Grays Peak

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/29/2026, By: walks_a_lot
Info: The Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) has issued a Stage 2 Fire Restrictions Order for all unincorporated areas of the county. The temporary Stage 2 Fire Restrictions are effective at Noon today (12:00pm on Monday, June 29, 2026), and will remain in effect until further notice. Weather and fuel conditions, nearby fire activity, and resource limitations have prompted the transition to Stage 2 Fire Restrictions from the Stage 1 Fire Restrictions that were issued on March 26, 2026.

The signed Stage 2 Fire Restrictions Order, with full details of restrictions, is on our website at https://www.clearcreekcounty.us/1607/Fire-Ban-Information. In short, during Stage 2 Fire Restrictions, the following is prohibited:

- No igniting, building, maintaining, attending, or using any Open Fire, including charcoal grills and barbeques, coal and wood burning stoves, and sheepherder’s stoves. (See the Fire Restrictions Order for a definition of “Open Fire.”) Propane or natural gas barbeque or liquid fuel stoves are allowed if attended at all times and in a fully enclosed, covered barbeque grill or contained within a liquid fuel stove.
- No fireworks, including sparklers.
- No smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle, trailer, or building.
- No possessing or operating motor vehicles off-roads, including off-highway vehicles (OHV), regardless of whether the OHV is classified as a motor vehicle. The only exceptions are:
- Vehicles may be parked in an area devoid of vegetation within 10 feet of a roadway or a driveway serving private property.
- Overnight parking is permitted in Forest Service-developed campgrounds and trailheads.
- All other outdoor spark- or flame-producing activities.
- No shooting, except while hunting pursuant to a valid hunting license, or target shooting within the Clear Creek County Sport Shooting Park.
- For details related to chainsaw, welding, and cutting torch use, see the Fire Restrictions Order. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/27/2026, By: coleboss 21
Info: Great morning hike. Got to the trail head Thursday night before the hike around midnight; parking lot was around 1/4 capacity. Started the hike at 4:30 am and reached the summit of Grays in just under 2:30 hours. There was no snow on the route up to Grays. Reached the summit of Torreys around 45 minutes later. There was snow surrounding the trail but the only time it was necessary to walk on, it was easily crossable. The entire hike took me just under 5 hours (4:30-9:30am).
Summer conditions are definitely in full swing. Overall, great weather and great hike! 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 6/23/2026, By: Mitten Goat
Info: Lost Rat Couloir snow is perfect for an early summer ascent. Snow starts at the bottom apron, narrows into the couloir and is continuous, nearly to the top. The final 50 feet has burned out, so it is a scree finish. Great conditions for crampons and an ice axe. Get an early start. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/21/2026, By: flintel
Info: Trail to Grays 99% clear, just a few tiny patches of ice in the early morning where snowmelt meets the trail. Basically summer conditions, no poles or spikes necessary. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 6/19/2026, By: The_Ramp
Info: Descended after summiting Grays and Torreys via Kelso Ridge. Grays' standard route is in full summer conditions minus a handful of easily crossable snow stretches. No spikes needed! 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 6/10/2026, By: htbyron
Info: Still lots of snow on the trail (at least 80% coverage) above 12,500 feet to the Grays summit. Early morning ascent conditions were firm and good traction with microspikes but by 11am on the descent snow was soft and footing was loose and unreliable; microspikes did not help much. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 5/29/2026, By: JaylenKorth
Info: Snow started about half way up the trail. It was decently well packed down and easy to traverse on the ascent, but postholing was pretty bad by the time we were coming down around 10:30am, leading to lots of slipping even with microspikes. 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 5/18/2026, By: paigemoney
Info: The exit of Lost Rat Couloir is dry. The zoomed-out photos are from Saturday, and the close-up photos are from Sunday. Note: we did not climb the couloir. On Sunday, we hiked the ridge to get a better look at the exit. The direct exit appears to be loose scree with some microwave-sized rocks mixed in. The climber’s right exit, which looks potentially scrambleable, also contains a significant amount of loose rock, especially near the top. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 5/16/2026, By: Angrymountaineer
Info: Climbed in the morning, starting at 5:30 am finished around 10:30. Snowpack started a little bit under 13k all the way to the saddle. Highly recommend microspikes for this portion. Once at the saddle, there were plenty of routes with no snow.

There were people doing it without spikes… I don’t think that it would be safe. One fall and you’re down to the valley.

Really enjoyable hike, no issues. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 4/24/2026, By: Sameerkumar1979
Info: Drive from Winter trailhead to Summer trailhead is without snow and like summer conditions. Beautiful day today with a few wind gusts here and there but all in all not too bad. Bluebird and feels like 30s plus. Up to about 12,500 ft of elevation, there are a few snow fields but can be easily tackled with regular hiking boots. Past that it gets a little tricky and I would recommend carrying micro spikes with you. There was a group of three that did it without spikes but I could see they were sleeping a little bit and it was a little more challenging for them. Trail does get narrow with mostly packed snow almost all the way to the summit. Poles may also be helpful if you're used to them. Gators not needed but I might still recommend as they don't weigh a lot and just in case you go off route there may be a little chance of post holing. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 4/19/2026, By: Dignus
Info: Seems winter is briefly back upon us. Quite cold and windy, more so than previous weeks. Alternating dirt and very slick ice on the lower trail but doable without spikes if you rock hop. The snowfield going up to the saddle alternates between calf-deep postholing and impenetrable hard pack/ice. Spikes highly recommended. Going up to Torreys it's probably best to still wear spikes but the Grays trail is gentle enough they're not as necessary there.
https://youtube.com/shorts/kK6YCXzTysM 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 4/7/2026, By: jackson 12
Info: As confirmed by others summer th is open and as long as you have a good clearance vehicle you’ll be good, we started at 11:45 and snow was slushy up until khelso ridge turn off and realistically micros would have made it a lot better. Doable for sure without micros by just taking the greys th route which we did. Icy in certain spots but doable since rocks are uncovered for traction, if you’re reading this and you skied the dead dog couloir please be safe and ski something within your limit, pulled airbag with no avalanche and all 4 people skiing at the same time in the chute 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 4/6/2026, By: theolubke
Info: As observed by others, road to TH rocky and rutty but passable by moderately high clearance vehicles. About 10 cars at TH at 7:30a Mon morning. Lower trail covered in snow in many sections. Traction may help you move faster but not needed. Harder packed snow on trail in higher sections. Traction was helpful here, but many people today were summiting Grays without it. Most precarious is traverse connecting the Grays/Torreys saddle to the trail back to the TH. Snow field is steep and the snow, especially earlier in day, is hard and slick. Much, much safer to cross with traction or go back over Grays to avoid. 

Route: Lost Rat Couloir
Posted On: 4/4/2026, By: Aphelion
Info: Lost rat does not quite reach the ridge top, so no cornice concerns. Good coverage otherwise, booting up was a bit of a slog but great ski conditions today. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 4/4/2026, By: SlowMagpie
Info: Road to summer lot is largely melted, with a few short stretches of rutted snow. The trail to Grays still was icy enough to warrant spikes; you would regret not bringing them. Lower trail was getting pretty wet and slushy in the sun. Appears lower sections will melt but ice/snow seems likely to remain for a little longer at higher elevations.