7/28/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 7/28/2011, By: Fast Jimm Info: Some water on the trail in places. The trail is generally in excellent condition. One snow passage with no issues with slope. Snow was slushy on top, solid beneath and was perhaps 50 feet across. The approach road is very rough. A low clearance 2wd car will make it (I saw civics, mazdas, made it with my accord, etc..), but it's going to be very hard on your suspension. One portion is bad enough that I really should have stopped before I got to it. Not used to seeing babies being changed (and diapers being left behind in grocery store bags, although I did pack it out on the descent), and 6-7 year olds on the summit wearing jeans and cotton sweatshirts as black clouds swirl about in the last minutes before noon- not on a 14er at least. |
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7/18/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 7/20/2011, By: ashlee03 Info: Not a whole lot to update since previous post. There are few patches of snow, one area in which you may need to go around, but not a big deal. There were still a few parts of the trail with some flooding (primarily towards the beginning of the trail), but I was able to walk on the rocks to cross without hiking boots. If you try doing the same thing, take it slowly to cross and beware of loose rocks. It was somewhat crowded when my friend and I began to ascend at 7:00am. I would recommend heading up at 5am for less crowds or even earlier if you want to avoid crowds on your descent. |
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7/9/2011 Route: Grays and Torreys Posted On: 7/9/2011, By: tjerasdave Info: Trails up to Grays is mostly snow free and snow patches are navigable. There are some muddy areas and a few cases where water is running down the path so waterproof boots are a good idea. If you plan on using the saddle route be aware that there is a rather large snow field crossing that is a bit slick. I was able to get across it with boots and poles but would not have felt comfortable doing it with sneakers. That being said, there were some other folks going across it with sneakers so if you're comfortable with the risk you should be ok. Lastly, make sure you get to the TH early. When I left the parking lot was full and cars were parked along the side of the road for at least another .5 miles. |
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7/3/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 7/3/2011, By: Bean Info: Can easily be hiked with trail runners. Gaiters and snowshoes have even less value than usual right now. If you're not confident in your footing you may do well to bring microspikes for the traverse over to Torreys. Skis strongly recommended for the descent, a short (100') re-climb gets you continuous snow to 5 minutes from the parking lot. |
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7/2/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 7/2/2011, By: iquack08 Info: I did Grays than Torreys. Still small, medium, and large snow patches. Everything was bootpacked, so there were no problems with the trail. A little slushy on the way back. Started at 6am, finished at 10:15am. Only boots are necessary. FYI - The trail junction that separates Grays and Torreys is at the sign that says something like keep on the trail. |
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6/26/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 6/26/2011, By: ameristrat Info: Hiked the Grays and Torreys East Slopes today. Some snow along the trail up to the creek. Good bootpack all the way so don't worry. The trail was a creek by the afternoon. Above the creek, there was snow up to the face but, again, a good bootpack. The switchbacks are peaking through the snow and bare up high, but we missed the first one and ended up on a decent, easy class 2 trail up the ridge above lost rat to the summit. No snow here. Trail down Grays and up Torreys was snow free, and coming down , there was a good bootpack or no snow all the way. No need for anything more than good, waterproof hiking boots. We left at 10:15, summited Grays at 12:30, summited Torreys at 1:45 and got back to the car at 4. Post-holing was minimal. |
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6/15/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 6/16/2011, By: One Sierra Charlie Info: The standard route is mainly snow covered from the basin to the summit. A summit ski is possible with a short section of skiing between/stepping over rocks. |
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5/28/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 6/3/2011, By: kimmykazu Info: My friend and drove up to tackle Gray's/Torrey and right off the access road, we saw a Tacoma backing down the trail. As we turned the FIRST right turn, Our Subaru said no way. My friend didn't want to hike the road to the trailhead and at 6:00 AM we should have started earlier if we were going to add this mileage in. As the sun melts, the road should be better. I hike Spaulding and Evans the same day. As I looked over at Gray's/Torrey. They were COVERED in snow! |
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5/5/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 5/6/2011, By: BAUMGARA Info: Skied Grays yesterday. There's a lot snow back there, I didn't ski the bowl below Grays for avy concerns but I did see a boarder go down Dead Dog. With the warms temperatures this weekend I'm sure the snow will really begin to stabilize. The skiing was great below 13k', above 13k' still wind loaded. |
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4/28/2011 Route: Grays and Torreys Posted On: 4/30/2011, By: Matt Lemke Info: MountainFever and I went out to the Stevens Gulch Road last Thursday and hiked the road to the official Grays/Torreys trailhead. Wanted to climb all the way up Grays but the snow conditions looked pretty questionable. Snowshoes were really not needed but we only got a little over 12,000 feet before turning around. There is still an absurd amount of snow in the Front Range. Saw a couple skiers as well. Weather was great though and I shot some fantastic photos. BTW...no one can drive up the Stevens Gulch road for at least a couple weeks. We even saw a snowmobile sitting down on the slopes about 20 feet below the road waiting to be hauled out in the summer. |
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2/7/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 2/7/2011, By: xavier3181 Info: Stevens Gluch road is well packed and snow shoes are optional. Highly recommend skiing up. Once you get to the Summer Trail head the snowshoes are required, a GPS would also be advisable because most of the trail is unrecognizable to anyone who hasn't climbed Grays before. We didn't make it much past the treeline due to extremely high winds, whiteouts and bitter windchill. There is alot of snow.. the trail had at least 3-6 feet of snow on it. A good pair of snow shoes is required |
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1/16/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 1/16/2011, By: luckyzsquirrel Info: From the Bakerville Exit the road is very well packed but not passable by automobile. The road up to the summer trail head is extremely packed and snowshoes are not needed (but don't necessarily hurt either). Beyond the summer TH however there are no trees for shelter and there is deep fresh snow and many drifts. Snowshoes a must. Didn't make it all the way up due to adverse conditions but further up out of the valley there was only light snow (all blown into the valley probably). |
