Grays Peak

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 10/5/2021, By: JacqueTietjen
Info: Spikes highly recommended for Grays, if anything for the descent. Plenty of people did it without spikes but it definitely slows you down. Only a couple inches, packed snow from about 12,800'-summit. Torreys from grays was bone dry past the saddle and Kelso ridge looked pretty dry from the trail. Gorgeous weather today! 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 9/29/2021, By: Gweilo climber
Info: Started the climb at 6am, summer/fall conditions - dry, but a little cool. Entire trail was dry with some graupel overnight. We were the 4th into the parking lot. The trailhead road conditions were definitely 'poor'/not maintained. Completing the combo took a while and it started to snow the final 2 miles when we were in the valley. Otherwise the trail was well marked and a great hike! Saw some beautiful colors and also the Ptarmigan fire. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 9/30/2021, By: J Gregg
Info: We got to the parking lot at 0515 and were the first ones there, started hiking at 0530. The train up was dry till just before the split (left to go up Gray's, right to go to the saddle) then there was a light dusting of dry snow approx 1/8 inch. The trail stayed that way all the way to the top but traction was good with out microspikes, once we started down the saddle the snow cleared up and we were in dry ground all the way to the top of Torrey's. Now the exciting part!!!! It started snowing on us just as we left the saddle headed down, it was snowing pretty heavy till about a mile from the trailhead. By my estimate there's probably about two inches of snow over mud and slush, this is as of about 1245 on the 29th. With about a hour left on the trail there was a huge thunder crack that rolled for a long time but we didn't see any lightning, so just because it's not a summer day doesn't mean you are safe from thunderstorms. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 9/26/2021, By: Balcao2546+
Info: Road to the trailhead is a bit rocky, but it is possible with good clearance. I got up there with my Santa Fe. Arrive early as parking is limited. Great day for summit, took a friend that was his first 14er. We started on the trail at 5:30 and summited around 9:00ish, not a cloud in the sky. Lots of people on the trail, I say about 50+. One guy had summited after 380 days since his stroke. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 9/8/2021, By: charlieg
Info: Beautiful and sunny, although hazy views (of course). Set out at 630 and the lot wasn't completely full yet. Not windy. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 8/20/2021, By: tatrier
Info: Lot half full. Road makable. It was cold, snowy, and Windy. Gusts 80mph. The saddle to Torreys almost unmakeable to due high winds snow gusts. Half our party didn't summit. 5am start. Possibly better conditions midday with sunshine 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 8/14/2021, By: madmattd
Info: Navigationally a fairly simple alternate route that avoids the Stevens Gulch circus. There are trail segments most of the way if you need assurance you are going the right way, but in general once on the bench near Grays Lake it's pretty clear where you need to go. This route does get quite steep above ~12,500' until you hit the ridge just under 14,000', and there's a decent bit of loose ball bearing rocks and dirt. Makes the descent tedious, if this route continues to see increased traffic it might get problematic (manageable for now). A trail crew was building impressive rock walls just below the summit of Grays Peak today on the connector trail to Torreys Peak. Nothing else of note on the connector route. I was pleasantly surprised that while certainly busy, the peaks/trail between Grays/Torreys were not a complete zoo. From nearby Edwards I saw over 300 people just near the Grays Peak summit on a similar Saturday last summer, I'm not sure there were that many on the 2 14ers here in total today. Might be a result of the parking changes in Stevens Gulch? Around 18 people in total attempted the South Ridge on Grays today, more than I expected, but 6 were in one group so not actually too bad considering the location/peaks involved. Views were pretty clear today, smoke was largely cleared out (especially compared to recently) and I could just make out Massive and Mount of the Holy Cross from the summits. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 8/11/2021, By: RHesketh
Info: No problem with parking (many spaces on a Wednesday) since we started hiking at 4 AM. It was great starting in the dark and seeing the Colorado Night Sky!! We did Grays then Torreys. The Mountains still had the smoke from California Wildfires which limited seeing all the mountain detail. But it was fantastic to be on the top of the world. See the pictures. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 7/24/2021, By: KestrelWarrior
Info: No major updates from the posts below. Wonderful job by trail maintainers. Parking lot was ~70% full at 330a on a Saturday. Still that gnarly spot on the way in. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 7/9/2021, By: tylerhohs
Info: Summer conditions. Trail is entirely clear of snow on the way up to Grays and in great shape. If you are summiting Torreys as well, there is a very small patch of snow on the descent route before you reconnect to the main approach trail, no traction was required for us. Happy climbing! 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 7/2/2021, By: tuxfan
Info: Summer conditions. Watch out for verglas on the upper sections (if you're up there early). 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 7/1/2021, By: jakeandorbake
Info: Pulled up 2:50am to some weird and isolated dry lightning on ridge, otherwise clearing clouds. Road could be done slowly in a 2WD sedan with careful and smart driving. Did it in friend's '96 Subie sedan with +2in lift and AWD no problem Ground slightly wet, summer conditions. Watch out for verglas on talus/scree between saddle and Grays. The only snow you need to cross is at the tri point on the return shortcut from Torreys, but it is very doable without traction. Weather held out and we were fine with thinner layers. Light gloves or handwarmers are enough Ran down no problem, and parking lot still had some spaces on a Thursday morning past 7:00 - nice Splits (total time): 2:10 up Grays, 0:07 at summit, 0:40 traverse, 0:13 Torreys summit, 0:57 run down; 4:07 About 3:30 net moving time 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/30/2021, By: Ted_Sward
Info: Summer conditions, mostly dry trail except a few spots where snowmelt refroze overnight. The saddle has about 200 meters of snowpack to traverse as you connect back to the main trail. Didn't posthole there, didn't need traction. But poles help as it can be a little dicey. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/28/2021, By: mtalll
Info: Parking lot half full at 5:45. Due to recent snow, trail had some running water, and some ice/packed snow after the Torrey split in the morning. Microspikes useful, but most didn't have them. Some deep snow blocked the return from Torrey's, but people packed down a path through. The fresh snow made for a beautiful hike. 

Route: Up via Edwards, down south Ridge
Posted On: 6/17/2021, By: GordoByrn
Info: See Edwards note on this day. We took our time on the traverse, 2hrs from Edwards. Kept it class 2 the whole way. Basically, choose left and lose a bit of height if the route starts to get tough. No need to stray too far from the ridge crest, weended up a little too low sometimes. One snow patch to cross on the final push up to Grays, I didn't use traction as it wasn't steep and was soft enough to kick steps. Descent was just like the route description. I took us too far right when leaving the green ramp. Should have headed towards Grays Lake instead, and the end of the road. Strava: https://strava.app.link/b51uJJSAahb