Grays Peak

For fantastic views on a fun, easy climb, try Grays Peak.

• September 14, 2008
• Team: Art, Carol, and Samson; and John
• Summit: 10,563, ~ 10 miles, ~3750' gain
• 6 hours car-to-car

  Yesterday had been a big day on Kent Peak, but we still got up fairly early. I had heard horror stories about the upper East Fork road, so we drove my Subaru to the Federal Gulch campground and trailhead. To that point, anyway, the road is in great shape, if a little washboarded. Any car could make it. There were a couple cars in the campground, and one huge horse trailer. We were walking by a little before 8, and the temperature was in the low 30s.
  The Federal Gulch trail is steady and steep, but not too steep. After yesterday, it seemed downright pleasant. There are a few creek crossings, but they were minor at this time of the year. We also had a lot of tall brush, including a fair amount of stinging nettle (but the nettle seemed pretty dried out and impotent). The sign at the top of the trail says its 3.5 miles to the saddle, and it took us about 2 hours. From the saddle, we left the trail and climbed straight up to the highpoint on the left.
  Then we walked across the ridgetop, heading for the summit in the distance.
  There are a few narrow sections on the ridge, but we decided this was the 'PG' version of what we did the day before.
  We made it to the summit in about 3.5 hours from the car. Yesterday, we had felt like we had to hurry on the summit. We made up for it today. We stuffed ourselves with goodies, took turns with the binoculars, practiced our photography, attempted to fool each other into thinking that we knew what we were looking at, and generally loafed. Ahh, life.
  Relaxing on the summit.
  And heading home. Colors are starting to change, so it's time to get out!
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