Grays Peak

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 12/16/2023, By: bfaulkne
Info: We were able to follow the North Slopes trail the entire way to the summit. We did not feel the slopes coming off of Kelso Mountain looked particularly threatening, but please assess for yourself. Only used snowshoes for a short bit around 12,000 ft when we got tired of postholing, but you can probably easily get by without them. Spikes were definitely helpful. Go get it! 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 11/11/2023, By: eastcoasthiker
Info: Super nice day today on Grays and Torreys. Would recommend spikes and poles at a minimum. A couple small areas where an axe would have made it safer. Some postholing here and there but nothing crazy. Very windy higher up and tracks were covering up very quickly. Glad I had full face coverage b/c the winds were really biting. Definitely do not try to drive to the summer trail if you don't have 4WD. My AWD crossover did not perform well but some Jeeps and a 4Runner did fine. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 11/4/2023, By: kal_18
Info: Trail is mostly covered in snow. I was postholing in some places. Some ice on various sections as well. Used microspikes, gaiters, and poles, which were very helpful. Today was quite windy, and I slipped a few times due to that and unstable snow. Still a fantastic day, and the landscape is beautiful. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 10/23/2023, By: KState14er
Info: Beautiful day on Grays on Sunday, 10/22. Trail was snow-free until the route turns south up to the ridge. Intermittent snow between there and the Torreys cutoff. Consistent ice and snow mix from the Torreys cutoff up the switchbacks on the north side. No traction on the way up, but used on the way down. Not necessarily but made the descent easy and quick. Minimal wind all day. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 10/19/2023, By: Melinda27
Info: Beautiful day on Grays Peak but windy. Snow on trail off and on after the junction with Kelso Ridge. Snow covering most of trail after junction for Grays and Grays/Torreys connector. I took went left at this piont. Had yak traks for traction and was fine, snow was soft, not iced up. Made it to TH in Subaru Outback but that's a rocky road so definitely took it slow. Saw 4 majestic mountain goats! 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 10/4/2023, By: neurot1cal
Info: Plenty of snow above 13,000 feet. Microspikes helped from the saddle over both of the signs. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 9/23/2023, By: brody31
Info: Some snow up top on Grays, no snow on Torreys. It can be a little slippery up top, especially during the decent. We had some make it who were using tennis shoes, but I would recommend hiking/trail shoes of course. Conditions were very good. Very windy, especially on the ascent to Torreys, and on top of Torreys. No micro spikes needed. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 9/22/2023, By: cvillesweetljane
Info: A little bit of snow/ice on final ascent to Gray's/descent to saddle to Torrey's. Very few areas where at least some of trail not free of snow/ice. I usually don't climb with poles, but found pole helpful for stability due to precip on ground. Fine w/o microspikes. Torrey's completely free of snow/ice. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 9/19/2023, By: Javfa1958
Info: Grays a bit icy at the top on the ascent and decent to Torreys. Torreys is completely clear. Wind was whipping today at Grays while Torreys was peaceful. 

Route: North Slopes
Posted On: 9/18/2023, By: acollar
Info: First 2 miles or so were safe to hike in the dark with a headlamp. After getting up a bit past treeline, recommend microspikes and/or trekking poles. There were some icy, slick patches once we got above 13,000. Photo was taken at 0930, about an hour into our descent from Grays, still a lot of snow for this time of year. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 8/28/2023, By: The_Ramp
Info: Summited both Grays & Torreys from Grays Peak TH as an "acclimatizer" for a big trip next weekend. Nothing to report on the trail; same old summer route we know and love. See splits (I'm a medium-speed hiker). I do have two comments though - see below. - 0400: Leave TH (Arrived to nearly empty lot; I will never climb these two on a weekend if it can be helped) - 0405: Discover head lamp not working properly... great... - 0410: Continue fighting head lamp; debate waiting for another group and using their light but decide to just wing it with my phone light as a supplement - 0545: Finally enough sunlight to remove faulty head lamp - 0620: Summit Grays, don't stay longer than 5 min - 0642: Saddle - 0703: Summit Torreys (stay for 15 min) - 0732: Saddle - 0850: Back at TH - 1030: Pull into REI parking lot for new head lamp; sheesh Comment #1: All this weekend and into yesterday, the forecast for G&T showed a significant chance of rain in the AM (>50%) and thunderstorms rolling in at 0900. Then last night, everything flipped and the forecast showed sunny conditions all morning into the afternoon. See the pictures attached; not a cloud in the sky during my descent! Note to self: stop stressing about forecasts. If it goes, it goes. Comment #2: I can't believe someone (who exactly I have no idea) hasn't fixed the sign a mile up the trail incorrectly identifying G&T (picture attached). After all these years, it is admittedly, kind of funny. And more importantly, it probably doesn't matter that much to climber safety since the risk of someone getting into trouble because they don't which peak is which is pretty low. Plus there's a map right next to the incorrect sign that shows them identified correctly. And it's all correct at the TH. But it's just so... wrong! And has been wrong for a long, long time! And it's such a popular trail too! It can't be that hard to fix! Who is in charge around here?! Ok... diatribe over. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 7/30/2023, By: NativeTransplant
Info: 100% dry 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 7/26/2023, By: jbferree
Info: Route to summit was all clear. Coming down from the trail to the saddle there are a few snow crossings. They are doable without spikes but I saw quite a few postholes. Not sure if it will slowly melt or give way at some point. There is one main creek crossing about 1.6 miles into the hike where you can fill up with water and one very small stream on the trail to the saddle that I used to fill up on the way down. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/24/2023, By: carlycaprio
Info: This route is the way to go if you want to avoid the conga line on Grays and Torreys. We made it through the 4WD road with two AWD SUVs. Just lots of potholes but if you go slow, it's no biggie. The parking lot can hold about 15 cars. There were only 5 including our 2 cars in the lot at 7am. We only saw 4 other people on the trail until we got to the top and saw the masses. The beginning part of the trail is mild and gradual. Very easy to follow the road. Look out for the big carin on the left where the sharp turn is. When it hits the slope, it becomes steeper and the calves feel the burn. There are a bunch of spagetti trails that all lead to the same point on the ridge. Super easy class 2 but, if you wanted to climb the snow gully it would add a little spice. Snow on the south facing side of the ridge but the climb to the submit is on the north facing side so snow wasn't an issue. We only submitted Grays but you could easily cross the saddle to Torreys and back again. Overall, I loved the South Ridge more than the standard route because of how uncrowded it was. 

Route: Grays and Torreys
Posted On: 7/21/2023, By: newmanifest
Info: The 3-mile road to the summer trailhead is rough, rocky and rutty, so be prepared. I had a Jeep Compass that did fine, but it was slow going. I arrived at 2:45 am; the lots were full by 5:30 or so with cars lined up along the road as well. Trail in good shape overall. It was cool and gusty much of the way up. Two small snow patches remain on the trail that connects to the saddle between Gray's and Torrey's, but they aren't bad. No spikes needed. When I was coming down around 9:30 am they were starting to get slushy. A great day on the mountains!