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| Report Type |
Mini |
| Peak(s) |
Grays Peak - 14,275 feet
Torreys Peak - 14,272 feet
|
| Date Posted |
08/02/2009 |
| Modified |
08/08/2009 |
| Date Climbed |
08/02/2009 |
| Author |
Brickfeet |
| Sunrise from the Summit |
No camera, no pics, sorry.
Wilderness_hike and I left the upper lot at about 2:30 AM so we could catch the sunrise from the top of Grays Peak.
The road on the way up can be made by any car (as made evident by the single Honda station wagon at the top) but I doubt sedans and coupes can make it without bottoming out at least a half a dozen times. Taking something with high clearance would be a very good idea.
b
The trail is very well maintained for the majority of the hike, especially at the front. The 'Easy' and Class 1 ratings are most certainly deserved for the majority of the trip. There is a little bit of exposure during the last 1,000 vertical feet of the climb, but certainly nothing worth worrying about.
A few things that I found surprising about the night ascent.
Ice- Areas that would be wet spots and small bits of runoff were frozen over because of the wind chill.
Very cold temperatures- The wind has always been a bother in this area, but without the sun it was especially bad. I'd recommend a good insulating layer like Wilderness_hike's down coat. And gloves.
Trail finding- Even with headlamps, cairns, and mostly obvious trails, there were a few times that we wandered off track and scrambled back to where we should.
The sunrise was absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend it to experienced enough hikers that think they could make the night ascent. We made it to the top with more than enough time to spare at 5:15 and didn't take off until about 6:00 when the sunrise show was finally over.
The traverse to Torreys was more than easy. Obvious trail, simple hike. We didn't take the alternate route down the east ridge of Torreys, though it would have helped us bypass the near 100 hikers we encountered on the way down. It was more than crowded and though the early climb helped, I suggest making this a week day hike if possible.
For a full report, check my blog at: http://brickfeet.blogspot.com/2009/08/sunrise-on-summit.html
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