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So A rush trip just got planned and I have to drive my girlfriend from Durango to Denver, leaving in 3 hours. Dropping her off at the airport and then I will have some time to kill, tomorrow. Looked at trip reports and conditions and found nothing on evans, torreys and grays, etc.. Looking for a quick, fun up and down and I'll be in a ford focus and I won't have my alpine/snow gear with me. Any suggestions before I head back south. Thx.

We were just on Kelso yesterday.
We hiked in from I-70.
Unlikely your ford focus will make it to the summer trailhead of G&T.
I'd recommend Sniktau and Grizzley from Loveland Pass.
It's always windy up there, so a decent shell(s) would be a good idea.

Sounds like you're looking for a non-winter-conditions climb.

From a distance the southern Sawatch and the Blanca group both look like they have very little snow. Lindsey, Princeton, etc could be appropriate.

lurker wrote:We were just on Kelso yesterday.
We hiked in from I-70.
Unlikely your ford focus will make it to the summer trailhead of G&T.
I'd recommend Sniktau and Grizzley from Loveland Pass.
It's always windy up there, so a decent shell(s) would be a good idea.

Funny we just went up Kelso today. It was really slick even with 4 wheel drive going up the road but we made it to the summer trailhead. I wouldn't recommend a two wheel drive car heading up that road unless you have tire cables or chains. The snow on the road is not deep at all but it is really icy. Standard route has some snow on it almost the entire way up. I would recommend microspikes and/or trekking poles at a minimum. It was cold as hell up there today though.

You should be stoked though. Any chance to get out in the hills is always awesome. You could do Yale East Ridge or Quandary standard those trailheads are both close to the paved roads but I would still recommend Microspikes and Trekking Poles.

Most college-age males regularly get stoked:
http://www.theonion.com/video/report-mo ... tti,14386/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dude, try these nachos!

I'm sorry; I thought you were asking "should I be stroked".

Which of course the obvious answer is, YES!

Thanks for the responses. So I decided to give Bierstadt a shot via Guanella Pass even though I didn't think the 2wd focus would make it (2nd ed. Roach book says the road is mostly dirt). Ha, it was the most maintained road I have been on in a while. Few icy patches but pretty simple drive. Slept in car at TH, started at 5am and topped out sometime after 7. Awesome sunrise, and it was exactly the quick, fun up and down that I was looking for. Cheers y'all.

Way to go, GT! Congrats on a solid solo ascent!

This is the problem with youth these days. They are getting stoked all the time, sometimes over something as simple as a road being paved. And once one gets stoked, others often follow suit.