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I haven't ever climbed a 14er solo before, and I had the chance today, so I took it.. I got to the TH last night about 8pm, slept a few hours, woke up at midnight and couldn't get back to sleep, so decided to take off hiking at 1am and get up the hill to see the sunrise.
It was probably the best hike I've ever taken, it was beautiful. There was no moon, and the sky was crystal clear. I stopped more than once and turned off my headlamp to see what it looked like without any lights, and one time when I did that, somewhere around 3am I guess, I saw an actual fireball (a very, very large meteor). It was spectacular, and it also exploded - I swear - it flashed a blue light and busted into two pieces. I saw it right around the big dipper, headed eastward and diving down toward Kelso ridge. I didn't hear anything, but I had my headphones on at the time, so... But it was unbelievable. "And then it exploded.." (It was definitely a metor... I'm into astronomy, it was not a UFO or an aircraft of any sort lol..) I obviously didn't catch a picture of it, but it very closely resembled this:
Except the one I saw had a blue explosion. Lol.. It was incredible.
Anyway, the path was clear for the most part, but yaktrax were definitely essential at times. I only had to cross one major snowfield that was after the turnoff to Torreys from the Grays route, and leading up to the saddle. In the dark, I didn't realize (or remember) how steep and deep this drop was (1000ft+), and it was complete ice. The path was just wide enough to keep your balance, and with the trax it was certainly passable, but a bit exposed. And I really should have had my ice axe with me just in case. I'm sure it's not as bad after the sun's been at it a few hours, but at 4am it was just ice, and it was only slightly better at about 6:30am when I went back down. You can see it in this picture, the topmost traverse, and the most used.
Here's a view of Grays from the saddle - you can see the trails on the standard route are pretty clear of snow for the most part, and I think one would only really desire yaktrax or equivalent during short portions in the early morning, otherwise it's fine with hiking boots. The afternoon, I can't speak to, but even as I was coming down between 6:30-8am, I started to posthole on some of the lower sections. Not a big deal, but FYI.
Here is a view of Torreys on my way down - the trail is completely clear...
And the cornices are starting to shed I think..
Hope that helps someone out there - I always like to see pics of the trail before I go up too
Spotted four folks making their way up the steeper snow sections on Torreys, looked like they were going skiing.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Great pics of the conditions, thank you! 7/3/2011 8:51pm
I'm heading up the standard route to get revenge on Torreys, since I had to bail after getting Grays as my 1st 14er due to snow and dense fog. These pictures really help!
I was a little concerned about that traverse up to the saddle and now I wish I had found room to pack my ice axe, just in case. Luckily, I did toss my Yaks in, and I'll be getting a ~6am start on Wednesday, so hopefully things are fine by then.
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