Grays Peak

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/26/2019, By: smileyface
Info: Started from trailhead at 5:30 am so trail conditions will vary with your start time and temp. At the summit at ~ 8: 30 am. Perfect conditions. Intermittent snow up to 12,500. Constant snow the rest of the way. I had my microspikes and poles and would recommend that at a minimum. In all honesty, I was kicking myself for leaving the crampons in the car as the upper slope traverses were icy in the morning and I'm a petite woman who doesn't sink much into the snow even with a good kick. By 8 am the snow was starting to soften up. Thanks to the folks who kicked steps up on Mon/Tuesday as you made it much easier for me today! 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/14/2019, By: tvaughn54
Info: Road still blocked by 2 avi debris fields after Grizzly Gulch turn off. Colo 14er initiative was out working on it but have their work cut out for them. The trail has lots of snow. I climbed from winter TH at I70. Did the trip without snowshoes but went early and suffered falling into post holes on the way down. Microspikes needed. The trip down off Grays toward Torreys is a little tricky but once down, the saddle is dry and so is up Torreys. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/8/2019, By: soccern23ny
Info: Start: 0500. End:1245. Lucky with the early overcast and early start. Solid crust from start of hike to the ridge line of Torrey's. Almost no wind up to the saddle of Gray's and Torrey's. Sustained 20mph on ridge line to summit. Headed down Northeast side of Gray's. Glissaded a huge part of it, almost perfect for it. A little slushy at the end.... on that note, by 9am you would need snow shoes. I was the only one besides skiiers that I saw that had floatation! People coming up at 10am with just boots.... anyways, as usual early bird gets the worm. Smedium sized cornices on the east side of Torrey's ridge line. Saw one break off on my way down from Gray's at around 1045am. Not really that big of an avalanche(don't think would burry you, also not an expert) but with rocks and what not would not be good. Happened here 39.640899, -105.819670. Also as stated before, two avalanches have cut off the upper trailhead. The furthest you can get is within 1.5 miles(at the first and worst avalanche) of the upper trailhead. Don't be that guy that tries to offroad it... like the guy this morning. It won't work out well. Impassable to any and all vehicles at this point. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 5/28/2019, By: whirlejon
Info: Ascended from winter trailhead beginning at 5:40am. Road to summer trailhead was drifted immediately past winter TH. Avalanche debris covers road to summer TH in two places, road will be impassable until debris is cleared. Trail from summer trailhead was snow covered, winter trail well defined to summit. Reached summit at 9:50am. Ascent was completed with micro spikes. Carried snowshoes to summit. Flotation was appreciated on descent as snow had soften considerably. Arrived back at winter TH at 12:15pm. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 4/21/2019, By: dashrsp
Info: Winter still exists above 13,000' despite the incredibly warm day. Summit was probably ~20-25 degrees. The sun is strong; get an early start. Snow is windswept, but not icy. There are pockets of softer snow. Many exposed rocks, but it is both skinnable and skiable between I-70 and the summit (with some creativity). Thunderstorms rolled in with little warning at 1 pm. Get an early start. Ridge is skinnable between Grays and Torreys. Take care of the cornices. Dead dog couloir looks good as well as a few other routes down Torreys East face. Kelso Ridge looked like it was mostly, but not completely snow-covered. Get an early start. Img #1 Kelso Mountain #2 east ridge #3 Torreys east face #4, 5 Summit of grays 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 4/10/2019, By: dippold6
Info: I know conditions will have changed after this storm, but, there is a massive crack at the top of the apron for dead dog couloir that is almost the full width of the top of the apron. There is enough room to get around on either side of it. Be careful as it may be covered up after this storm. I wanted to climb Lost Rat Couloir, but as I got closer it looked like it had a cornice at the top. As I ascended up the standard route the cornice became more obvious and it was huge. But the couloir itself was completely filled in and looks great for after that cornice falls. The standard route was in great shape. Hard packed in the morning, sinking up to my ankle by noon. Pick one is the crack on dead dog. Sorry I couldn't get a better pic. Snow was blowing Pick two and three are Lost Rat and the cornice above it. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 2/17/2019, By: bgilley1987
Info: 6 inches fresh snow all the way up. Road from Bakerville to trail head is impassable. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 2/2/2019, By: cotezi
Info: We started at the lower lot at 8:30 AM (too tired to wake up as planned and also I-70). My hiking partners debated driving the road to the upper lot but I urged them not to. I'm very glad we didn't. Road walk was straight forward, just super long and never-ending. On the road, MK and I used spikes w/ trail runners (plus snow gaiters for me), PE didn't pack any spikes (did have snowshoes for later though) and just wore trail runners. We got to the summer TH at around 9:35. Used the restroom and put on snowshoes. MK spit a loogie on the ground and a little fluffy bird (that I guess hangs out at the TH a lot) flew in, grabbed a bite of it, and flew away. It was the strangest thing I'd ever seen. Anyway, the snow between this and the Kelso Ridge trail jct had a lot of posthole evidence, but we floated right through. I ditched my snowshoes at this jct and put my spikes back on for the rest of the route to the summit. PE made it from this point to the summit without any spikes or snowshoes (I don't recommend this, but he was very comfortable doing it). Once on the ridge the wind picked up a lot but it was still accurate according to the weather forecast 10-20 mph (with some strong gust). However, the switchbacks up to the summit were shielded from gusts. When we finally got to the summit at 2:05 PM we were rewarded with the most amazing view of all the mtns on the other side, along with the most calm and sunny part of our whole day. We were so pleasantly surprised by this because all the people we saw coming down on our way up were telling us of 50-60 mph gusts up top. Got back to the car 5:30 PM just after the sun had gone down. Didn't use spikes on the way back down on the road due to my feet being too sore, and trail runners by themselves are more comfortable. PS: I hope this is not a trip report, so please forgive me in advance if it is! 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 2/2/2019, By: nickle
Info: We summited Grays today from Torreys. Windy, but no hazards to speak of. The face is scoured enough to descend the North Slopes without any risk. Can't speak directly for the Torreys South Slopes route to the saddle, but did see several people heading up that route. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 1/15/2019, By: pbabeu
Info: Approach road (FSR 189) to summer parking lot at Stevens Gulch is hard packed for walking. Best to park at the lot at the beginning of FSR 189 and use skis to cover distance up and back. Bathroom @ Stevens Gulch is open & stocked with with lots of paper. We needed to wear our snow shoes after walking about a quarter mile on packed trail up Stevens Gulch. Ditched the snowshoes at the mouth of the upper basin and gained the ridge immediately rather than follow the standard route which allowed us to avoid potential avalanche risk. We used micro spikes on the ridge and didn't hike the windblown ridge to Torreys because we were running out of daylight and because the weather was deteriorating. We saw a group of 17 mountain goats on ridge of Kelso Mountain. Long day - started walking @ 8 am & got back to the car @ 7 pm! Better to take skis if you have skins or old school waxers. Can leave skis at the mouth of the upper basin where we left our snowshoes. Best wishes for a fun & safe climb! Photo 1: View of Torrey's Peak along FSR 189 to summer parking lot at Stevens Gulch Photo 2: View of Grays and Torreys from Stevens Gulch showing variation of route Photo 3: View from summit of Grays with Evans, Bierdstadt & Pikes Peak in the distance 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 1/7/2019, By: Eagle Eye
Info: Thank you srtaylor1317 for the day before peak and TH info. Quite a weather deterioration for Sunday, which was forecast. I was able to drive to the Grizzly Gulch fork on the main road. The road is well traveled and the trail, too. I wore micro spikes the whole day and snowshoes were not necessary. I was very happy to reach (only) the Grays Peak summit from the Torreys/Grays split & returned the same way. Image #1: A view from approx. 12,800 along a distinctive part of the route. (Kelso Mt is distant and left of center) 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 1/5/2019, By: srtaylor1317
Info: It was a gorgeous day for summiting. I set off around 7:45 and started with 2 miles of walking on the road before I got to the bridge. The snow on the trail is mostly firm. Traction is a must, but only a few people were wearing snowshoes. I brought them with me and never took them off my pack. I had microspikes and they were entirely adequate. The trail is pretty well established, at least until the next snowfall. If you choose your steps carefully, you shouldn't have problems with postholing, at least not with current conditions. I summitted around noon and was at the top of of Torrey's at 12:45pm. The ridge over to Torrey's is in great condition. Choose between walking on snow or rock, just don't get too close to the edge. Great winter trip! Back at the car by 3pm. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 1/6/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: The trail to Grays and Torreys is in great shape. Flotation was not needed. Traction was very useful. There is enough snow on Torreys that you never have to step on rocks, though going up Grays' north slopes (that is, coming from Torreys) the snow is in pretty poor shape in many places. That was about the only poor snow on the entire route. Again, flotation not necessary, but traction was very useful. Be warned, a storm tonight (Sunday) and tomorrow (Monday) may render this conditions report obsolete. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 12/16/2018, By: supranihilest
Info: The road is packed enough that you can drive a 4WD vehicle to the Y junction just below the private property. Beyond that the road is packed enough to walk on, but not drive on. The traverse from Torreys to Grays is also mostly packed. Flotation is not required. Microspikes were very helpful. Photo 1: Grays and Torreys from afar. Photo 2: Grays from the summit of Torreys. Photo 3: Torreys from the Grays/Torreys saddle. Photo 4: conditions down Stevens Gulch, plus some of the packed Grays switchbacks to the right. Lots of snow but flotation is not required if you stay on the areas already packed down. The willows are another story - posthole city! 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 11/9/2018, By: supranihilest
Info: I put in a booter all the way up Stevens Gulch. In fact, I had to break trail in both directions, being up there alone today, so I hope someone can take advantage of it! From the lower parking area on I70 to the upper/summer trailhead the road is in decent enough hiking shape. The comporessed tire tracks are great to hike on but end about a mile up the road, and it becomes mostly single track from there to the upper trailhead. Conditions from the upper trailhead onward are mixed. For the first half a mile or so the trail is easy to follow and the snow is in great shape for hiking on. As you get farther up Stevens Gulch the snow gets worse and worse and postholing is the name of the game. Skis would be best here, I simply booted it the entire way. Near the Kelso cutoff the snow is blasted to the ground and makes for quick, easy progress. The snow between the Kelso Ridge cutoff and "the Rascal" (the rock tower near the standard Grays trail) is mostly deep sugar with a punch crust on top, and the trail in this section is difficult to follow. Eventually you get high enough that nearly everything is blasted to the ground and the snow on the switchbacks is very hard packed and makes for quick progress. The snow between Grays and Torreys is mostly hard packed as well and makes for quick progress. Microspikes were incredibly useful all day. An ice axe is not mandatory IF YOU STICK TO the standard route(s). Do not attempt other routes without an ice axe. Photo 1: Grays and Torreys from a distance. Photo 2: Grays from the summit of Torreys. Photo 3: Torreys from the summit of Grays.