Grays And Torreys : The 9th and 11th tallest peaks in Colorado

Grays Peak (14,270 ft.) and  Torreys Peak (14,267 ft.), are two of the more popular 14ers in Colorado,the 9th and 11th highest mountains in the state, respectively. These two peaks are also the only two 14ers situated on the Continental Divide with Grays considered the highest point on the divide. The two peaks are connected by a saddle that's about a quarter shy of a mile making this hike a great opportunity to bag them both in the same day (or night). Torreys, being a Class 2 mountain, is considered the more difficult of the two although I think personally I have to disagree with this statement.

I decided to do this hike about 12 hours before leaving the house, seriously. Dee and I were talking about some of the things on the horizon for Colorado Explored when he mentioned he was planning to summit Grays and Torreys the next morning solo. That was on Friday @ 4:27pm, I was out the door and on my way to meet up with him by 4:15am Saturday morning. I arrived over to Dee's crib before the sun had even thought about rising, we double checked our gear and piled into his truck to make the hour drive from his home in Golden out to the trail head. Now, before you even think about doing this hike, make sure you, or someone you are riding with has a four wheel drive car. The three mile stretch from the freeway to the trail head is a very difficult road and I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than four wheel drive with a little bit more ground clearance. Thankfully Dee has a truck so it wasn't and issue but it was still a slow and long 3 miles. The road is narrow, allowing cars to pass if one is stopped but leaves room for little else. We did see a few Suburaus and sedans up towards the top but as to how they got them up there and how much damage is up for debate. I just wouldn't recommend it if its at all avoidable, now you have officially been warned about the road to the trail head so lets continue. When we got towards the top the lot was already full, this was about 6:23am and cars were already starting to park on the side of the narrow dirt road. We were .1 of a mile away from the trail head so we still had a pretty nice spot. With our headlamps on still under the cover of darkness we made our way to the trail head to start our adventure. The trail doesn't waste much time, the switchbacks start relatively quickly and its right to business. Walking through the valley in the distance you can see your foes to be conquered towering in the distance. As Dee would say, It echoes the look and feel of the fabled Fangorn Forest...."you know, without the trees." 

After you've come a ways you'll find yourself towards the base with a split in the trail. This trails a sort of "lolli-pop" loop. If you want to bag just one, I would recommend hanging a right and heading straight to Torreys, however, if you think you might be up for both, hang a left and head up Grays. Feeling ambitious we hung a left and headed up Grays. Even though Grays might look like a large hill from afar its still a slow and steady climb up a series of switchbacks to the summit. The terrain is very rocky, the switchbacks are steep and careful and thoughtful footing is required (Poles would most certainly be recommended). As we closed in on the ridge line of the saddle the wind really kicked up and that cold air cut like a knife. The wind and the temperature only got worse as we made our way up eventually getting so cold that the water in our packs froze solid in the lines.

We summited Grays a bit before 10, and after soaking up the views and snapping some pictures we headed down just a little to get out of the wind so we could eat some food and rest a bit before taking the other peak.

 Looking at Torreys from Grays is a bit intimidating, you can see the path you have to take and it only consists of a handful of switchbacks that you follow close to the ridge line. After our little re-fuel session we were off, down Grays and across the saddle. When you find yourself on the saddle between these two giants you are in a literal wind tunnel. I mean it, in fact, a few moments of silence for my fallen A-Basin hoodie might be appropriate. 

Skaði, I give this to you as an offering, twas my favorite hoodie indeed. 

The hike up Torreys from the saddle was not actually as bad as I had anticipated and we found ourselves summiting rather quickly. The summit at Torreys was the spot for me. It was absolutely beautiful. I could have spent the rest of my life right here and been content, I really did feel like I was touching the top of the world. Like maybe if I just reached up high enough on my tippy toes I might can grab the sky and pull it down around me. We busted out the celebratory beers and found a nice spot to perch and just took it all in.

 It was all cheesy grins and laughs at this point, we had done it. The hard part was behind us and all we had to do now was make our way back down. A positive about this hike is when you have made the summits, it is all down hill from there. Unlike Mt.Bierstadt where you find yourself going down into a valley and then back up to the trail head, this is a true descent from the summit to the trail head. I suppose that's a good thing too because if any residual strength was required I might have lacked the intestinal fortitude to go on. Then for years to come hikers would tell the legend of the "Bald pink Mountain Yeti" that roamed the area screaming and throwing feces or something. After you make it down off the rockier and steep terrain the rest of the trail back to the car is relaxing and pleasant.  We took plenty of stops to turn around and look back at where we had just come from, its a bit wild to see. I also need to note that you are allowed to do some dispersed camping in this area and we did see one brave soul out with his tent set up. As we made our last few steps on the trail towards the car we finished out our hike right at 7 hours and 4 minutes. 

Our Trek Snapshot.

8.88 Miles

7 Hours 4 minutes

30,327 Steps

3,600ft el gain