#3 & #4 Grays Peak (14,270') & Torreys Peak (14,267') June 23, 2012

For my 3rd and 4th 14ers I decided to do Grays and Torreys Peaks, a popular combo just west of Georgetown. For this hike my friends Chris and Cassie decided to tag a long. I also brought along Darwin, my 2 year old beagle, to see how he would do on these hikes. I was please when my friends said that they would be up for leaving whenever I was. G&T is a pretty popular hike because it is relatively close to Denver and you can do two peaks in one day, for this reason I wanted to be up there pretty early to beat the crowds and the heat, so we decided that a 4:00am departure time was appropriate.

I woke up around 3:00am and finished packing my water and snacks for me and Darwin. I sent a text to my friends around 3:30 to see how they were coming along. They said they would be ready at 4:00 so I packed up the truck and headed over. When I got to their place I noticed that they were both wearing their Vibram FiveFingers something I had been debating about doing the last two hikes. Their way of looking at it was they wear them everywhere else what makes a 14er any different, a sentiment I shared, so we made a quick trip back over to my place and I grabbed mine.

We arrived at the trail head around 5:30 am, just as I planned, to find quite a few people already there, at least a dozen cars in the parking lot. After getting our packs on and the dogs situated, they brought their dog too, we headed down the trail.

 

The trail head for G&T is just below tree line and nestled in a nice little valley to the north of the two peaks, which made the start of the hike shaded and cool, which was nice. We were making pretty good time when Athena, Chris and Cassie's dog, decided to roll in some very smelly, very wet, animal droppings which made her smell god awful. It was quite interesting trying to find ways to clean her without towels, soap, gloves, or a water source.

Our first view of Grays Peak

Anyways we finally got her fairly clean and we headed on down the trail. At the base of the mountain we came across some springs that flowed out of the ground that had some of the clearest water I have ever seen. Cassie decided to use some rocks and the water to get Athena a little cleaner before we went any further.

By the time we got back to hiking the sun had come up over the ridge to our east and it started to warm considerably. We all stashed our top layers and started up the first real climb of the hike.

Torreys Peak

Even though we started at about the same time as I started Bierstadt the week before, we were hiking with quite a few other hikers along the trail. We also came across sever groups of hikers that had apparently done the summit in the dark and were already heading down.

Kelso Mountain northeast of Torreys Peak

I was quite impressed at our pace, I tend to get into a rhythm and forget to ask if anyone needs a break, and before I new it we were halfway up the switchback section just below the summit. We took maybe two short breaks on the switchbacks and were at the summit before we know it.

Rock Tower about half way up the switchbacks.

When we arrived at the summit of Grays Peak we were not alone by any means. There were at least a dozen or more people spread out admiring the views. We found a pile of rocks that offered a great photo opportunity. Once up on the shaky rocks Cassie yelled out, "You should do a yoga pose, like tree..."

I had to get a photo with Darwin on the peak, seeing that the little guy summited before I did, I should offer proof that he was there. After a group shot of the three of us we decided to fuel up on some trail food. We also took this time to feed the dogs that were at this point scavenging through any open packs they could find.

Before leaving I suggested we take a photo with our Vibrams, so we found the best view we could find and pointed our toes in that direction.

After we had our fill or food, water and the views from Grays we decided to head down the saddle towards Torreys peak the second of the two peaks on our hike. It was becoming clear that Chris and Cassie were pretty worn out from our accent and they were talking about not doing the second summit. The trail split at the bottom of the summit and headed back towards the main trail so it wasn't a big deal if they wanted to wait at the bottom of Torreys while I summit solo, but I offered to wait till they got to the saddle so they had time to decide.

Half way down they were pretty sure they were not going to do the second peak and that I should go on ahead while they took their time down the saddle. With that being decided I quickened my pace and made it to the bottom of the saddle relatively quick and before long I was staring at a pretty steep scrabble slope with no switchbacks. The accent was only about 450 feet from the saddle but straight up. Darwin was consistently 20 yards above/ahead of me so I made really good time trying to keep up with him. It took about 20 min from when I left my friends to summit Torreys. At this point the wind was picking up considerably and I didn't want to leave them waiting too long so I asked someone to snap a picture and after a short break to take in the views I was quickly on my way back down.

View southwest of Torreys towards Keystone and Breckenridge.

The valley we hike through up to the peaks.

Grays Peak seen from Torreys. You can see the trail switchback up the face.

I made it back down to the saddle where my friend were waiting and we started the decent. The trail was pretty crowded on the way down. I'm still surprised by some of the people I see on these hikes. Some of them look as if they woke up the day of and decided to hike a 14er without any forethought. We made it back down to the valley and saw a message that someone had wrote with the rocks.

The rest of the hike went smoothly, the temperature started to climb considerably but it didn't hinder our pace. We made it back to the car pretty tired our feet a little beat up from kicking rocks on the trail in our Vibrams, you notice the rocks more with "bare feet" when you start getting tired and forget to lift your feet... haha. When we got to the car we were all in agreement that Beau Jo's Pizza was going to be a necessary stop on our way back.

#2 Mt. Bierstadt (14,060') June 17, 2012

 Mt. Bierstadt was my first solo 14er trip and because of that I got to leave when I wanted to, which meant an early start. I woke up about 3:00 am and was out the door by 4:00 am. It was a pretty quiet hour drive to Georgetown where I turned off for Guanella Pass. I made it to the trail head about 5:20. When I arrived there were three guys from Kansas getting ready for their hike. Turns out they were going to hike the Bierstadt and take the Sawtooth over to Evans and get both in one day, something I had played around with myself but was not planning on doing solo because of the difficulty of the Sawtooth. I debated for a couple minutes about taking them up on the offer, but realized that they were going to take a while before they left (they were cooking breakfast at the time). So I decided to take off and start Bierstadt and if they caught up with me I would decided at that time if I wanted to do both.

 

 I started down the trail at a pretty good pace seeing that the first mile or so is pretty flat and I couldn't see other hikers in front of me. I made it through the willows and crossed Scott Gomer Creek pretty quickly and started the first uphill section up to the plateau below the summit. Halfway up this I passed a group of three hikers with dogs that looked to be taking their time. 

  Once I made it up to the plateau I decided to take a short break to fuel up on a granola bar and snap a few pictures. I was feeling pretty good and the weather was still pretty cool so I quickly started back down the trail. I could see another solo hiker with a couple of dogs ahead of me and decided to try and catch up with him, a little motivation to keep moving.

Sawtooth and Bierstadt

Square Top Mountain and Grays & Torreys to the South of Me

 I caught up with the solo hiker at the last little scramble before the summit and we chatted for a while before making our way up to the summit. Once we reached the top there were 4 guys from boulder that said they left the trail head around 4:30 and were debating whether or not they wanted to hike the sawtooth ridge over to Evans or not. I was pretty clear that they were not prepared for it, or Bierstadt for that matter, a couple of them had shorts and a running shoes on. They quickly decided against it and took off back down the mountain.

Me at the Summit of Mt. Bierstadt (14,060')

Southwest of Bierstadt

 From the summit I could see Mt. Evans to the north and was really tempted to try the Sawtooth and get both in the same day. But with the four guys from Boulder already heading back and the solo hiker I met starting to head back to, and with the three guys from Kansas no where in sight I decided I should save it for another day (I already had tentative plans to hike it in two weeks anyways). Better safe than sorry.

Mt. Evans to the North

 I had brought along some Camembert cheese and half a baguette that I had left over from the night before so I decided to sit down and enjoy the views in solitude while I could and refuel for the trip back. 

 As I started heading down I quickly realized why Bierstadt has a reputation of being on of the busier mountains. In the distance I could see lines of people making their way up the trail. I was feeling pretty energetic and with the temperature warming up I decided start jogging down the mountain. I quickly caught up with the solo hiker I had met earlier and we started chatting about hikes we had done. We both were practically running down the mountain at this point passing people left and right. I would like to add that a lot of people hike these things with what I assume is no forethought at all. Some people were wearing shorts and t-shirts carrying no water or carrying small kids that gave up walking. I don't understand it, I saw the same stuff on Sherman.

Anyways after practically sprinting down the mountain with Cole (the solo hiker I was now hiking with and finally asked his name) we finally made it to where he said he had camped the night before along the trail. His tent was still set up behind some willows out of sight so we parted ways. I quickly made it the half mile or so back to the trail head to find dozens of cars and bikers making there way up the pass for a bike race that I had no idea about. I walked over to the road as the first of the finishers were making their way up. After chatting with one of the race volunteers about the event I decided to head out.

I quite enjoyed my first solo hike. I made pretty good time, doing the 3.5 summit in just over 2 hours and after a 30 min break at the summit made it back in just over 1 hour.

#1 Mt. Sherman (14,036') June 9, 2012

For my first 14er of the season I was talked into doing the one that I had done the year before with the Rocky Mountain Texas Exes. Mt. Sherman is considered one of the easiest with a short 5 1/4 mile round trip, and a trail head that starts at 12,000 ft. Mt. Sherman is about 10 miles outside of Fairplay Co. which is about a 2 hour drive from Denver.

Two friends from my apartment complex, Erin and Ian, decided to join and because the night before consisted of a trip to the newly opened Lowry Beer Gardens it was decided that a 5:30am departure time was the most realistic. I probably would have left at 3:30am but that would most likely mean I would be hiking alone.

We arrived at the trail head at about 7:30 am after a pretty bumpy ride up the dirt road outside of Fairplay. We piled out of the truck and wasted no time heading up the trail. Even though Sherman is considered the easiest of the 14ers it starts off with a pretty steep climb that gets the lungs working. We took our time getting used to the altitude and elevation gain and after a while we started making pretty good progress. We made it up to the old mining buildings in the valley below the summit only to find that the 100+ year old structures had blown down in the last year.

We took the standard route up and after a short snow field we made it up to the saddle just before the ridge to the summit, where we encountered some pretty nasty winds. The temperature also started to drop as we climbed. I had brought along a couple of layers that I wasn't wearing at the time and offered to share with Erin who had a light hoody on.

The ridge was a little sketchy, at times we felt like we might blow away. So we decided to take shelter for a while on the back side of the ridge to gather ourselves before making a push for the summit. A man and his two sons, probably 8 and 10, were trying to summit and it was clear that the kids were not having it. We had them sit with us out of the wind for a while to help calm them down. After our short break we got back to it and made short work of remaining portion of the ridge. At the top there were a couple groups that had summited before we did so we had them take a few pictures for us. We took a little time at thesummit and got out of the wind as best we could while we snacked on trail mix and wheat thins, before watching two guys shotgun a couple beers.

 After a short break at the summit we decided to make our way down. the wind was still pretty strong so I finally put on my rain coat which was pretty warm, probably because waterproof means wind proof. I probably should have put it on a little sooner, but I was warm now so I wasn't worried about hind sight. On the way down I think the cold and wind finally got to Ian, because he decided to try laying on the rocks to soak up their warmth, not sure if it helped or not.

Once we got down the the valley it started to warm up considerably, we started shedding layers and the others took some time looking at the old mining buildings. We took a shortcut down a rocky hill that cut off a little distance. The last downhill portion of the hike to the trail head wasn't as bad as going up so we made good time.

When we made it back to the truck and after shedding the hiking boots we piled in and took off for home. Ian and Erin dozed off a couple of times, something I was quite jealous about. We tried to stop for hotdogs at this place Erin knew about along 285 but there was a pretty long line and it was way to hot to be standing in line for a hotdog, plus we were all pretty exhausted so we left.

I enjoyed getting back up Mt. Sherman for the second time. It was a nice way to warm up for my hiking season. I plan on hiking quite a few more 14ers in the coming weeks.