the climb. Norine and I summited Grays at 9:30 a.m.(Rick made
it to the top of Torreys at the same time). When we got to the
top we were met by a mountain goat (right). After taking a few
pictures, the other two parties on top left so we had a brief
moment of the summit to ourselves. We started down the saddle
and ate some lunch (in the mountains lunch occurs when you’re
hungry and you can find a place to sit). From the saddle I counted
76 people and 10+ dogs. And obviously I only counted the people
I could see. We met Rick at the bottom of the saddle and chatted
for a bit. We then headed up Torreys. The last part was the steepest
and therefore the hardest. We did a great job. Normally we 
take a few steps
and rest, then take a few steps and rest, etc. We barely rested
going up. We summited at 10:15 a.m. but were disappointed that
there was no place to sit. There were about 20 other people on
top. We met two dogs that had climbed over 30 fourteeners. (Torreys
was my 12th so these dogs were much better than me!) In great
tradition, we played the game of "We’ll take your picture
if you take ours." In the twelve fourteeners I have successfully
climbed I have never met an impolite climber. I am always pleased
in the conversations I have with total strangers doing the same
things I enjoy doing. After a brief stay on the top we noticed
some storm clouds in the distance and decided it was time to head
down. The punishing steepness of the saddle going up was well
appreciated going down. We cruised down to the base of the saddle
where we met up with Rick again who had flown up Grays and was
resting on a rock. We had a quick snack and took a picture with
Mt. Evans in the background. I’m getting better at recognizing
fourteeners in the distance now that I’ve climbed a few.
The storm clouds were heading in rapidly so we knew that we needed
to get going. We skirted across some snow where we believe the
trail was and met back up with the main trail back to the parking
lot. The GPS did a good job marking the trail. If we ever get
off of the trail in the future, I think I could get us back. (For
a story on getting off trail, read about our first Crestone Peak
attempt!) A little ways down the trail we looked back and as Rick
described it, the mountains looked like anthills. You could see
the trails easily because of the steady stream of people. It did
look like many ants bringing food back to their homes. About 15
minutes before we got to the parking lot, it began to rain. We
got back to the truck at 12:45p.m. We had trouble driving back
down the jeep trail due to the fact that there were over 100 cars
(no exaggeration) and some of them didn’t seem to know how
to park. Overall this was a great climb but I recommend going
on a weekday if possible.|
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