10/14/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 10/14/2011, By: Alpinegoat Info: Patchy snow on trail from the bridge across Stevens Gulch to the bushy area. From the rocky flat area continuous snow on trail. On the ridge upto the basin snow is compacted but good boots are adequate. Beyond the junction where the trail splits ( towards Torrey ) almost icy on trail and traction is required almost all the way upto the summit. |
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10/1/2011 Route: Grays and Torreys Posted On: 10/1/2011, By: bf31415 Info: Combo report for G&T. Traverse across Grays to saddle still has snow. Torreys from saddle to peak is clear. Saddle to summit of Grays is icy. Front/east side of Grays is still lots of snow/ice but not as slick as Grays to saddle trail. Glad I had the microspikes for traverse and both trails to/off Gray‘s summit. Was snowing lightly late morning on the descent. |
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9/18/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 9/19/2011, By: jpfeif001 Info: Conditions on the peak are snowy, up to a foot of snow with a layer of ice underneath. Microspikes are recommended. The wind was blowing hard at the time, knocking people off their feet. The climb is doable, just slick. Also saw some people going up Kelso Ridge. |
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9/11/2011 Route: Grays and Torreys Posted On: 9/12/2011, By: ScottE22 Info: Hiked Gray‘s and Torrey‘s on Sunday and the snow had been well-packed by all the hikers making it VERY slick. The descent from Gray‘s to the saddle and most of the way back down from Torrey‘s was slow going. Even a guy with Yak-Trax was slipping and sliding. |
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9/10/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 9/11/2011, By: deeplomassy Info: Mount Grays was blanketed in snow when we hiked on Saturday. Both the route to the top of Grays and the route to the Saddle to do the Grays & Torreys combo required hiking a slushy, slippery path of packed snow. The snow was several inches thick on the trail, much deeper along the sides. I would recommend Yaktrax or waterproof shoes with significant traction. |
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8/27/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 8/28/2011, By: Matt Lemke Info: Did Grays and Torreys this past Saturday and lost count of the people I saw at a few hundred (no joke). Only reason why I did that was to bring two friends on their first 14er. There is a big rut in the Stevens Gulch road that will stop passenger cars about 1.25 miles short of the true trailhead. High clearance vehicles can pass by though. |
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8/13/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 8/14/2011, By: juliaatje Info: Stevens Gulch trailhead is definitely a challenge for low clearance cars, not recommended. On our way down we saw a mile long oil spill line and a car being lifted onto a flatbed truck. Better to walk a couple of extra miles. |
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7/28/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 7/28/2011, By: Fast Jimm Info: Some water on the trail in places. The trail is generally in excellent condition. One snow passage with no issues with slope. Snow was slushy on top, solid beneath and was perhaps 50 feet across. The approach road is very rough. A low clearance 2wd car will make it (I saw civics, mazdas, made it with my accord, etc..), but it‘s going to be very hard on your suspension. One portion is bad enough that I really should have stopped before I got to it. Not used to seeing babies being changed (and diapers being left behind in grocery store bags, although I did pack it out on the descent), and 6-7 year olds on the summit wearing jeans and cotton sweatshirts as black clouds swirl about in the last minutes before noon- not on a 14er at least. |
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7/18/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 7/20/2011, By: ashlee03 Info: Not a whole lot to update since previous post. There are few patches of snow, one area in which you may need to go around, but not a big deal. There were still a few parts of the trail with some flooding (primarily towards the beginning of the trail), but I was able to walk on the rocks to cross without hiking boots. If you try doing the same thing, take it slowly to cross and beware of loose rocks. It was somewhat crowded when my friend and I began to ascend at 7:00am. I would recommend heading up at 5am for less crowds or even earlier if you want to avoid crowds on your descent. |
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7/9/2011 Route: Grays and Torreys Posted On: 7/9/2011, By: tjerasdave Info: Trails up to Grays is mostly snow free and snow patches are navigable. There are some muddy areas and a few cases where water is running down the path so waterproof boots are a good idea. If you plan on using the saddle route be aware that there is a rather large snow field crossing that is a bit slick. I was able to get across it with boots and poles but would not have felt comfortable doing it with sneakers. That being said, there were some other folks going across it with sneakers so if you‘re comfortable with the risk you should be ok. Lastly, make sure you get to the TH early. When I left the parking lot was full and cars were parked along the side of the road for at least another .5 miles. |
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7/3/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 7/3/2011, By: Bean Info: Can easily be hiked with trail runners. Gaiters and snowshoes have even less value than usual right now. If you‘re not confident in your footing you may do well to bring microspikes for the traverse over to Torreys. Skis strongly recommended for the descent, a short (100‘) re-climb gets you continuous snow to 5 minutes from the parking lot. |
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7/2/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 7/2/2011, By: iquack08 Info: I did Grays than Torreys. Still small, medium, and large snow patches. Everything was bootpacked, so there were no problems with the trail. A little slushy on the way back. Started at 6am, finished at 10:15am. Only boots are necessary. FYI - The trail junction that separates Grays and Torreys is at the sign that says something like keep on the trail. |
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6/26/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 6/26/2011, By: ameristrat Info: Hiked the Grays and Torreys East Slopes today. Some snow along the trail up to the creek. Good bootpack all the way so don't worry. The trail was a creek by the afternoon. Above the creek, there was snow up to the face but, again, a good bootpack. The switchbacks are peaking through the snow and bare up high, but we missed the first one and ended up on a decent, easy class 2 trail up the ridge above lost rat to the summit. No snow here. Trail down Grays and up Torreys was snow free, and coming down , there was a good bootpack or no snow all the way. No need for anything more than good, waterproof hiking boots. We left at 10:15, summited Grays at 12:30, summited Torreys at 1:45 and got back to the car at 4. Post-holing was minimal. |
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6/15/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 6/16/2011, By: One Sierra Charlie Info: The standard route is mainly snow covered from the basin to the summit. A summit ski is possible with a short section of skiing between/stepping over rocks. |
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5/28/2011 Route: North Slopes Posted On: 6/3/2011, By: kimmykazu Info: My friend and drove up to tackle Gray‘s/Torrey and right off the access road, we saw a Tacoma backing down the trail. As we turned the FIRST right turn, Our Subaru said no way. My friend didn‘t want to hike the road to the trailhead and at 6:00 AM we should have started earlier if we were going to add this mileage in. As the sun melts, the road should be better. I hike Spaulding and Evans the same day. As I looked over at Gray‘s/Torrey. They were COVERED in snow! |
