Recently I was invited to a Hotel Engineer’s conference in Keystone, Colorado, 300 miles from my home in Santa Fe, NM. When the General Manager of my hotel heard about it, he told me of a hike he and his wife had made several years ago, while he was GM of a luxury hotel there in Keystone. They had hiked to the tops of Gray’s and Torrey Peaks, a few miles east of Loveland Pass, and both peaks are “14′ers,” - over 14,000 feet high. Try it, you’ll like it, and it’s an easy 14′er, he said. I dunno………Lake Peak, at 12,409 ft nearly ruined me with its’ 2100 ft altitude gain over 3 miles. These would be over 3,000 ft gain in 4 miles. I really wasn’t sure I could do it, and apprehension ruled my thoughts.

Finally the conference was over, and the big day arrived. Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007. Up early, and a hearty breakfast served by the very pleasant, VERY attractive waitress (with the same name as my aunt) in the Keystone Lodge’s restaurant, then I pointed the Diesel Dodge east for Loveland. What a great way to start the day, with scenery like that. I went on Hwy 6, the old, pre- I-70 road, and it’s a heck of a drive. Loved it….these are some serious mountains in this country. Took the 2nd exit east of Loveland, and soon the dirt road I landed on went to phooey. Very steep, wet from a sprinkle during the night, deep diagonal washouts & ruts and a bunch of cars parked at the bottom, unable to get up the hill. Long hike for those people - it’s a couple of pretty rugged miles to the parking lot, before they even started their climb…………

The big Dodge’s 4WD, limited slip rear differential, and heavy all weather tires never even breathed hard walking up over this mess, and soon I caught up to a mother and son hiking along. Offered ‘em a ride, then soon 3 friends, then a bike rider who was pushing his bike up the mess. I wound up with 6 young folks and a bicycle in the back of the truck. The young lady with the sunglasses (with the same name as my cousin in OR) has the most beautiful smile and warm nature that I’ve seen in a long time. Wish I were 40 years younger………….:-)………..

At the top of the road, I was amazed to see cars parked along the road, clear out of sight around a corner. OK, parked the truck (this is at about 11,200 ft elevation) and we all took off, and it was a solid ¼ mile past parked cars to a jammed parking lot. Couldn’t believe it. Someone told me it was the end of the season, and everyone wanted one last shot at it before winter shut it down. Yes, this is a Very Popular Hike. Crossed a bridge and started up a well maintained trail, and after a ½ mile or so, got my 1st good look at the day’s adventure. Gray’s Peak is the long ridge to the left of center, and Torrey Peak is the pointy one to the right…………

It was looking to be a stormy day, and almost every day here has thunderstorms. I’d been warned repeatedly to get off the mountain fast if the lightning started up. I looked long and hard at this, then said, “well, I’m here, and everyone else is going for it……” so I went, complete with 3 liters of water in the Camelback, a liter of GatorAde in my belt pouch, energy bars in the pack and full camera gear. Expedition Time ! ! ! The manicured (??) trail didn’t last too long, and after about a mile we started to climb….and climb….and……….

I hadn’t started the climb till late - 9:30 AM - and there were hordes ahead of me. If you take this picture, and crop it way down, you can see the lines of people working their way up the switchbacks to the summit. They looked like legions of ants…………….

It almost turned me around - I’m not a lover of crowds - but this may just be a once in a lifetime chance, and I still hadta face the boss when I got back home. Just wouldn’t do to snivel, would it ?? So, I persevered. Up here, an icy wind was howling around the mountain, and almost blew me off my feet. I’d looked at those clouds, felt the coolness at the bottom, and put gloves and a windbreaker in my pack, just in case. Now, about ¼ of the way up, my hands were going numb, and the fleece gloves were very welcome. All day, I saw just one other person with gloves, and many with shorts had pink and purple blotched legs, and hiking with their hands tucked in their armpits. Glad I had foresight. The trail was about gone now, and it was really rough going. This is at about the 13,000 ft level………….

From up here, the view is amazing. Off to the right is the rocky summit of Torrey Peak, an awesome sight……………

Back behind, in dead center of this picture is the off ramp I took from I-70 to get here…………..

See…..?? 10.2 megapixels gives great crop-ability…..tho’ this particular one may have been with the 70-300VR. Can’t remember……………

Almost there. Close to 14,000 ft now…………..

Finally, on numb, shaky legs, the summit ridge. The back side is loose rock, very, very steep and a loooong way down. A slip here would be disastrous…………

Big Lar on the Summit ! ! ! Right at 1:00 PM after a 3½ hour climb. Just 6 weeks before my 65th birthday What a tremendous feeling ! ! ! My 1st 14′er, at 14,268 ft, and beating my own record set on Lake Peak just 2 months before. The screaming, icy wind was blowing my jacket sideways, and I had to balance carefully to avoid being blown over. Even with the heavy flannel shirt there was no sweat on this trip.

>From the summit, I dropped down the steep, rocky back side to the saddle leading to Torrey Peak, but when starting up to do the 2nd summit my legs rebelled. Just couldn’t lift my feet, and it was getting late in the day, too, so turned and headed down to the starting point. It were a long, long, weary hike back to the truck, but I still had that glow What a feeling. One 14′er’s enuf for now, and I’m very pleased to have done it. Turned out to be a good decision, too. I got to my pre-reserved hotel room in Breckenridge, CO just before dark, and would never have found it without daylight to help. Sunday, I made the long drive home with a big grin on my face. What a weekend, and on Monday it snowed up there. Good timing………season’s over.

Posted: October 3rd, 2007 under 07 Colorado, 07-9-15 Gray's Peak.
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