Colorado July 2009: July 16th, 2009 (Day 9)

OK, so we're resting at the summit of Grays Peak, we have beautiful weather, plenty of day left with nowhere in particular to go, we're feeling good, I ask Bob the question...... (Play video)

And the answer is..... Yeah ! Let's go !

Bob & I will head over to Torreys. The rest of the group will descend and we will meet up back in the parking lot later on.

Here's a look at the trek that lays ahead. It is about 3/4 miles from the peak of Grays to Torreys Peak. First you have to descend 700 feet to the saddle and then climb up to Torreys.

It's a steep descent from Grays........

As Bob approaches the saddle, you get a view behind him of Grays Peak.

We both take a breather when we reach the saddle. Here's Bob with Torreys in the background. It took us about 15 minutes to descend to the saddle.

There is a beautiful view down into Stevens Gulch.........

The view ahead of us is not as inviting. This climb will be a bit steeper than the ascent up to Grays we completed earlier.

As always, there are wildflowers everywhere.......

At the top, we had the summit all to ourselves for about 15 minutes. It took us a total of about 45 minutes to get here from the Grays summit. We signed the register, and enjoyed the view, including Mt of the Holy Cross to the west..

A look back at Grays Peak shows that our solitude was to be short-lived, as another group of hikers were making their way up behind us.

We got them to take a shot of us with the summit sign. What a great day !

Bob spend spends a few minutes chatting with our new friends before we turn to descend.

Below us, Cindy and Ginny have descended back down Grays to the point where the trail splits to head over to Torreys, and are waiting there for us to rejoin them

They get some shots that have us at the summit..............................
(Click to enlarge the shot)

We're on our way down.....

When we reach the saddle, we have to turn off and pass through a snowfield to continue....

Our friends have caught up with us again, as we traverse the hillside. Watch your step... it's a long slide down if you lose your footing..............