We summitted our first 14er – Grays Peak. If you are not from Colorado, you may have never heard of a 14er before (I never had!). It is a mountain peak that is at least 14,000’ in elevation. The most 14ers in the United States are in Colorado – 58 of them. We have 57 more to go. Well, that may actually decrease because two of the 14ers have been closed to hikers due to the land being privately owned. Cross your fingers access can be negotiated for these peaks because we would love to be able to one day say we conquered all 58.

Grays Peak is actually the tallest peak on the Continental Divide at 14,275’. It has what I call a “sister mountain” (or maybe it is a brother mountain? Semantics) just across the saddle named Torreys Peak that sits at 14,272’. These two mountains are part of the Arapaho National Forest and the trail to both can be accessed at Steven’s Gulch. The trek to Grays gets you 3000’ of elevation gain and about 7.5 miles round trip. If you choose to hike from Grays to Torreys, that is about another half hour of trekking across the saddle and then just head down the mountain (by foot or glissade) and you easily join back up with the main trail to the trailhead.

We actually didn’t hike over to Torreys due to the high winds and freezing cold. It was also our first 14er and yep, we were not well-prepared (beginner’s mistake!). I was in trail runners (made for the summer and so the snow sloshing didn’t go well) and we didn’t have lip balm, sunblock, or face covers to shield us from the awful wind. 

Ok – let’s back up a little bit. We had not planned to start hiking 14ers quite yet. We had just moved to Colorado three weeks ago and were barely settled in. Our decision was a last minute one and we scrambled to locate a dog walker for our Cocker Spaniel (no way was I going to carry a 25-pound geriatric dog on my back for 6 hours up 3000’ feet). We also tried to figure out how and what to pack and wear as well as what time we needed to be up that morning to make it to the trailhead before all of the parking spots were taken. This discussion took place at about 3:00PM on Friday, June 30. The alarm was set for 1:50AM and we struggled to get to sleep by 10PM but I think both of were awake most of the night just a little bit stressed. 

We arrived at the trailhead just after 4:00 in the morning (about 1.5 hour drive) on a Saturday which was perfect as we took one of the last spots in the upper parking lot. The road up to the trailhead was rough and slow and while I wouldn’t suggest sedans and low clearance vehicles to try it, we did see some Teslas and other smaller cars there (hopefully they made it one piece). We even picked up a hitchhiker along the road as he was unsure if his car could make it up the steep hill and bumps. He had a long trek ahead of him to the trailhead had we not. It was a beautiful, clear morning and you could see every star in the sky. 

It was around 40 degrees and so we bundled up in jackets, two pairs of leg coverings, gloves, and windbreakers. Within maybe 10 minutes we were already peeling off layers – I was down to running capri tights, no gloves and a short-sleeved running shirt and Joe converted his pants to shorts and ditched the gloves and jacket. We meandered up the trail, realizing that while we “thought” we were fit for 45 years old, elevation is no joke (trailhead started at 11,280’). I had not been able to find my headlamp the night before during our packing frenzy, and so had to rely on Joe’s headlamp for the first hour or so until the sun started peaking over the horizon. We continued up the trail which didn’t seem too awful at first but gradually got steeper until we had to stop every few feet to breathe (that was probably around 13,000’). I actually had to pop a squat on a nearby rock several times just to catch my breathe and get through the initial dizziness that would hit me.

It started getting colder and windier to the point that we couldn’t feel our fingers and were unable to get Joe’s convertible pants legs zippered back on. We decided to just get to the top, take a picture and head back down as fast as we could as were ready to be off that mountain! No heading over to Torreys Peak for us. We made it to the peak and all I recall is heading the first person I saw, handing them my phone, and trying to get “Can you take a picture of us” out but instead it sounded like “Ca oo ge uh putcher uh uh?” as my lips were frozen. As soon as the picture was done we headed for the snow trail back down and back to the car in about 2.5 hours.

One of the greatest things about being on these mountains is you meet some of the nicest people. We met up with a sweet gal who is a travel PT from Washington, currently living in Ft Collins on the way down. When we were about 15 minutes from the trailhead we heard “Joe and Liz?”. I turned around and saw a young man smiling at us and my first thought was, “ummm – who knows us out here???”. It was our hitchhiker, Chase! He had taken a class 3 route, Kelso Ridge over to Torreys and was one his way back. We didn’t recognize him since it was now light outside and we were not all bundled up anymore. He ended up meeting another guy on the mountain who was taking him back to his car (we did offer to take him back down the mountain road, I promise).

Overall, it was a great day and awesome accomplishment. For two mid-life southerners who hadn’t acclimated to the elevation yet, we thought we did pretty good.

Torreys Peak – we’ll get you next time!