Grays and Torreys - Travis and Clara

Date of Trip: 27 August 2022
Climbers: Travis & Clara 
Location: Front Range, CO, USA
Trailhead: Grays Peak
Summit Objectives: Grays and Torreys
Total Time: 8.0 hours
Summit: Grays at 14270 feet, Torreys at 14267 feet
Starting Ele: 11280 feet)
Ele. Gain: 3667 feet
Distance: 8.5 mile

Written by Travis

With little more than an hour of planning, Clara and I headed out Friday night for a Daddy-Daughter backpacking-mountainering trip.  We decided we would pack-in for about a mile Friday night, camp, and then attempt to summit two 14,000' peaks on Saturday, Gray's and Torrey's (which are generally considered two of Colorado's easiest 14ers, out of the 58). Amy and the boys were staying home to rest and recover, as the middle school transition, in particular, has not been easy.  

We arrived at the trailhead at 630pm Friday evening in a driving rain. It's been a crazy monsoon summer in the mountains, and there was water flowing everywhere. Worse, it looked like it could keep it up all night. I was considering bailing completely, or at least camping in the Tahoe at the trailhead. But after about 45 mins, it did stop. And the forecast was for great weather today, so we set out. 

We made it past the willows and took about the first flattish spot we could find so as to get the tent up before dark.  Few really pack-in on these mountains (easily done in a day) so nobody was around, but there also aren't really any established sites. It was in the 40s and damp (very un-Colorado!) Clara was cold so we got her in the tent and into a sleeping bag while I cooked dinner just outside the vestibule.  I then filled her Nalgene bottle with boiling water to take to bed, a trick which she thought was amazing.  

The GPS said we were at 12,000'.  I remembered that I never sleep well at 12,000'. This trip was no exception.  We were about 100' off the trail, so we had people walking by shining headlamps at us, and talking, starting at 330am.  I cancelled the alarm I had set for 6, but at 645a, I figured we should get up. Clara said she didn't really feel like climbing a mountain, because of the bad night of sleep. I said, yeah, that's kind of how mountaineering goes. I never sleep well the night before a climb.  Amy and I have a saying, "the best days on the mountain often follow the worst nights".  

Well, she decided she'd give it a go. But only if we had some ramen for breakfast. Deal! I cooked it without leaving my sleeping bag. (It was 30s outside, ice on the tent fly, and the light rain that fell on us was apparently snow up on the mountain).  

We joined the conga line marching past us on the trail at 715am.  We stopped to filter water at the first stream access around 745 (we could hear the water at our hastily chosen campsite, but it was maybe a couple hundred yards away, so we used what I packed in).  

We headed on up to Gray's Peak.  I always do Gray's first for some reason -- maybe because it's Gray's and Torrey's, not Torrey's and Gray's? Clara kept saying she didn't think she wanted to do Torrey's too, so I kept reminding her to focus on the goal of Gray's and that we'd worry about Torrey's later.  We passed the mountain goats in their usual spot on the shoulder toward Edwards. It was a mamma and a kid. Clara also counted 7 pikas on the day. 

Eventually we summited Gray's. The trace of snow and ice had mostly turned to slush by now, so no big deal.  The weather was great as forecast, just some typical wind.  

Gray's was Clara's 2nd 14er, having done Sherman with Amy in 2020. (I had taken the boys back to the car as we feared Nate might be literally blown off the mountain that day.) Anyway, Clara was amazing. She was not the youngest on the summit though as there was a 9 year old girl tagging her 3rd 14er (she had just come over from Torrey's). 

We took some pics (including with the provided signs and brick, lol) and headed down to the saddle between the peaks.  I was pretty sure a little downhill would have Clara ready to go up again and indeed that was the case.  I told it her it always looks harder than it really is. She actually thought Torrey's was easier, because there are less switchbacks, just UP. More pics with provided signs and brick. (I'm so old that I remember when you had to try to remember what mountain you were on in each summit pic!)

We headed down, collecting my cached backpack at the saddle, then the water filter at the stream, before arriving at the tent. The crowds had mostly dissipated by now, but the weather was still perfect. Probably 50's at the tent, with an intense sun. Clara asked for a post-climb snack of mashed potatoes, so I whipped them up before packing up camp. Then we headed out the final 1 mile, getting to the truck at about 3 I think. Did I mention I was exhausted? Maybe this is how I always felt at the end of a day of 14ers, hard to say. Overall, it was a fantastic trip. Clara did her first overnight mountaineering trip and got her 2nd and 3rd fourteeners, and her first "two-fer". I can't be more proud of her. She's learning what it's like to carry a pack, be cold, sleep like crap, and yet that climbing mountains mostly boils down to putting one foot in front of the other, over and over again. I think I got my third climb of G-T (first with my buddy Terry in 2000 then with Amy in 2008 when we missed the turn to 13er Mt Edward's and "settled" for G-T. Maybe more, but that's what I remember at least.) And my first 14er summit in 7 years, my first fourteener post ACL tear #2, and first 14er in my 40's. Still at 42 of 58 overall I think but it's not really about me these days and that's just fine. 8.5 miles round trip. 3667' of elevation gain Clara's wildlife count: 7 pikas 2 mountain goats 2 chipmunks Couple dozen dogs, some of which were even on a leash One injured dog being carried down in a backpack Too many humans to count