August 19, 2022

Start: Argentine Pass Trailhead, Horseshoe Basin

End: Grays Peak Trailhead, Stevens Gulch

Peaks: Grays (14,270')

Elevation Gain/Loss: 3,205 ft / 3,040 ft

Point-to-Point Mileage: 7.25 mi

Duration: 7 hours, 38 minutes

Rock Difficulty: Class 2

After completing a couple more non-notable hikes during the first half of August, I began a week-long trip to Colorado on August 16. After spending a couple of days acclimatizing since I live at sea level, I completed my first 14er with Grays Peak. The standard North Slope route is an extremely popular Class 1, so to spice things up I decided to do the desolate Class 2 South Ridge instead.

Leaving my hotel in Silverthorne at 4:30 AM, I arrived at Argentine Pass Trailhead in time to begin hiking at 5:31 AM. The gravel Horseshoe Basin Road continues past the trailhead, but a gate at 11,100 ft prevents vehicles from going any further. The first 1,200 vertical feet over 2 miles of distance is on this same, straightforward gravel road, and I breezed by this part in about an hour. At 12,200 ft, the gravel road ended and I took the trail across a slope to the base of the main hillside that led to the South Ridge.

Most of the remainder of the route was off-trail up the hillside and eventually the South Ridge, but this wasn't a problem with the 14ers.com offline map (which I highly recommend). Ruby Mountain A looked stunning over the edge of the hillside to the left.

I had already begun to develop a light headache at 13,000 ft, but I decided to ignore it and press onwards anyway. The hillside steepened significantly starting at around 13,200 ft, and sections of scrambling began at 13,500 ft. The next several hundred vertical feet appeared much more difficult from lower down than it actually was, but it was still a solid Class 2. With my AMS worsening, I took breaks every hundred vertical feet or so. I started this area towards the right, away from the edge, but that was mostly scree so I shifted closer to the edge where it was more solid rock.

The crux of the route was the section just before gaining the South Ridge. This pitch was definitely a Class 3, but the route as a whole should still be a Class 2 in my book. After gaining the South Ridge at 13,800 ft, I pushed on a bit faster up the steady incline, and I was standing at the summit of my first 14er by 9:40 AM. Views were absolutely amazing, topping any peak on the East Coast.

I was the first to summit Grays Peak this day from the South Ridge, and one of the first ten by any route. However, in the 15 minutes I was at the summit, the summit went from fairly empty to packed. I decided to descend via the standard route to Stevens Gulch and get picked up at I-70, since I didn't want to deal with exposure on the descent.

With the adrenaline gone, my headache took over immediately, and I was descending slower than I had ascended. It was probably a good call to descend the standard route. With worsening AMS, I took an ibuprofen at 12,000 ft on the descent, but it didn't really begin to ease my headache in time. I made it to the 4WD trailhead at 1:10 PM, and by this point I was near collapse. I got really lucky and some nice folks offered me a ride down to the 2WD trailhead, and I gladly accepted. At around 1:40 PM, I was safely back to 9,000 ft, and my headache eased up shortly.