I had never given much consideration to climbing a 14er outside of the summer season, until a friend called up (okay, actually he texted) and said “Hey, wanna go up Grays and Torreys this weekend?”. Of course I did!

The winter trailhead is just off of I-70 at the Bakerville exit, only about 50 miles west of Denver. We hit the trail shortly after sunrise at 7am and enjoyed a rare chance at climbing a 14er ‘standard’ route without sharing it with 100+ other people. Priceless! We didn’t make it up Torreys Peak because it took us so long to summit Grays Peak (14,278 feet), but it was still a near-perfect day. Curse you, high altitude!

Here you see a view back towards Grays and Mt Edwards in the mid-afternoon. Edwards is just to the left of the center in the picture, while Grays is towards the right side – where my tracks are coming from. Later on I’ll share a picture showing the incredible winds blowing snow from the south face of Mt. Edwards. Enjoy!