shifty rocks are tough on ankles and knees even with trekking poles.



Marisa gazes longingly at the valley floor but it is still an hour away despite looking so close with the long lens photo.



I’m starting to get worried now. The clouds above Torreys have just exploded and the sky is getting darker and darker. Any moment I expect a bolt of lightning to come down and zap us and we keep moving as quickly as we can safely move down. I want to be in the treeline as soon as we can but it is still a long way off. My mind moves to the dozens of people we saw on the summits that were taking the traditional route up and down the mountains. Many of them were day hikers and ill prepared for weather or bad conditions.



As we marched the last ten minutes down the steep slope off the saddle the sky finally broke open and thunder boomed and rolled up and down the valley. If you’ve never experienced a thunderstorm in high country before..it is so impressive as the sound just washes over you. The feeling of exposure is unreal and the anticipation of getting struck is sickening. The cold rain started and quickly turned to sleet then to full on hail. It pounded us from above and I had no hood to take shelter under. Thankfully I had a hat but every few seconds a hailstone would hit my ears and it literally felt like I was being stung by a hundred bees. You had to pull your hands in to your body to keep them from getting pounded. It was – miserable! I hailed so hard and so long that eventually it began to accumulate on the trail. The sides of the mountain behind and above us turned white from the amount of hail. I shuddered thinking how difficult it would have been to descend those rocks and grass with rain and hail on it. That two hour mistake in the early morning might have saved us some big time troubles had we still been up on the summit areas!







Cont...



#3636537 - 09/02/12 03:50 AM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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BeachAV8R Offline
Lifer
BeachAV8R  Offline
Lifer

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Looking back at Torreys I was amazed to see how the mountain had turned white where the hail had accumulated!



The hail eventually gave way to rain and we marched/limped back down the valley on the off-road vehicle track.



Looking back at the Grizzly/Torreys saddle I could only imagine how slippery it must have been. The occasional crack of thunder kept us moving down the valley.



Despite looking flat from way above, the trail has some significant downslope in some areas. Our already screaming knees and quads were further punished as we headed toward camp.



Finally we hit the intersection where we had branched off toward Ruby Gulch ten hours or so earlier…



We reached camp and made an executive decision. We had successfully accomplished our goals, but the first night had damped everything in the rain. We had slept fitfully, frozen in our bags, and our prospect for the second night was more rain, more wet, no fire (I was too exhausted), and more cold. So we decided to just go ahead and break camp and head out of the valley. Ma’ Nature took pity on us and it stopped raining for a bit while we broke camp and we did it in record time.

With our heavy packs back on, already worn out from the massive hike all day, we hobbled the two miles down the valley to our car.





We were exhausted, but harboring a great feeling of accomplishment for our successful hike…



We made it down to our car in about 90 minutes and headed in to town to grab a cheap hotel. Never was a better decision made. Though we planned on three days on the mountain, two sufficed. Had it been sunny and warm we probably would have crashed and slept forever in our tent at the end of that second day, but man..that rain, hail, and cold drove us out of that valley.

Thanks so much to the members over at 14ers.com for all the great tips, advice, and planning recon that went into this trip. We learned so much and were well prepared for the hike based on all the great information. In the hours during that last bit of decent I know we were both wondering why the heck we were putting our lives at risk..but in the afterglow of the trip, like a fading sunburn, the desire to comeback was already creeping in. The high mountains are brutal and give no quarter, but when done safely, they give so much that is unquantifiable to us. I’m sure we’ll be back soon.

I have more pics to post of other stuff we did in Colorado after the hike – will post those tomorrow.

BeachAV8R



#3636543 - 09/02/12 04:14 AM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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Wow. That was very interesting to read and see. Thanks for sharing.

#3636553 - 09/02/12 04:50 AM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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Now you know why I live here,lol! I am glad you all have a great time.





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#3636554 - 09/02/12 05:00 AM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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Thanks for taking us along Beach. thumbsup


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#3636558 - 09/02/12 05:12 AM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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Great pictures and commentary.

#3636599 - 09/02/12 09:14 AM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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Absolutely spectacular scenery. Thanks for sharing


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#3636612 - 09/02/12 10:55 AM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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Nice to see you get back out and up in the mountains smile


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#3636676 - 09/02/12 02:41 PM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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Wow, great pics!


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#3636700 - 09/02/12 03:49 PM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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Looks like fun. I'll have to find my pics of a hike up Hell Canyon near Lake Granby.


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#3636738 - 09/02/12 04:57 PM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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Great shots and recount of your adventures in the high country. Having climbed those peaks in the early 80`s I know what
you went through when you encountered the those storms. We were caught above treeline when the storm hit and had to lay
flat on the rocks when we felt the static charge building. My first close encounter with lightning up close. Never so
scared in my life when it crashed into rocks about 30ft away. Ears were ringing for weeks. Between the hail,snow and
heavy rain. It was a miserable retreat down the mountain. The scale of those mountains cannot be put into words, HUGE is
way below an understatement when it comes to being there. You can see farther then you can walk in 3 days.

Thanks for sharing Chris & Marissa.


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#3636758 - 09/02/12 05:27 PM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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USA
I love these travelogues by SimHQ members. It is cool to share the adventures.


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#3637252 - 09/03/12 12:43 PM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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Ambitious climb after all that time off.

#3637811 - 09/04/12 02:52 AM Re: Colorado's Grays/Torreys Peaks hike (pics) [Re: BeachAV8R]  
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Awesome pic, makes me miss being in Alaska.


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