Grays Peak Trip Report
Trail: Horseshoe Basin (parked at Shoe Basin Mine), Class 2, 7 miles, 3,000 ft elevation gain
Jen and I awoke at 4:00 in the morning on Friday, August 15th 2003. We set out by 4:30 and headed to the trailhead. This was one heck of an informative introduction to the actual driving time to trailheads. Map quest informed us that we would take about 90 minutes to get to the dirt road which leads to the trailhead. I figured okay another 6 or so miles, piece of cake we will be there by 6:30. WRONG :) Take a look at some of the road and our car.
The last 4.6 miles took us about an hour and I kept thinking we were going to rupture something and blow out all of the tires. AS luck would have it we did end up replacing both front tires within the week. We were originally going to keep our little Escort but are now getting a Toyota Tacoma with the optional off road package in January of 2004. Live and Learn.
We finally set out around 7:00 in the morning and set out climbing.
The way up was marked with numerous ponds and streams and was one of the more beautiful trails I have seen.
The hike itself was quite and relatively unspoiled by crowds and while there were some steep sections it was generally easy and enjoyable.
The peak was pretty crowded because allot of people come up this way (Chihuahua Gulph).
The descent held no surprises and was a pleasant hike although it was quite steep in places.
We arrived back at the car around 12:00 and had allot of surprised looks from the people in the parking lot as all of the other automobiles were SUV's or trucks. We just smiled and hoped our car would start. It did and we headed home with thoughts of our next hike occupying our minds.