Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/6021241286
My friend Jessica scheduled this adventure and, along with her husband Juan and our mutual friend Tim, invited me to join the fun! It was a quick trip to Colorado for us. We flew Spirit Airlines out of Detroit on Friday night and our flight back to Michigan was super early on Sunday. We did not get to spend much time at the Airbnb we’d booked, nor did we get much sleep.
We woke up at 3am on Saturday and arrived at the Grays and Torreys Peak trailhead at about 5am to meet my cousin Landon, who lives in the Denver area. If we had arrived much later we would not have found a parking spot and would have had to park at the base of the steep, rocky road. That would have added a few extra miles and a fair amount of elevation to our hike.
We set off in the dark. It was cool but not cold, with only a light breeze, and the half moon provided enough light that we hardly needed to use our headlamps before dawn. We heard coyotes yipping and howling in the valley at first light.
We hiked through the valley, gradually gaining elevation along the well-traveled trail as the darkness gave way to day. I saw my first ever mountain goats, but the trio of white ungulates were up high on ridge of Kelso Mountain and I wasn’t able to get a great look at them, and my photography attempts were unsatisfying.
The gradient steepened as we approached the split between the Grays Peak standard route and Torreys Peak trail. The wind also picked up and it got pretty chilly, but once we were in the direct sunlight we felt warmer and the wind eventually calmed to a light breeze. The weather was perfect for our adventure and we had a nearly cloudless sky for our entire hike.
Landon and I had hiked up ahead of Tim, Juan, and Jessica. When we reached the saddle I eyed up Grays Peak and decided to rush up and bag the peak. I took a long drink from my hydration pack and ate a granola bar, then left my bag and climbed Grays on my own. Aside from shortness of breath, I felt great and had no signs of altitude sickness. I pushed for the peak without stopping and was rewarded with some nice views at the summit of my fourth fourteener.
I carefully ran down the saddle from Grays Peak to collect my bag and catch up with the rest of my group. This time Landon went up ahead to the summit of Torreys and I hiked up with Tim, who was starting to feel the effects of high altitude. Juan and Jessica were close behind.
Despite having just flown in from Michigan, Tim, Jessica, Juan, and I moved steadily higher until we were all smiling at the top of the mountain. Congratulations Tim and Juan on your first fourteener! For me and Jessica it was 14er #5.
Going back down the saddle was a little tricky on the steep slope and loose gravel. We all had trekking poles and were very happy with our decision to use them.
When we reached the trough of the saddle we decided to head back to the trailhead. Juan and Tim were happy with getting Torreys Peak, and Landon, Jessica, and I had already summitted Grays.
My stomach wasn’t happy with anything I tried to eat on the way down so I focused on sipping water and continuing to descend to lower elevation. I think we were all pretty tired from the minimal sleep and ready to get back to the cars. Sometimes the descent can feel longer than the ascent.
We reached the trailhead just before 2pm, and my watch recorded 8.37 miles and 3,704′ of elevation gain. Here’s the route map and elevation profile from my Strava (recorded with Cores Apex 46mm):
Jessica, Juan, Tim, and I then went to Colorado Springs to visit friends (/family). I felt horribly motion sick on the drive but fortunately food, coffee, and celebratory drinks helped a lot. We got almost five hours of sleep that night, before heading back to Denver for our early morning Spirit flight back to Michigan.
