Many people climb Grays Peak and neighboring Torreys Peak in a single day; the summits are but three-quarters of a mile or so apart. For our journey, though, we decided to tackle just one - Grays Peak - on September 4, 1993.
Grays Peak is
one of the most accessible 14ers in Colorado, being just five miles from I-70 and a short
drive from Denver. Because of its proximity to
Denver, however, the mountain is nearly always swarmed with people during the summer
months. If you are into isolation or difficult climbs, head further west; Grays Peak is
not for you.
If, on the other hand, you'd like a beautiful view of the Continental Divide (it passes through the summits of both Grays and Torreys) and you're willing to work a little for it instead of just driving further west up I-70/US 6 till you cross the divide in the safe confines of the car, Grays can be a nice hike for the day.
Take I-70 west from Georgetown for about six miles to the Bakerville exit. Take this exit south, winding around Kelso Mountain (13,164 ft) till you get near Stevens mine. As a creek crosses the road there is a trail leading up the righthand side of the gulch toward Grays Peak.
As you can see in the photo above, this trail starts out as a road, but narrows as you gain altitude. The path is so well worn and so busy with people that there is no way you can get lost. The only decision you have to make is as you approach the saddle between Grays and Torreys at about 13,600 ft. - do you want to do Grays or Torreys today? Since Grays is three feet higher than Torreys and an easier climb to boot, we decided to hike Grays.
The view from the summit is great on a clear day: Bierstadt and Evans to the east; Longs Peak to the northeast; Torreys, of course, to the northwest. Down the slopes to the west, too, you have a great view of the ski slopes of Breckenridge (founded in 1860, the town name was originally spelled Breckinridge and named after Vice President John Cabell Breckinridge, but when the Civil War broke out and he joined the south as a Confererate brigadier general, the town quickly changed the i to an e). Great place to fly a kite!
Another nice
thing about Grays is that there seems to be a family of mountain goats that roam around
the trail, unafraid of those out for a hike. I wouldn't exactly call them friendly, but
you can get pretty close up to them before they shy away.
Though it is an easy climb which can be done quickly, you still want to start early in the morning so that you can be off the summit before the inevitable clouds start forming in the early afternoon. Still, the mountain is close enough to Boulder that we didn't have to camp in the area; just left from home early in the morning, topped off around noon and drove back in the evening after pizza in Idaho Springs, where gold was first discovered in the Rocky Mountains on January 7, 1859.
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