Grays Peak

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. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 7/14/2024, By: Ronsammons
Info: Arrived at the trailhead at 4am and no room in the summer trailhead parking lot already. Some space may have been available along the road but I chose to park at the winter trailhead. Beautiful day and great conditions. Probably the busiest trail I have ever been on. Just me, my little dog and a bo-zillion other people. Wound up getting Grays but not Torreys as my pup was out of gas. All in all a very fun experience. So many very nice people enjoying Colorado. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 7/8/2024, By: jordanthebuff
Info: Beautiful summer day up there today. Still some snow holding on and it doesn't seem to be going away soon. Coming down from the saddle, I passed through the snowfield around 11 and it was soft, but no post holing. Very easy to pass through. I took a picture of Torrey's because I figured some on here might be interested in the various couloirs. Kelso ridge looked clear and I plan coming back for it later in the summer. Wildflowers everywhere! Columbines are in full bloom, if that's your thang. I parked at the bottom and hiked the road. When I got to the main trailhead, there were still a handful of open spots at 7:30 AM (but I actually enjoyed the road and if you don't mind the miles, I recommend it.) Shout-out to CFI, the trail up to Grays and down to the saddle is remarkable. A+++ 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/30/2024, By: IHikeLikeAGirl
Info: Arrived Fri, 4:15p, 4 cars at TH. Had my pick of dispersed camping spots, grabbed one 0.1 mi beyond the outhouse. Several more cars showed up from 5p on. Got up at 5a, cars lined the road above and well below the parking lot (despite the no parking signs). As stated before, summer conditions for the hike, snow field remains dropping off G/T saddle. Trench at start, but more tenuous later. Had micros, didn't use, just went slow. Couloirs look to have continuous snow (except for Lost Rat), see attached pics 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: Willy the Kid
Info: Got to the trailhead at 3 and snagged one of the last spots. Looks like a lot of people camp overnight. 95% summer conditions except for one small (~200 yds) snowfield coming off of the saddle with Torreys, which is doable without spikes or poles if you take it slowly. There are also a few stream crossings on the lower section of the trail, but they are easy to rockhop across. Start early if you want some solitude! 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/23/2024, By: callmeforni
Info: Looking real good and mostly melted out aside from a small patch ~100 yards long from the Torreys approach to the junction. Otherwise, primed and ready to roll. Lots of wildlife coming out too. Get at it!! 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 6/16/2024, By: ChiBearsFan
Info: Started up the couloir at 5:20, condition were nice and firm. Topped out a 7 (slow midwestern). Conditions were still good when I top out but it was starting to soften. Had a few small rocks come down while in the upper half. Then if you look at picture 17 where the Couloir turns Skier left by the small rock rib there is about 6ft that didnt have full coverage but didnt it didnt pose any issue while clilmbing. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/16/2024, By: tpmarshall
Info: Trail is pretty much all thawed now apart from a few small patches. summer parking lot getting full around 5, can get there with any high clearance car. 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 6/10/2024, By: leandra_nikont
Info: Rang in 30 with an early ascent of Lost Rat - started the couloir just before 5 and it started getting soft around 6:30. Would recommend starting no later than 4 at this point in the season. Great climb! 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/3/2024, By: Smurgu
Info: On Saturday June 1st. We parked 2 miles before the TH in the designated lot, which was almost full at 5.15 am. Summited at 11 am- frequent breaks for a Chicagoan:). I think microspikes were super useful on ascent and snowshoes needed on descent, especially in the valley. Blue skies, mild winds- back in the parking lot by 3 pm. 10.5 miles round trip due to parking. Super fun day. My first 14 er in spring conditions! 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 5/28/2024, By: Gavin Goold
Info: We left car around 4:30 am and made it to peak of grays at 845. I initially was worried about potential wind slabs in the couloir as it is easterly facing but when we got in there at 9 am it was sheltered enough not to have that problem. At the bottom of the couloir, there were some definite signs of warming as we were releasing dinner plates from our skis that rolled down. And an individual booting up the couloir when we were descending had to turn around. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 5/17/2024, By: Danger_D
Info: Excellent conditions. With 4WD the road is drivable to dry parking spots at grizzly gulch turnoff, but those spots were all taken today, so most will be walking the winter lot. Undrivable above that. Continuous snow above 10,700 but melting fast. All couloirs in the valley are in. Lost rat looked in good conditions from afar and I think it saw some ski descents today. Dead Dog had a ton of Avy debris in it, we saw some parties climb but not ski down. The NW face skinned great, but ski crampons highly recommend because it gets bulletproof right as you gain the summit ridge near the saddle. You can still ski from the summit with some creative billygoating, but not sure how much longer it will last. We dropped down the main face from the saddle at 11:15 and it skied like a dream, but the freeze is going to be weaker for the weekend so YMMV 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 5/13/2024, By: Taco14
Info: Road going to the summer trailhead was extremely muddy on the way down and the top half of the road was still covered in a good bit of snow. Two Tacoma's had confidence meet reality on the road and are going to have to be towed out of their precarious parking positions. So probably best to keep walking the road for a few weeks yet. After the summer trailhead the trail was completely covered with fresh snow and all of the trail signs were still buried most of the way up the signs under several feet of snow. Snowshoes definitely required. If you don't know what the route is you won't be able to find it very easily, even the cairns were mostly buried. You can finally lose the snowshoes at about 12,500 or 13,000 and then you'll want microspikes for your summit push.