14ers.com - Trip Report - Long day at Gray‘s Peak

Peak:	Grays Peak - 14,270 feet
Posted By:	zoriloco
Post Date:	11/03/2009
Date Climbed:	11/01/2009

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Long day at Gray‘s Peak
During this summer I had a chance to climb Torrey‘s Peak but was to tired to give Grays a try. Heard Sunday was gonna be a nice day so I left Denver around 5am and got to the TH around 6am. I tried to drive up the road but there was just too much ice and I kept on sliding. So I parked and walked up to the TH. This of course added more miles to the trip (I’m blaming that on why I didn’t summit grin ) When I get to the TH (45 after parking the Jeep) I see a couple crossing the bridge, they were the only 2 people I saw that day in the trail. I wasn’t able to summit, I was just to tired and running low on water. On to the pics....... When I pulled off I-70 it was still dark, but by the time I tried to get up the road, parked and got all my gear on sun was starting to come out. The bridge First View of Peak Following the tracks Snowshoes really helped. Snow was packed to take my weight but with out them I would have been post holing all the way up. Finally caught up with the other hikers (not for long) 1 Sandwich and 2 Reese‘s Cups proved to not be enough during a winter hike The wind can really carve some nice figures Making my way thru the side of a ridge Looking back Looking ahead Torrey‘s More Carvings And this is how far I made it. By that time it was already 2pm and I still needed to hike back. Didn’t want to hiking in the dark with out water. I’m thinking I had another 3/4 of a mile to the top? Decided I would slide off the side of the mountain using my shovel as a brake, I think that was the best part of the hike. FAWSOME!!! Saw some snow boarding tracks on my way back to the Jeep I‘ll be back beatch!!!
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Comments or Questions (6)

Wesley	Nice pictures! 2009-11-03 21:27:00 Thanks for the conditions update. Strong effort starting from I70. How deep is the snow on the road? Think I can make it to the TH with chains on a high clearance truck?
zoriloco	Thanks 2009-11-04 10:45:48 4WD, High Clearance and chains should get you up there, Im thinking a lot of melting went on this week. It seems ”some” winter maintenance has been done up to the houses. and I did see chain tracks up to that spot. The deepest I saw in snow/Ice was about a foot. Also guessing there was some melting during this week. A pic on the way back and you can get an idea of what the road looks like.
Kiefer	Another time 2009-11-06 16:58:57 That first pticture is all too familiar. I wouldn‘t count on the whole day being a loss. After all, everyday spent up here is another reason to be happy! The scenery can‘t be argued with. It looks like you still had a good time. Those glissades are worth it! By the way, those cool shapes carved by the wind are called, sasturgi.
zoriloco	Thanks 2009-11-09 12:41:08 I had a great time and did enjoy being out there as always. Thanks for the info on sasturgi.
KansasBoarder	Tracks 2009-11-09 21:42:33 Nice day up there. Summits are fun and all, and so is having enough water, energy, and light to complete a route safely! As for the tracks....Gotta claim ‘em - that signature was mine! I hear you about the unexpected mileage/vert the snow-packed road can cause - was expecting a quick loop up Kelso from the Summer TH and had to take it from I70. Good news is that a week ago the road was 99% rideable (save 100m by the N Kelso avy chute run out) so the descent was SUPER fast.
KansasBoarder	woah 2009-11-09 21:44:51 just looked at the dates...guess we were up there the same day (duh). Thanks for the bootpack from the Summer TH to the S side of Kelso - looks like you were putting in some SERIOUS work. Nice jeep, too.

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