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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. In winter conditions, the summer trail is often lost once the climb up Grays' north slopes begin, but the ~5 foot high cairns can still be found, and you can pretty much pick from several possible lines to the saddle. The east ridge of Torreys is also straightforward even with snow. Beware of potential avalanche conditions below the saddle after heavy storms! .:Trip Report:. Deja vu! Just last week I was here at the very same trailhead at the same time (7:45am) and it was the same temperature (26 degrees). However, there was one significant difference -- a LOT more snow! Several storms had passed through the mountains over the week, and enough snow fell for the Loveland ski area to open earlier than planned. Since Loveland isn't even 10 miles from Stevens Gulch, I was pretty sure I'd see more snow than a week ago, and sure enough. Only 3 other cars in the parking lot, all with folks in various states of layering up and lashing gear to packs. I realized instantly that the lack of a vacant car meant it was trail-breaking time. So right about 8:00 I headed off into the clear, crisp and windy morning, tromping through several inches of fresh snow and some ice. The register didn't have any entries since the previous Tuesday, and the lack of tracks in the snow bore that out. The lower part of the trail had a cover of a few inches of dry, powdery snow, occasionally covering up a layer of ice, which made for a few slippery moments. Once I entered the basin beneath Grays and Torreys, two things happened at once. First the snow became dramatically deeper -- a couple inches of crust covering a foot or more of the same dry powder. Second, the winds kicked up dramatically. The light breeze became a steady, bitter wind in a matter of minutes, and I hurriedly put on an additional layer to ward off the now distinct possibility of frostbite. Donning snowshoes, I began the trek up the basin to the base of Grays' north slopes. The route was not hard to follow, but the trail-breaking was exhausting. The snowshoes didn't help at all in this crust-and-powder scenario. Every step went up to my knees or higher. After about an hour of slow progress, I finally made it to the trail fork between the two peaks, and started slowly making my way along the trail for Torreys, which aims for the saddle between Grays and Torreys. The wind and the slow going were starting to take their toll as I completed a few switchbacks and then started a long traverse to the saddle. Suddenly a step into a large unbroken snowfield resulting a low rumble and a light "crack". I could see a sizable slab about 50 feet across and at least twice that wide seperate out and slide a few inches down the slope. That was enough. I immediately retreated back along my path to the safety of some exposed rocks. The possibility of any kind of avalanche was enough to put an end to this day. I could have retraced my steps back to the trail fork and climbed Torreys by way of Grays, but it had been a long morning already and I was getting pretty tired. So I decided to call it a day, and tromped back down to the trailhead, warning the few other folks of the slide potential along the Torreys trail. |
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