Summer Hike #9: Grays and Torrey

Ever since moving to Colorado I've heard people talk about 14ers.  What is a 14er?  It is a mountain that rises above 14,000 feet, and Colorado has 54 of them.  Well, in my 3 years living here, I've never taken the opportunity to go climb one.  So I figured that this summer of hiking was the perfect chance, and that chance came last wednesday.

I chose to climb Grays and Torrey because, for one thing, being connected by a shallow saddle, I could effectively knock out two 14ers at once.  Also, they are located near Georgetown, an area of Colorado that I hadn't yet explored.  I called up my unemployed comrade in arms, Audra, and asked if she wanted to come and away we went.

Let me tell you, it was tough.  Almost immediately, I could feel the altitude.  All the hikes I'd done throughout the summer didn't seem to amount to any kind of preparation for this beast of a hike.  I had to stop every 50 steps or so to catch my breath and let my oxygen-deprived muscles recover.  Several times I had to sit down because I was feeling light-headed (especially going up Torrey Peak after already climbing Grays).

So yeah, it was rough, but oh so worth it.  The view from the top was spectacular.  Being up so high makes you feel like you are literally on top of the world because you have an unobstructed view in all directions.  To the north I could clearly see Longs Peak up in Rocky Mountain National Park.  To the south, Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs was clearly visible.  Never mind that they're separated by over 100 miles.  Wow.  Man, it was cool.  But perhaps the highlight of the hike was that we had a herd of mountain goats accompany us most of the way down the mountain.  They couldn't seem to get enough of us, following us for a good mile of the hike.

Verdict:  Highly Recommended (but be prepared to feel much more out of shape than you actually are).