-Cupid, Grizzly Peak D and Torreys Peak West Ridge-

CO 13ers: #1 & 2

Elevation:13,117, 13,427 & 14,267 ft.

Date Hiked: 12-10-2005

Trip Report:
I had wanted to hike both Grays and Torreys and from reading found this as the only safe route in the winter. This route goes from the top of Loveland Pass (11,990 ft.) to the top of Torreys Peak and also Grays which is a little ways further on the ridge. This route also happens to follow the continental divide. The total one way mileage to Torreys Peak is 4.5. The difficult thing about this route are the points along the ridge which you must traverse over, these include “Cupid” and Grizzly Peak.

Torreys and Grays Peaks from Grizzly Peak

We left Lakewood around 4:30 AM and arrived at Loveland Pass a little after 5:45. It only took a few minutes to put our gear on and get ready to go. It was still dark so we needed our headlamps. It was also freezing, I guess that makes sense since it is December 10th. We made our way up to point 12,915 which did not take long, around 30 minutes. By this time the sky was begining to light up. The views of the mountains in the area was beautiful.

Point 13,152

Mt. Sniktau

We took a short break at this point and took some video. We could see the lights from I-70 far below and they drove into the Eisenhower Tunnel. I was feeling good at this point and we continued to our first point known as “Cupid”. This was an easy hike with little elevation lost and slightly more gained. We took another break on “Cupid”, hydrated and ate some food. We also took time to check out the route ahead. The west ridge of Grizzly Peak was only class two but from “Cupid” it looked steep. The wind also picked up at this point and would continue the entire day.

Grizzly Peak from “Cupid”

Point 13,193 and 12,910 from Grizzly Peak

We left Cupid and climbed up the steep ridge. We were careful to avoid the east side of the ridge because of the large cornice. We followed this the entire way to the top of Grizzly Peak. When we reached the summit of Grizzly Peak the wind was ferocious. We ate some more and decided if we wanted to continue to Torreys still a long ways off. It was around 9:30 AM by this time, we had to be back in Lakewood by 5 so we still had plenty of time. We decided to continue forward.

From Grizzly Peak to the saddle between Torreys and Grizzly you lose 847 feet. From the saddle (12,580 ft.) you then have to gain 1,687 feet to the summit of Torreys Peak. This was the most difficult part of the trip. We did not have trouble descending to the saddle but once we started climbing up to Torreys I began to get altitude sickness. We made it 2/3rds of the way to the top and decided to call it quits. It was already 11:45 and we knew it would take awhile to get back to the trailhead I was glad we were descending because I felt like crap. I took a few photos of our highpoint and we left.

Grizzly Peak from around 13,950 ft. on Torreys Peak (Notice the Snow Flying in the Upper Left Corner)

Our Highpoint

Our Highpoint with Spindrift

When we had descended back to the saddle I was feeling nauseous. I stopped for a few minutes and then threw up. This was the first time I had thrown up because of altitude sickness. At this point I still had to climb 800 feet back up to Grizzly Peak. I slowly made my way up the slope and eventually topped out on top again. I sat down and threw up again. I had never been in serious trouble in the mountains before and I was beginning to think this may be the first time. I still had 3.5 miles to hike, it was at least -30 with the wind-chill and I could hardly move. I rested for a few minutes then got up. I made very slow progress and had to rest often. I just wanted to be off this mountain and back to the car. Finally after what seemed like an eternity we saw Loveland Pass and the car. We got to the car just before the sun was beginning top set. Once we descended a few thousand feet I felt like normal. This was a difficult trip and I would like to try this again in the winter.