Grays and Torrey parking tickets

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Trotter
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Re: Grays and Torrey parking tickets

Post by Trotter »

viaultla wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 9:05 am I have several people flying in town and we plan to hike this august 14. Can anyone help me with providing alternate lots if the road to the top is closed? Is 5 am too late to find parking? Thanks!
Alternate lot is the winter TH. Add 3 miles each way.

5 am is probably too late for a Saturday. But you might get lucky.
After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. -Nelson Mandela
Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called Ego. -Nietzsche
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larkinrx2
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Re: Grays and Torrey parking tickets

Post by larkinrx2 »

kdvr.com/news/local/new-parking-reserva ... -per-day/

its spreading......charging for Quandary

guess culebra can raise the price now if the standard routes elsewhere will cost 50-100 bucks
What do you think I'm some kind of a jerk or something! - That's all I need the ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, and this magazine, and the chair and I don't need one other thing, except my dog.
[Shithead growls at him]
I don't need my dog.
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Lville
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Re: Grays and Torrey parking tickets

Post by Lville »

What is the official stance on heading to the upper lot at night and either sleeping in vehicle or putting a small tent down nearby?
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Re: Grays and Torrey parking tickets

Post by Mtnman200 »

There are campsites at the upper trailhead and just past it, and plenty of people sleep in their cars at the upper TH. You’ll probably get more sleep in one of the campsites because you’ll be farther away from the slamming car doors in the parking lot.
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Re: Grays and Torrey parking tickets

Post by robertdao »

Mtnman200 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:26 pm There are campsites at the upper trailhead and just past it, and plenty of people sleep in their cars at the upper TH. You’ll probably get more sleep in one of the campsites because you’ll be farther away from the slamming car doors in the parking lot.
I was just looking at that actually because I had the same question. I was planning to head up there Tuesday night next week in order to summit G/T Wednesday morning. Looking at the Google Maps satellite view, is that small lot past the trailhead where camping is? I assume driving up there Tuesday night there shouldn't be a problem finding parking?
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Re: Grays and Torrey parking tickets

Post by Mtnman200 »

robertdao wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 7:24 am
Mtnman200 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:26 pm There are campsites at the upper trailhead and just past it, and plenty of people sleep in their cars at the upper TH. You’ll probably get more sleep in one of the campsites because you’ll be farther away from the slamming car doors in the parking lot.
I was just looking at that actually because I had the same question. I was planning to head up there Tuesday night next week in order to summit G/T Wednesday morning. Looking at the Google Maps satellite view, is that small lot past the trailhead where camping is? I assume driving up there Tuesday night there shouldn't be a problem finding parking?
There are some campsites just off the parking lot, but most are further up the road. I didn’t have any trouble finding a campsite about 7 PM on Wed, July 7 for a climb of Kelso the next morning.
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Re: Grays and Torrey parking tickets

Post by ECF55 »

NOTE: OLD THREAD RE-ANIMIATED:


I might be back in Colorado this August. If we crash a few days in Breckenridge, Grays/Torreys would be a 50 minute drive to the Lower Trailhead and longer getting up to the Upper Trailhead. Kelso Ridge has a certain allure.

I'm going to have a rental car and everything that I'm reading from the last two seasons is that Clear Creek County has really cracked down on roadside parking (with towing enforcement).

Would people agree with the following assessments:
- Stephens Gulch Road is a rough but passable forest road. 4WD vehicles with high clearance are highly recommended and will make the trip to the Upper Trailhead much more achievable. [This road may be a problem for me depending on which rental vehicle make/model we pick up.]
- Driving is slow, maybe 10mph in the pre-dawn hours. The drive can easily add another 30 minutes of travel time each way?
- Parking at the Upper Trailhead is now restricted only to the parking lot and vehicles that are parked along the road (next to the NO PARKING signs) are at high risk of ticketing and/or towing.
- Given the limited parking situation, the Upper Trailhead parking lot will generally fill before 5am on weekends in July-August and maybe slightly later during the week.
- During the winter months, Stephens Gulch Road is closed and all winter hikes start from the Lower Trailhead, which adds another 3 miles each way (with ~1500ft elevation gain) and roughly doubles the hike distance.

Aside from taking Justiner's advice of just riding a bike up, would people assess that the road hike up Stephens Gulch Road is a fine but somewhat boring add-on to the standard hike? 1500ft over three miles is only around 9% slope, so I think these miles could be eaten in the dark fairly easily and at a good pace. And with any luck, I may be able to hitch a ride back to the Lower Trailhead at the end of the adventure to shave off the last hour of travel time.

I feel like I have asked this question before on Princeton...wait, I have!
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Re: Grays and Torrey parking tickets

Post by markf »

I did the road hike for a winter ascent of Grays a few years back and it's quite manageable. The road seems to get worse every year, simply because it sees far more traffic than it was ever intended to support. The owners of the various homes along that road seem to be getting more use out of their properties in recent years, too. To me this means that Clear Creek County will be pressured to keep cracking down on roadside parking. Walking the road strikes me as a better option than dealing with the shitshow that Stephens Gulch Road has evolved into.
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Re: Grays and Torrey parking tickets

Post by Danger_D »

ECF55, I think your assessment is basically spot on. The road miles from the lower lot are pretty easy so if you aren't able to get up early enough to get a spot in the lot it's still very doable. I'll also say that if you're hiking up the road you can usually catch a ride from people driving up
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Re: Grays and Torrey parking tickets

Post by Kiefer »

ECF55 wrote: Wed Apr 26, 2023 9:52 pm NOTE: OLD THREAD RE-ANIMIATED:


I might be back in Colorado this August. If we crash a few days in Breckenridge, Grays/Torreys would be a 50 minute drive to the Lower Trailhead and longer getting up to the Upper Trailhead. Kelso Ridge has a certain allure.

I'm going to have a rental car and everything that I'm reading from the last two seasons is that Clear Creek County has really cracked down on roadside parking (with towing enforcement).

Would people agree with the following assessments:
- Stephens Gulch Road is a rough but passable forest road. 4WD vehicles with high clearance are highly recommended and will make the trip to the Upper Trailhead much more achievable. [This road may be a problem for me depending on which rental vehicle make/model we pick up.]
- Driving is slow, maybe 10mph in the pre-dawn hours. The drive can easily add another 30 minutes of travel time each way?
- Parking at the Upper Trailhead is now restricted only to the parking lot and vehicles that are parked along the road (next to the NO PARKING signs) are at high risk of ticketing and/or towing.
- Given the limited parking situation, the Upper Trailhead parking lot will generally fill before 5am on weekends in July-August and maybe slightly later during the week.
- During the winter months, Stephens Gulch Road is closed and all winter hikes start from the Lower Trailhead, which adds another 3 miles each way (with ~1500ft elevation gain) and roughly doubles the hike distance.

Aside from taking Justiner's advice of just riding a bike up, would people assess that the road hike up Stephens Gulch Road is a fine but somewhat boring add-on to the standard hike? 1500ft over three miles is only around 9% slope, so I think these miles could be eaten in the dark fairly easily and at a good pace. And with any luck, I may be able to hitch a ride back to the Lower Trailhead at the end of the adventure to shave off the last hour of travel time.

I feel like I have asked this question before on Princeton...wait, I have!
I absolutely cannot understand how people can justify the risk of A.) a parking ticket, B.) possibly being towed, C.) sliding off the road & needing an expensive tow and D.) possible vehicle damage from improper driving
just to save ~30 minutes of walking. I mean, each to their own with risk assessment.

Walking Steven's Gulch which, I've done a few times in winter & spring is not that bad; boring...yes. But you go into it knowing that. Bring earbuds and a good playlist/podcast. I've done that 4x for Tigiwon Road (in winter) and
it worked just fine. People are itching to leave the office and get outside in nature but when there's a long approach involved, people seem to do anything they can speed up their time outside. I don't understand it.
  • - Driving Stephens Gulch road is easy to moderate in my opinion. But this is a largely subjective question as people's off-road abilities vary. But overall, I'd say having 4x4 is a good idea but high clearance is unnecessary.
  • - Again, subjective on one's driving abilities. But I think ~ 20 minutes at a slow speed is to be expected.
  • - In regards to ticketing & towing, my opinion is that Clear Creek sheriff's are only going to be up there on busy weekends. Basically, when it's worth their time to deviate from other areas with more traffic to patrol.
    Granted, I could be wrong with that, but busier weekends mean higher chances of possible SAR calls.
  • - I'd agree with this statement.
  • - It only doubles the lower approach distance (in winter). And technically, the road isn't closed (is there a gate now?). If you have a snowmobile, have at it!
You can always try and hitch a ride down. I've done it on Princeton & Antero. Leave early from the bottom and like you said, eat the miles away in the dark. Many of us do exactly that to hedge our bets with afternoon thunderstorms.
Plus, if you're going to have a rental, the question is: is driving ~3 miles worth saving ~30 minutes & risking a tow bill/ticket/worse? Each to their own. Plus, you're going to pay a lot more at the car rental for something with 4x4 capability.
Is 30 minutes worth an extra ~$35-$80/day? :-k
When I lived in Vail, the West Vail Conoco guys LOVED, LOVED, LOVED towing idiots off Shrine Pass Road (from Redcliff) who thought their Jeeps, hummers & trucks could make it in winter & spring. Tow's started at $800.
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Re: Grays and Torrey parking tickets

Post by espressoself »

I did G&T from the upper trailhead back in 2020 on a weekday. 2020 was a weird year, obviously, but the lot was 75% full at 4AM when we arrived. The Forester we took up had no problems and took on no damage, and there are certainly worse 4WD roads that I've attempted with it. That said, the road was 3 miles of obnoxious washboards and seemed to drag on forever. If I ever repeat these two, I will gladly opt to park at I-70 and just hike those miles. Looks like you did Princeton from the lower lot, so you should have no issue tacking on the extra mileage.

The more I hike, the more I voluntarily park lower. The whole reason I am there in the first place is to be outside. Road hiking is less enjoyable than trail hiking, but it still beats spending time in the car IMO.
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Re: Grays and Torrey parking tickets

Post by jrbren_vt »

I did Grays and Torreys last fall from I-70. I kind of enjoy backcountry road walks. This one was definitely enjoyable. Passed by a few cars, that was fine. Plus I log vertical gain so I like having the bigger vertical total at the end of the day. Certainly a reasonable day out. The upper parking lot was a complete zoo. The road was overflowing about quarter mile away from the TH. I didn't see any tickets on windshields, maybe that was an amnesty day ? I suspect I will do these multiple times over in the future as long as live in the area, I doubt I will mess with the upper TH.
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