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.:Getting to the trailhead:. From Denver, head west past Idaho Springs and Georgetown. About 5 miles before Loveland Pass & the Eisenhower Tunnel is the Bakerville exit (exit 221). This is about 50 miles from the west end of Denver. Take the Bakerville exit and turn left over I-70. The dirt road immediately in front of you takes you to Stevens Gulch. The dirt road is usually a little bumpy, and the road condition can vary depending on the year and usage. Best to use a 4x4 or high-clearance 2wd. Also, the last ~1.5 miles along the road before the trailhead are private property. The trailhead parking is obvious and spacious, and includes bathroom facilities! .:The trail:. Torreys (and Grays) are popular climbs in part because of the excellent trails that have been established. From the trailhead, cross the creek on the well-built bridge and continue south along the wide trail. There are a couple switchbacks in the first mile, and then further south into the basin on the north side of Grays and east of Torreys. Once the trail begins winding up Gray's north slopes, a well-signed fork in the trail indicates left for Grays and right for Torreys. The Torreys trail switchbacks up and right, aiming for the 13,700' saddle between the two peaks. From there, it's an obvious half-mile or so up Torreys' east ridge to the summit. Torreys is also often climbed from Grays, along the gentle connecting saddle. signs and cairns to guide the way to the summit. .:Trip Report:. After the 12 or so years I've been climbing, visiting the Grays and Torreys area is a lot like visiting an old friend. And after a tough climb the previous week on North Maroon Peak, I was more than ready for a bit of a mellower experience. Being such mellow peaks and so close to Denver, I knew there would be a pretty good crowd out there (you can always count on hundreds of climbers on any given spring and summer weekend), but as I turned off I-70 at the Bakerville exit, I quickly learned that today was going to be even more crowded than usual. On the parking lot next to the road was a large event-tent, with dozens of people bustling around in the early morning chill. A trio of Suburnbans were idling next to it, and cars were filling up the parking area quickly. Obviously there was some kind of organized event going on, and that being the case I figured I'd better get up to the trailhead and find a parking spot before they were all gone. Up at the parking lot / trailhead, there was more bustling activity, and a huge Mountain Hardware base-camp tent stood next to the trail with a banner saying "See you at the top!" emblazoned across it. After finding a parking spot (sure enough, it was filling up fast), I walked over and poked my head in. Turned out there was a cancer benefit hike taking place that day, which I thought was pretty neat. For a cause like that, I wouldn't mind sharing the trail with a few hundred extra people! I returned to the parking lot and let out my two labradors, Ben and Dex, who were just about ready to burst with excitement (which is pretty normal once we get to any trailhead). Slinging my daypack on, we set out at a brisk pace up the interstate-like path that is the Stevens Gulch trail. After crossing a large bridge, the trail climbs moderately into the valley south of the trailhead. We encountered dozens of folks slowly making their way up the trail, many hiking slowly but determinedly. I did my best to encourage on occasion and Ben and Dex also gave encouragement through happy panting facing and energetic wagging. The wide trail flattens out a bit around 12,000 feet before you get into the basin beneath Grays and Torreys at 12,300'. From here the route to the summit of both peaks is easy to see, with the trail for Grays snaking up the wide north face of the peak, and the cutoff for Torreys cutting across to the ridge between the two peaks. In recent years, a new trail for Torreys has been established, and the fork and signage is quite obvious at about 13,000'. At this point I lost most of the crowd, which was headed for Grays as their primary target. The new Torreys trail switcbacks and traverses until you reach the saddle point between the two peaks, at 13,700. From there, the trail simply follows the ridge to Torreys' summit. When I hit the summit, I was amazed to find myself alone! Quite a rare occurence for a summer Saturday. Looking down the valley, the hundreds of hikes slowly making their way upwards were easy to see, and it was still enough to hear shreds of conversation drifting upwards. There were other climbers coming up behind me, so the solitude was short-lived, but that was OK. As tends to be the custom among those summiting 14ers, I swapped cameras with the small group who joined me on the summit so each could take picture of the other, and we briefly chatted about the beautiful weather, the number of people on the trail, and so on. Presently, another small group of climbers joined us, and all of a sudden the cozy summit was packed with over a dozen people, so I herded the labs off the summit and we headed back down. On the descent, the trail off Torreys still wasn't too crowded, but once I rejoined the main trail down at 13,000', I felt like a salmon going against the tide. There were still hundreds of people making their way slowly (and occasionally painfully) up the trail, so there were a lot of "excuse me's" on the way down as I had to bypass the oncoming hordre. Ben and Dex, however, were clearly having the time of their lives, feeling the need to meet (and get a head-scratch from) everyone we encountered. It was still only late morning by the time I reached the trailhead and parking lot, which was now standing-room-only. I had purposely set a brisk pace and was happy to see that the round trip had only taken 4.5 hours! As I drove down the road, I gave some positive thoughts to those folks climbing for charity, and smiled as the rumbling sound of labrador snoring filled the car. |
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