Mountain Climbing, Hiking & Backpacking - Information,Tips & Experiences by Scott Skinger

Last night I went out to grab a bite to eat and I stumbled upon this little cafe called Beatniks.  I had driven by it several times before and it really didn’t look like anything special.  Tonight, however, the parking lot was jammed pack, so I figured they must have good food and I was starving.

I went inside and discovered that they were having an open mic night.  This place was jam packed, mostly (if not all) with townees…I think I stuck out like a sore thumb.  Anyway, I had a sandwich (don’t even rememeber what I ate) and beer and I just stood way in the back and started listening…these people rocked!  Beatles, Pete Townshend, originals, fun songs, sing alongs, acoustic and electric guitar, it was all good.

About four hours, 15 performance and many beers later, I had to get out of there.  Thanks to Beatniks for a great last night in Joshua Tree and kudos to the all of the artists who performed…you are all very talented and more importantly know how to have a good time.

I am a Chicago White Sox fan but I have got to hand it to the Rockies! What a run…I have been rooting for you for the past week and I hope you continue the run through the playoffs.

Several months ago, I purchased a copy of Colorado’s Fourteeners From Hikes to Climbs (second edition) by Gerry Roach, before my first mountain climbing trip to Salida, CO. I have to say, that at first, it was overwhelming. It has A LOT of information in it and it can be confusing to new climbers.

However, after spending a good deal of time with it, it is a great reference book and the details are much appreciated. Make sure that you read the introduction thoroughly, as it covers a lot of important information on how to use the book (and climbing in general).

Its great strength is the detailed, accurate information that it provides; from getting to the trailhead, best routes to take up the mountain to helpful advice and tips. You should read and re-read (and re-read again) all of the information on the mountain climb that you are planning.

As a matter of fact, I own two copies of the book. One copy is used as my reference copy and the second copy is used like a workbook. I tear out the pages before I go on a trip and leave the rest of my “workbook” at home. I then have a great little packet of information that I can easily transport on the plane (I like to travel as light as possible). The map(s) can be folded and put inside a plastic baggie…great for a quick reference in your pocket.

I picked this backup up during my first trip to Colorado back in July. Prior to this, during hikes with my family I was stuck lugging bottles of water around for everyone. I have used this backpack on numerous hikes and also on both mountains I have climbed…I love it. It is lightweight, comfortable to wear and obviously makes accessing water much easier.

However, keep in mind that this is only a daypack. It is roomy but not roomy enough to handle any overnight gear. Also, I have the largest capacity water bladder (100 oz./3 liters) and I have run out of water (close to the end) on both of my mountain climbs. This concerns me, as I feel that I should be drinking even more water than I am.

On my next climb, I am going to carry two water bladders. I am going to borrow my wife’s bladder (uhh…that might not sound right…you know what I mean), which is a little smaller at 2 liters. So, I am going to carry 5 liters of water with me total. This will probably be pretty bulky at first but after a few hours of drinking it will be fine. Overall, this is a great backpack and I highly recommend it. I use it all the time, even when I am not climbing.

Climb - Grays Peak & Torreys Peak from the Chihuahua Gulch Trailhead
Distance - 10.4 miles with 4,360 feet of elevation gain
Rating - Type II, Class 2 (route 2.19 in Gerry Roach’s 14ers book)
Time - About 9 hours, including 75 minutes relaxing on the two summits
Backpack - 100oz. water in Camelback, extra bottle of water, corned beef sandwich, 3 granola bars, trail mix, 2 mini-snickers, raincoat, fleece jacket, extra shirt, compass, 2 maps, knife, flashlight, cell phone and trekking poles

I woke up later than I planned and it took me forever to get my stuff together…chalk it up to being a beginner (and being anal about forgetting something!). I got started right at 7AM. It was an absolutely beautiful day.

Even though I got a late start, there was no one else at the trailhead and I ended up seeing nobody on this route until I reached the summit of Grays Peak. The first part of the route is on a four-wheel drive route.
This is one of the many (three or four) times you have to cross the creek; trekking poles came in handy on this hike (more on this later). At this junction, you want to stay to the right and pick up the trail BEFORE you cross the creek. I crossed the creek, went to the right and then ended up crossing the creek back over to the other side again. I then realized that there was an easy trail that I could have picked up without crossing the creek at all. The trail is pretty much directly to the right of where I took this picture from.

This beautiful doe was very playful…she leaped around watching me and didn’t seem like she was scared of me at all.

I really enjoyed this part of the hike…very beautiful and not too much elevation. Grays is off in the distance to the left.

A group of deer off in the distance…I will be heading towards them soon.
This is a picture of an old mine at the end of the trail. It was pretty cool and I spent a little time checking it out.
This shot is from the mine, looking to the Northwest. You can see my deer friends again, watching my every move. I have been spoiled up to this point, with very gradual elevation gain…things get much tougher from here on!

A look back down at the mine. I am about half way up the southwest ridge of Grays here and I am getting a little tired. I took several breaks on my way up.

Finally made it to the top of the ridge…here is a shot of Grays summit, about a mile off to the Northeast.

Standing in about the same spot as the picture above; I have just turned around and took a shot of my view to the Southwest.
Getting closer…still on the ridge approaching the climb to the summit.
The summit climb is about 500 feet up loose scree…very frustrating! At this point, I have a blister on my heal, my legs are cramping and I am making very little progress as it seems like I am sliding down just as much as I am climbing up. This is a look back at the progress I have made so far…
…and a look up at how much is left. This is the one part of the climb where I was truly unhappy and wanting the climb to be over. The last 100 feet seemed to firm up and was much easier to climb; just in time!
I finally reached the summit at 11:30AM. It was kind of funny to not see anybody all day on my route and then see all of these people when I got to the top. You can’t see everybody but I am guessing there was about 75 people on the summit. Most of these people took the well defined North Slopes route, which is more gradual and a little shorter than the route I describe here.
This is a shot from the summit of Grays Peak off to the Northeast. In the large picture you can see the well defined trail (that I mention above) which starts from the parking lot and runs all the way to the top. I rested atop Grays Peak for about 45 minutes; ate some lunch, tried to work my cramps out and patched up my blister.

Time to head over to Torreys Peak. Here is a picture of Torreys from the top of Grays Peak. See the trail (and the people)?

I reached the summit of Torreys Peak at 1PM, taking about 45 minutes to get there from Grays. It was pretty steep but it wasn’t too bad of a climb overall because of the well defined trail. This picture is looking out to the Southeast; you can’t see the peak of Grays but the trails lead to it.

Looking Southwest from Torreys Peak.
That’s me, complete with my “Revenge of the Nerds” tape job on my glasses (they are prescription, so I really needed to wear them…I am blind without glasses!).

Overall, I really liked this hike. It was beautiful and provided the right amount of challenge for my second climb. The summit of Grays was challenging and frustrating but without it I think I might have felt like I didn’t push myself enough.

One more thing I should mention; on my return trip, I slipped off a rock at one of the creek crossings and was soaked up to the knees. My boots and socks were drenched. I still had a couple of miles to go and by the time I got back to my car, my toes (from slipping forward into the front of the boot) were killing me. It made me very thankful that I hadn’t soaked my boots in the morning on my way up…it would have made for a very long day. Next time, I will seriously consider removing my boots before crossing water. My trekking poles (which I wasn’t sure if I needed) also definitely came in handy.