1 weekend, 3 peaks over 14,000 ft. Torreys, Grays, Mount Bierstadt

We had planned a camping trip involving some hikes over Labor Day. Lindsey left Brian in charge of planning the weekend, so that probably explains the extreme weekend we had...

It all started at 4am Saturday morning, then again at 4:10am after "snoozing" for 10 minutes. The car was mostly packed, except for the cooler and water for the days hike. We pulled out of Windsor at 4:45am with a 58 degree temperature, skies were high to mostly clear. We took I25 south through Denver where daylight outlined the sillouettes of skyscrapers in downtown Denver. Veering west on I76/I70 the foothills lit up with the morning sun. We went up, up, and up, then down a long ways on I70 to the Bakerville exit, which has no amenities. Exiting we took a left over the interstate, went through a dirt parking lot, then began driving up the Stevens Gulch trail. Trail guides say this trail isn't recommended cars without clearance and they are right! You drive over boulders, through parts of the road that are washed out/deep gullies. After 3 miles at 5mph we arrived at 6:30am. The temperature was 42 degrees with clear skies. Getting ready required fleeces, stocking hats, and gloves. Parking was also an issue as we parked up on a bank with the car seemingly ready to tip over. On the way out cars were parked 1/2 mile down the trail on the side, so moral of the story is if you want to do a 14er close to Denver, get there early.

Disclaimer: Our camera ran out of batteries after 2 pictures, so all pictures on this post are borrowed from 14ers.com

The first mile of Grays/Torreys which you can do all as one hike is up a valley called Stevens Gulch which gains fairly steadily for 2 miles or so. Starting at around 11,200 ft we were both breathing kind of hard before we got our second wind. Tucker of course was ready to do all 53 14ers that day and leading the way.

A picture of what it looked like walking up the gulch... Torreys on the right, Grays on the left.

Once you hit the steep part, you hit the steep part. It just goes up and up without relent. This part requires a lot of stopping to catch your breath, take granola bar breaks, and just look back to enjoy what is a very beautiful hike. Colors we saw that morning were the perfect sky blue, gray rock, red rock, bright green, aqua blue of water, and various colors of garb everyone was wearing. The trail split at one point so we went right to Torreys which is the smaller of the two at 14, 267ft above sea level. Once you get the the saddle between the two peaks the hike levels off and becomes more tolerable, however; you are still at such a high altitude it is easy to feel sick and be dizzy. We overcame the elevation by having a banana. We peaked Torreys at around 9am, had a snack and water, and enjoyed the view. While at the top we could see darker clouds so we hustled up and left.

A view from the top of Torreys looking at Grays Peak.

After a 15 minute break we walked down the boulders to find the saddle over to Grays(14,270ft). The wind had picked up and the temperature was seemingly getting cooler, however; with gloves, hats, etc on we could bear the temperature. On the final ascent up Grays we experienced our first Colorado snow, on September 1st! We got to the top, which after being on top of Torreys wasn't that spectacular. So we stopped for water, a granola bar and made our way down. The way down was cold, but having beat the weather up top we were happy to be on our way. The hike down went fast, but we were definitely feeling the 2850 ft of elevation we climbed in our legs. As we descended the temperature went up and it was t-shirt weather at the parking lot.

A view from Grays looking south....

We found a camping spot at Clear Lake campground up on Guanalla Pass, elevation 10,200ft. Tired as we were we managed to make marinated chicken, have a few beers and even Lindsey had one! By the time it was dark at 8pm it was bedtime and temperatures were falling below 50 degrees already. We donned our stocking hats, hooded sweatshirts, and climbed into our sleeping bags. Once Tucker got settled we also covered him up with our Wizard of Oz blanket. He was all toasty and hardly moved all night, so we'd like to think!

Rudely awakened by Lindsey's cell phone at 5am we packed up camp and put everything in the car. Arriving at the trailhead at 6:10am we enjoyed a breakfast of Honey Nut Cheerios in the car while watching a beautiful sunrise over Mount Evans and Bierstadt. It was the one moment we regretted not having our camera charged. The beginning of the trailhead. Bierstadt is on the right separted from Evans on the left by the Sawtooth, which somebody died on earlier that week. The Evans/Bierstadt combo can be done as one hike, however; it is dangerous to cross the Sawtooth.

Katie and Scott(Ludlow) arrived at 6:30am for the hike. It would be Katies 1st 14er and Scott's 1,467th or something like that. The hike starts out going over a swamp which thankfully has a wood walkway built in to keep us, not Tucker dry. He was bounding everywhere, except on the boardwalk. He also had a weird rash on his belly that may have been from something he jumped in. Now this hike is very level, moreso than Grays/Torreys, and even more steep when you begin going up. The trail switchbacks for about a mile where you gain about 1500 ft. Then goes straight up a streambed which is fairly treacherous. You then come upon a ridge which takes you to the top. You follow the ridge up a half mile of boulders to the peak. Tucker with his four wheel drive was bounding away not knowing which direction he was going, but understanding that we were going up. So trying to hold onto him while he bounded up boulders was an interesting task. Katie Scheible kept her steady pace and made the top no problem. At 14, 060ft we enjoyed our lunch and the view, which by far is the prettiest view we have experienced here in the CO.

Okay, so that is the only picture I found resembling what we saw that day! Apparently not too many people publish photos online oh well. You'll have to check it out for yourself!

Hiking down was long, to say the least. The weather up top was looking grim, and probably wasn't safe to be up there anymore due to electricity if you know what I mean. We stopped a few times, but we had a goal of stopping at Tommy Knocker's Brewery in Idaho Springs for a burger and beer. We were down to the parking lot by 1pm. We got a booth at the brewery and had a beer. Lindsey and Brian split Nachos, which weren't all that great. Not like Lindsey's anyway.

All in all it was a great weekend. Tiring, but a complete blast. 3 huge, but beginner peaks.

Weekend totals: 17 miles, 6900 ft elevation gain. Total hiking time: 13 hours total(ish). Trails were moderately agressive to quite aggressive.