Grays Peak

Route: Southwest Ridge
Posted On: 7/5/2023, By: schaffs
Info: LOTS of people. Got to parking lot night prior, was nearly full by 9pm. THANK YOU to the hiker who gave my daughter an oxygen tank. Wind was horrible, trail was great. Only a couple spots with snow, didn't need to use our spikes. Missed the switchbacks...didn't even see them, no one was using them. Did not go to Torreys 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 7/2/2023, By: amynelson2330
Info: Did this Saturday morning. Got to the trailhead at 5:30 and the parking lot was already full. We had planned to do both Grays and Torreys but decided on just Grays in the end. When I looked at our route on Alltrails after the hike, we realized we didn't take the switchbacks, but summitted via the Continental Divide Trail. We were just following the crowd and completely missed the switchbacks. Not sure if they're accessible or not...we didn't see anyone go that way. The route we took definitely made it a Class 2 hike with quite a bit of scrambling. It was a good challenge, but more than we had expected. Lots of wind and cold at the top! Didn't use our microspikes but poles were definitely helpful. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/29/2023, By: MattDLane1
Info: Still enough snow that micro spikes are helpful, postholing as the snow gets soft in the afternoon. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/25/2023, By: 14er101
Info: Still alot of snow up high, traction was nice to have but saw plenty of people doing just fine without it! P.S. I did these two as part of the Loveland Pass to Guanella Pass traverse, so do not know conditions down low. 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 6/25/2023, By: ryansunshine20
Info: Still completely in and probably will be for at least another week or so. Started booting up around 6:00 and that was a little early for us because we had very hard pack snow for climbing most of the couloir. The cornice is huge but the exit is easy to the right. There was just a shallow boot pack to follow the entire time that went in some very weird directions. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/22/2023, By: bsargeant1
Info: Attention Grays/Torreys climbers: CFI has contracted with a helicopter service to transport cut logs up to the shoulder on Grays Peak for use in stabilizing the trail. Weather permitting the helicopter will be ferrying loads one day during the flight window of Tuesday, June 27 through Thursday, June 29. At this time we do not know which day will provide the most optimal flying/hauling condition. Please check our Facebook or Instagram for the most up-to-date information. For safety reasons, hikers will be stopped on the trail briefly as loads are dropped and the helicopter returns to the trailhead area to pick up more loads. Aside from the landing area on the shoulder about 12,750', the flight path will not go over the climbing trail. However, helicopter noise will be audible for much of the day as this needed work occurs. CFI completed a similar operation in 2022 which proved critical to the completion of work needed near the Grays/Torreys trail junction. Failure to get additional logs up to the shoulder will compromise our ability to stabilize this rapidly deteriorating stretch of the trail. We apologize in advance for the impact this activity may have on 14er hikers during this window and hope you all understand the importance of getting this heavy lift accomplished for the long-term condition of the trail. Thanks, Brian Sargeant Development and Communications Manager brian@14ers.org 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 6/17/2023, By: Joey_parm
Info: Had a blast on this one. It will likely deteriorate quickly in the coming weeks with the warm temps and lack of additional snow. Came down the standard route after summiting grays. APPROACH: Did not use traction until we got to the base of climb. Never used flotation either, although there were a few cases of postholing knee to hip deep but not enough to warrant bringing snowshoes imo. Also, be cognizant of whether or not you're on frozen ponds, etc. CLIMB: avy debri to get over initially, then anywhere from ankle to shin deep good snow. The last top 50ish feet was quite frozen still around 8am so make sure you have good crampons to get good kicks in. Also - sizeable cornice at top. See pic. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/14/2023, By: k137n765
Info: Great day for a snowy hike. Upper lot had no snow, plenty of parking at 4:30am. Started at 5:00am. Didn't see anyone bring snowshoes (~10 other people who also started around then), so we left ours behind. Spikes were necessary. Snow fairly packed down at the beginning. Some postholing but we followed footprints of the people ahead of us and did just fine. About halfway up there was one stretch with some exposure, a little frightening to do in snow (as someone who is afraid of heights), but it wasn't a cliff, and it wasn't slippery, so it was fine. Around 3/4 of the way up snow was really dense and easy to walk up with no postholing. Around 200 ft. from summit we stopped following footprints and just made a straight line to the top. Summited at 9:30am. Cloudy and windy but no weather issues. Snow to Torreys looked too deep so we went back down - did not see anyone else attempt Torreys either. Descent was amazing - ran straight down through the snow. Some postholing started about halfway down so we followed footprints the rest of the way. Slushy and muddy at the end but fine with spikes and poles. Back at lot around 11:00am. Did not need snowshoes, but we lucked out with weather - no snow or rain, lots of clouds and very little sun. Also helped to have people ahead of us to avoid postholing. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/11/2023, By: catward77
Info: Drove up around 2:20 AM; pretty much no snow left on road, easily drivable with my Subaru Outback. Took spikes and snowshoes. Trail was completely snowed over with a few inches of fresh powder, but very easily walkable w/o spikes. Put on snowshoes once I reached the lower bowl section between Grays & Torreys; not necessary but happy I had them. Summited around 6:15. Started the descent; glissaded down pretty much the entire mountain until I ran out of slope. On the slide down saw lots of people coming up around 8/9AM; saw many different path choices. Lots of skiers headed up & snow was getting slushy fast. Back down in the valley, trail was melted. Trail-snow-trail-snow the rest of the way, didn't put on my spikes or snowshoes. Very little postholing. Got back around 9:30. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/10/2023, By: FR-189 Things
Info: Folks, We can not continue to park on private property, or county roads, in Clear Creek County. This needs to stop. These skiers also trespassed on private property to access the North Gully of Kelso. > ORDINANCE NO. 14 > AN ORDINANCE REGULATING THE PARKING ON AND BLOCKING OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY ROADWAYS AND ROAD RIGHTS-OF-WAY > WHEREAS, pursuant to C.R.S. 30-15-401(1)(h), the Board of County Commissioners has the power to regulate movement and parking of vehicles on public property; and > WHEREAS, pursuant to C.R.S. 30-11-107(1)(a), the Board of County Commissioners of Clear Creek County has the power to make such orders concerning property belonging to the County as it may deem expedient, and to perform such duties respecting County roads as may be required by law; and > WHEREAS, C.R.S. 42-4-1803(2), the Clear Creek County Sheriffs Office and any deputy sheriff has authority to remove by towing any unattended motor vehicle obstructing traffic or county road maintenance; and > WHEREAS, the Board adopted Ordinance No. 5, An Ordinance Regulating The Parking On And Blocking Of Clear Creek County Roadways And Road Rights-Of- Wayon May 23, 2000, to set forth an orderly procedure to regulate parking of vehicles on county roads, and road right-of-ways; and > WHEREAS, it is the desire of the Board of County Commissioners of Clear Creek County to revise Ordinance No. 5 to reflect changed circumstances; and > WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners, pursuant to public notice published 17 May 2000, held a public hearing on 2 May 2000 and continued said hearing on 9 May, 23 May, and 20 June 2000 to consider amending Ordinance #0-84- 2A "Regulating Parking on County Maintained Roadways". 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/9/2023, By: NOVABuck45
Info: Started at 0400 and trail up until about 12,500 was intermittently snow covered. Still frozen before sunrise, so spikes are highly recommended. From about 12,500, snow covered to the summit. From about 13,000 on, snow was about knee to thigh-deep (Im 63) and postholing became a menace by about 0830. Snowshoes helped a bit, but I was still sinking. A very slow slog to the summit, and very deep snow on the saddle and ridge up Torreys turned me back. Postholed all the way back, and those relatively tame snowy stretches below 12,500 became frustrating. One possible way to mitigate the snow a bit is to deviate from the trail on the final stretch toward the summit, dipping a bit to the south and picking your way up the rocky ridge line to the summit rather than zigzagging up the snow slopes. Far less postholing there. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/2/2023, By: Irbicus
Info: Was able to park about 0.2 mi from trailhead. There is one last snowdrift covering the road between where I parked and the TH which looks like it will be passable soon. Took a 4wd vehicle but right behind me was a low clearance sedan that (surprisingly?) made it up. Started at about 6 AM with touring gear. Boot packed first half mile or so along the trail, then switched to skinning; had to switch between boots and skis a couple of times before reaching continuous snow. Originally had planned to ascend Dead Dog Couloir but a cloud base starting at about 13,500 ft limited visibility of part of that route and with potential for more weather rolling in, we opted to skin up the South Slopes to just below the cloud deck. Snow was excellent descending the South Slopes bowl-- about 1.5 inch of soft, fairly fresh snow wind-deposited on top of a consolidated base. Snow got slushy in places below 12,400 ft. Decided not to lap despite good snow based on weather forecast. Boot packed over some rocks once the continuous snow ran out then found that the main gully East of the North Slopes trail had skiable snow running along the (mostly under-snow) creek all the way to Stevens Mine. Would recommend caution passing over the creek as snow melts further. Got back to car about 4 hrs after starting. 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 5/26/2023, By: slawrence2011
Info: Thanks hunterfleming for yesterday's update. Not much changed, but I wanted to post given that I was surprised how cohesionless this became very quickly today. I think the very top may be a N aspect, but the bottom is very wide, and gets E sunhit. I skied all around it trying to reduce the size of the wet sluffs, definitely not ideal, all loose though. Top is a bit thin, wouldn't be a problem in firmer snow (i.e. less than extremely soft like today), as they are well spread out. I took my time and skied wide berths due to conditions. 11 was my drop time, 10 or 9, maybe even 8 would be better with similar conditions. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 5/27/2023, By: ssowalskie
Info: Started hiking just after 5:45am, I ended up having to park about .7 miles down the road from the trailhead (more info on the trailhead condition update). I ascended with spikes and poles without any issues. Once you make the push up Grays from the split between the Grays trail and the Torreys trail, the trail isn't super clear due to the snow, with people trudging up the peak however they can. I ended up leaving the Grays trail and jumping on the Continental Divide trail on the eastern ridge of Grays. After summitting Grays, I descended the west ridge to the Grays-Torreys saddle and trekked straight up Torreys. Similarly to Grays, the hiking trail isn't super visible due to snow and lots random footprints/ski tracks all over the slope. After summitting, I descended around 9:30am. I took the Torreys trail back to the split rather than go back up Grays, which proved to be pretty sketchy as the snow was already softening pretty quickly, and spikes were beginning to have little effect. From there, the descent just got increasingly miserable, as the feet of snow covering the trail softened and turned into a postholing nightmare (though I'm sure I was amusing to watch for the people on skis). From about 12,000' to the summer trailhead, I postholed to my knees (and occasionally my waist...for reference, I'm 6'3") with almost every other step (or at least it felt that way). This monotony was compounded by the fact that a storm was rolling in and I could hear thunder behind me but felt like I was moving through quicksand (thankfully the storm held off for another hour or so). I didn't have snowshoes with me, so I'm not sure how much of a difference those would have made. Regardless, as long as the snow conditions remain like they are, I'd definitely recommend trying to be well on your way down the trail by 9am, or else accept that it may be a miserable descent. All in all, it was a great ascent with beautiful views. Car to car it was about 6 hours and 15 minutes. 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 5/25/2023, By: hunterfleming
Info: Lost Rat is still in but is getting a bit thin in the upper section, snow coverage has deteriorated quickly in the last few days. Make sure you evaluate the cornice carefully, it is still large and looming. Patches of continuous snow from TH to summit, we did need to transition several times in the gulch. We were able to park our outback about ~0.7 mi from the trailhead before the snow banks were too large to drive over.