I hiked my first 14ers!! Ever since I moved to Colorado I have wanted to hike one. It always seemed kind of daunting and impossible. I worked really hard to gain hiking experience and get in shape enough to summit one. If you’re not familiar with the Colorado slang, a 14er is a mountain that stands over 14,000ft in elevation.
We decided to start with Grays Peak and Torreys Peak because they are some of the more “accessible” 14ers. From I-70 take exit 221 to Bakerville and the turn left on Stevens Gulch Rd. The road quickly becomes dirt. We were in my friend’s truck and I was definitely glad for the higher clearance. However, there were low clearance vehicles and sedans that seemed like they were doing just fine, so if you have a little car and you’re careful you’d probably be okay.
Even though it was only 445am there were a TON of people on the road ahead of us and behind us. If you don’t want to park miles down the road, you’d better get there early. We were able to get a good parking spot along the road up to the trailhead that wasn’t too far away.
It was 5am by the time we started our hike and it was still dark enough to require headlamps. Now this was my first time doing a 14er and normally when we show up to trail before 6am we are the only ones there. That was NOT the case with this trail. There were tons of people. Probably 100s. It is not a “solitude out in nature” kind of hike. Don’t get me wrong it is still stunningly beautiful, fun, and rewarding, but it was different than what I was used to.
The trail starts above tree line so there’s no grace period when it comes to the altitude. It wasn’t too steep at first and went across a creek and proceeded through an alpine meadow. The sun started to come up painting the sky pink and gold above the mountains. The trail winds around the mountain and isn’t too rocky until you reach the part where you really start to ascend the mountain. The trail splits but there is a wooden sign labeled with which one to take for Grays (the first one we did) and Torreys (which we summited from Grays using a different trail).
Going up at 12,000+ feet is hard. I had a lot of trouble breathing and I was going slllloooowwwwlllyyyy. I felt light headed and sick to my stomach. It felt like I had never hiked a day in my life. I had to keep stopping. That part was really frustrating. Especially because the summit looked close but it didn’t feel as if I were getting any closer. The views even just on the hike up were amazing. It was cool to look back and see how far we had come. The people who seemed to be the size of ants snaking up the trail made it look like some weird pilgrimage was going on.
The view from the top of Grays was amazing. And cold. I was wearing three layers and I was still shivering. We took pictures, ate snacks, caught our breath for a second and then it was on to the next one. We hiked down the other side of Grays and started up Torreys. The two peaks are less than a mile from each other. Torreys felt easier than Grays. Maybe because the ascent was shorter and with fewer switchbacks. Also the amount of people that bring beer to the top of a 14er is astounding. But awesome. Definitely awesome. Very Colorado-y.
Going down both peaks was hard. It just loose rock you’re walking on and it is incredibly easy to lose your footing. Go slow and be careful. The bigger rocks are easier to walk on than the smaller ones.
The whole hike was right around 9 miles. It took us about 6.5 hours, so that tells you how slowly we were going. After the hike we stopped in Idaho Springs to get Beau Jo’s pizza. It was an amazing post hike meal. Peaks go just as well with pizza as they do with coffee.
