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.
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