Everything was going well until we got stuck halfway up the steep dirt road to the trailhead at 5:30 in the morning, in the dark...! Did I mention there were 5 cars behind us (this is apparently a very popular hike) that precluded us from just rolling back to a wide spot in the road?! After a tense few minutes and some much needed help, we left the car at a good spot, and began walking up the road. Thankfully my knee felt better the further I walked. After 1.5 miles and quite a few 4WD's and Subaru's passing us, we reached the trailhead as the sun was rising. Soon after, we were greeted by this view of Grays (left) and Torreys (right).
With less than a mile separating them, you can see why people climb both mountains at the same time. This would be our highest elevation attained to date: Grays is 14,270 and Torreys is a few feet shorter at 14,267 (even though it appears taller and more impressive from this viewpoint). Grays also has the distinction of being the highest peak situated on the Continental Divide.
We began to ascend the steep ridge of Grays Peak about an hour after we left the trailhead. A group of hikers coming down from a sunrise climb informed us there was a mountain goat ahead. Excited, we came around a bend and met this guy happily munching some grass:
He was not at all frightened by us, and I had to wait a few minutes while he chomped on his breakfast before I was able to get any good pictures. We had never seen a mountain goat before, and had done this hike, in part, because this area is well known for seeing them. He still had some of his winter coat, and was looking quite "shaggedy." Content with our first goat sighting, we were very surprised to see at least half a dozen more a short while later.
There was at least one kid (that's really what you call a baby goat) amongst what were probably all nannies (female goats). And yes, males are known as billies. We were both quite enthralled with the goats, though a more experienced mountaineer we met found them much less appealing, especially when they poke their heads in his tent in the middle of the night!! I told him I would be quite pleased to experience that at least once!
We made good time up Grays Peak; even with the extra road walking, we passed many people on foot that had passed us in their cars. Here is a view near the summit looking down the valley we had just climbed up from:
There was shade in the valleys for a long time, as they were narrow and the high mountains blocked the sun until late morning. Once on top, some other hikers informed us of a promotion to get a free sandwich at a local sub shop. If you bring in a photo of yourself on top of 14er holding their sandwich bag, you get a free sub!!! This was almost as good as seeing goats!!!
Needless to say, we took a lot of photos. Hopefully I'll be eating free subs for awhile!!
After a short break, we headed down towards the saddle and our next 14er.
Once atop Torreys Peak, we took more photos, including a few without the sub bag. I was very excited to wear my new 2011 Unnatural Selection softball shirt that our friend Anna had sent us from Massachusetts. I had gotten it earlier in the week, and had to wait a few excruciating days before I could break it in at 14,000 feet. I tried hard to wear it the rest of the weekend, though Laura finally won out on Sunday morning.
On the way down we saw a couple of billy goats right next to the trail.
It's really amazing watching them climb. I was also surprised at how little vegetation there was at the higher elevations they were feeding at.
We passed tons of people on the way back down. Though this combo hike is easier than Longs Peak, thankfully there weren't quite as many people (though the crowds were pretty substantial for a Friday morning). This is one of the problems with climbing 14ers. There are a lot of people that want to climb them and the easiest ones have good trails and heavy usage. We should get more solitude (and difficulty) tomorrow on our sub-14,000 foot Mummy Mania traverse. Halfway down, we stopped for a break at this nice view of Torreys Peak:
There were a lot of pikas on the lower sections of the trail and we watched them for quite a bit.
Laura had good eyes, and spotted this guy gathering hay. Further down the wildflowers were really spectacular. Here is the last view of Grays Peak before it disappeared out of view:
After an uneventful walk back to our car, we headed towards the Interstate and a 4+ hour drive to South Fork and a rendezvous with Laura's parents.
The pika with his face full of flowers/grass is SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!! Molly would want to put him in her mouth.
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