Grays Peak

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/14/2025, By: carmitz001
Info: Trail is about 75% dry. Snow was supportive but slippery from 9-11 am. The trail from 12.7k to 13.0k was a narrow line of footsteps in the snow, which made it tricky to pass other hikers. Spikes would have helped. At 13.6k feet, I detoured south to reach the Continental Divide trail on the Grays-Edwards ridge. It was much drier than the upper standard trail, although not as easy to follow. Snow was annoying on the descent to Torreys at 11:30 am because it was very slippery but not steep enough to glissade. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/13/2025, By: ericahlstedt
Info: Route is mostly snow free to the summit ridge where there is snow. The SE face still has close to 2000ft of skiing off the summit. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/13/2025, By: carmitz001
Info: Great day for a fun alternative route! A few avoidable snowfields around 11.8k to 12.5k feet. The rest of the trail is snow-free. Lots of runoff on the gravel road, which made it difficult to keep my feet dry. The upper slopes are steep but manageable, especially if you can stay on the faint trail. Snow was in good condition for three separate glissades on the descent, totaling 1100 feet. Had to avoid a direct glissade from the summit, though, as there were cornices and deep, crusty snow. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/10/2025, By: Michael Underwood
Info: Lots of postholing during the warmer parts of the day. Traction for your footwear is helpful, and a trekking pole will allow self-belay in the event of a slip. Gaiters are very nice to have, even if you're wearing boots. 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 5/28/2025, By: jmanner
Info: Lost rat is in! Great conditions off the summit on the south side of the ridge at 11:10am and the couloir skied awesome at 11:15 when we skied into it. 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 4/3/2025, By: ajeski
Info: This is a bit late, but my buddy and I hiked and skied the Lost Rat Couloir on Saturday 3/29. The hike up the couloir was rough and fairly deep snow, lots of post holing. However, the snow in the couloir was phenomenal on the way down! We were dragging hard once we got to the ridgeline at the top of Lost Rat all the way to the summit. The ridgeline is fairly bare, but you can drop from the summit. Left my ice axe up there, so if anyone finds it, let me know! We skied from the summit all the way to the car. It was a fantastic day. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 3/9/2025, By: bangerth
Info: From the winter parking lot down by the interstate, the road up to the summer parking lot is hard packed by snowmobiles and skiers. From the upper parking lot, to our surprise, the trench only extended perhaps half a mile. There was a pair of skier tracks down in the bottom of the creek, and now there is also a fully formed trench to about where the trail to Grays/Torreys splits from the trail that goes to the base of Kelso Ridge. This is about as far as we made it before we decided to turn around because one of us didn't feel well. There are places where the switchbacks on Grays are covered by snow fields I would not want to step on. But it seemed clear that one can stay on the rocky rib on the left side of the north slopes -- either all the way to the ridge, or to the highest switchbacks. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 12/25/2024, By: gcepeda22
Info: Started at the lower trailhead at 5am. Forecast conditions predicted clear sky. Road up to the upper trailhead was walkable in spikes. Coming to the main trail, any trail that was made previously disappeared or barely recognizable. Switched to snow shoes and proceeded to break trail. Made a break at 11800 ft and followed a path to avoid the avalanche area and rebroke that in. Resumed on the normal trail around 12200ft. And proceeded to break trail to the summit. Wind only became a problem after sunset. Got to Gray at 4:20pm right before sunset. Used the remaining light to climb Torreys and an hour a half more. Before making my way back to the lower lot at 9pm. Worth it. Recommending bringing snowshoes if you want to take anything from this. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 12/7/2024, By: shaines90
Info: Road was still packed in all the way from the lower trailhead; booted it all the way up and snowshoed it back down. Didn't pop on snowshoes until about a mile after the upper trailhead, but there's enough coverage to do so before then if you'd rather wear than carry them. Seemed most people were taking the alternative route to avoid the Kelso Mountain slide path, so it's very well trenched now ahead of the next round of storms. Around 12500-12700, the snow got very soft and punchy, but the postholes people have hit are stable now and can be stepped in. Most of the upper mountain is pretty well wind-scoured, but there's still a crusty layer across the standard trail that I'd recommend spikes for. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 12/4/2024, By: SarahT
Info: Road is well tracked by snowcats. I was happy to have snowshoes from the summer trailhead to about 12,500 ft but if you're one of those people who like to posthole in boots you can make it without. The upper part of the route is very windscoured. The main established track currently follows the summer trail and crosses the known slide path on Kelso Mountain. This slope has deceived more than one person in the past, not just noobs, and it cost them their lives. Treat the slope with respect and give it a wide berth. One lone snowshoer had had the sense to choose a safer path below the summer trail and I improved that track. Reinforcing this safer variation will encourage others away from that avy path and could even save a life down the road. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 10/14/2024, By: PearsonJohnP
Info: Made it to the upper trail head in a Jeep by 6:15, and the parking lot only had 5-6 cars in it. 4WD recommended. It was light by 6:45 when we set off. Conditions were excellent and the trail is in A+ shape. The summit of Grays was windy and quite cold, persisting down to the saddle in between it and Torreys. We saw a beautiful white mountain goat on the large outcrop about 500 feet below Grays, off to your left. There were people at the top of Torrey's who had come up the Kelso ridge route, and they said it was in great shape, too. This is an eminently doable double as long as the weather holds. Enjoy! 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 9/30/2024, By: sukumarst
Info: Reached the Parking lot around 6:00am and it was around 35F. Started to hike around 6:30am and returned back to the parking lot around 1:00pm and it was around 55F. That was a total of 6Hr and 30Min. In between, I had many short breaks for Photos, Water, Snacks, may be a total of 1Hr. Entire trail route was dry with short patches of Wet soil due to snow melt, No snow on the trail anywhere. Reached the Grays Peak summit around 9:10am. Started from Grays Peak around 9:30am and reached Torreys Peak around 10:20am. Started from Torreys Peak around 10:40am and reached the parking lot around 1:00pm. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 9/24/2024, By: SWINTJJ
Info: I arrived in the upper parking lot at 0600 AM. I was the sixth car there on a Tuesday and one other arrived just after me. The rut about .25 mile from the parking lot is still the worst spot in the road coming up. I might have been on three wheels going up and down in my Expedition through that rut. I took the Grays trail to the summit of Grays this morning. I descend Grays' north ridge with the intent to do the Grays Torreys combo. However, it was slick with snow and ice, so I took the Torreys descent trial back to the Grays Torreys junction. From the junction to the summit, down the Grays north ridge, on the saddle and back down there was snow and ice. Never more than .25 inch. I did not use traction, but I probably could have used it. At 0600 AM it was 34 degrees in the parking lot. By 1230 PM it was 57 degrees. The wind was intermittent, going from no wind to 30 MPH gusts. These rogue gusts would come through and last about one minute. The wind chill was brutal when those gusts came through. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 8/3/2024, By: mjm1231
Info: Arrived 6:30 Friday evening for Saturday alpine start. The upper parking lot was completely full by 8:30/9pm with cars already parking down the road. Other than that it was a beautiful hike, warmed up to 50s on summits. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 7/25/2024, By: Ariella6
Info: Thursday Lot full at 450 am. Lots and lots of folks out today. even on a weekday. Road going up is tough, plan on taking it slower. There are some dips an jutting rocks. I drive a honda pilot and it made it fine. Plan about 15-20 minutes to drive the 3 miles from lower to upper lot and remember no parking along the road side. Dogs are allowed but need to be LEASHED!!! omg folks. Not everyone thinks your dog is cute and wants them running up to them. Nor do the wildlife want to be chased or eaten by your dog. Leash em up or dont bring them. period. Also please dont leave your dog poop backs by the trail side. Seriously this is delicate terrain pack it with you. There are bathrooms at the trailhead. a trash bag hanging in the bathroom, but you should really just plan on packing your trash out. Trail is dry. Summer conditions. Saw mountain goats, pica and marmot out today. Also still lots of flowers. Really pretty views. Thankfully air quality was not horrible today even with the canadian fires going on. Did not find any geo markers on either peak and please take your signs with you if you make them! Dont just leave them up there to blow away or wreck the nature we are all coming to see. Lastly uphill has the right of way. So please step aside and follow proper trail etiquette if you are going to recreate outdoors.