Grays Peak is the tenth-highest summit of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

and the U.S. state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. The prominent

fourteener In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least . The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has the most (53) of any single ...

is the highest summit of the Front Range and the highest point on the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not c ...

and the Continental Divide Trail in North America. (There are higher summits, such as Mount Elbert, which are near, but not on, the Divide.) Grays Peak is located in Arapahoe National Forest, southeast by east ( bearing 122°) of Loveland Pass on the Continental Divide between Clear Creek and Summit counties. The peak is the

highest point A list of highest points typically contains the name, elevation, and location of the highest point in each of a set of geographical regions. Such a list is important in the sport of highpointing. A partial list of highpoint lists is below: World ...

in both counties.The elevation of Grays Peak includes an adjustment of +1.881 m (+6.17 ft) from NGVD 29 to NAVD 88. Grays Peak is one of 53

s (mountains of over in elevation) in Colorado. Botanist Charles C. Parry made the first recorded ascent of the summit in 1861 and named the peak in honor of his botanist colleague

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

. Gray did not see (and climb) the peak until 1872, eleven years later. Grays Peak is commonly mentioned in conjunction with adjacent Torreys Peak.

Climbing

Like the other fourteeners nearby, Grays Peak is considered to be an easy hike by fourteener standards, and is very popular among weekend climbers. Often a climb to the summit of Grays Peak is accompanied by continuing on to Torreys Peak, less than a mile away. The main trail, Grays Peak Trail, departs from Stevens Gulch. With cuts in the road over two feet deep and large stones in the path, travel to the trailhead is only feasible for high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles, motorcycles or

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

s. From the trailhead, it is a hike of about and a climb of . The trail, well-marked and well-trodden, begins by following the gulch for a slow rise in elevation, before hitting the steeper slopes. The summit includes a very small U-shaped rock shelter where a log book is maintained. Extensive views stretch south to Pike's Peak and the

San Luis Valley The San Luis Valley is a region in south-central Colorado with a small portion overlapping into New Mexico. The valley is approximately long and wide, extending from the Continental Divide on the northwest rim into New Mexico on the south. It c ...

, east to the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...

, West to Silverthorne, and north to

Longs Peak Longs Peak (Arapaho: ) is a high and prominent mountain in the northern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The fourteener is located in the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness, southwest by south ( bearing 209°) of th ...

and

Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is an American national park located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and ...

. At the climber's option, the trail continues from the summit north to Torreys Peak. The trail descends the saddle down to before climbing back to the summit of Torreys Peak at .

Wildlife

Wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...

in the area includes, mountain goat, pika,

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

or mountain lion,

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...

, elk, marmot,

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...

, ptarmigan,

American red squirrel The American red squirrel (''Tamiasciurus hudsonicus'') is one of three species of tree squirrels currently classified in the genus '' Tamiasciurus'', known as the pine squirrels (the others are the Douglas squirrel, ''T. douglasii'', and the s ...

, and

Canada jay The Canada jay (''Perisoreus canadensis''), also known as the gray jay, grey jay, camp robber, or whisky jack, is a passerine bird of the family Corvidae. It is found in boreal forests of North America north to the tree line, and in the Ro ...

. Wildflowers that bloom in the

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

area on the Continental Divide of the Americas include moss campion (''

Silene acaulis ''Silene acaulis'', known as moss campion or cushion pink, is a small mountain-dwelling wildflower that is common all over the high arctic and tundra and in high mountains of Eurasia and North America (Alps, Carpathians, southern Siberia, Pyrenee ...

''), alpine forget-me-not ('' Myosotis alpestris''), sky pilot ('' Polemonium viscosum''), sea pink, old-man-of-the-mountain ('' Rydbergia grandiflora''), and mountain gentian (''

Gentiana ''Gentiana'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the gentian family (Gentianaceae), the tribe Gentianeae, and the monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With about 400 species it is considered a large genus. They are notable for their m ...

''). Below the tree-line, the blooms of

monkshood ''Aconitum'' (), also known as aconite, monkshood, wolf's-bane, leopard's bane, mousebane, women's bane, devil's helmet, queen of poisons, or blue rocket, is a genus of over 250 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae. ...

or wolfsbane, blue columbine, fireweed, and paintbrush (''

Castilleja ''Castilleja'', commonly known as paintbrush, Indian paintbrush, or prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, northern Asia, and on ...

'') can be found.

Gallery

Grays Peak, Colorado - 2007-06-17.jpg, Grays Peak as seen from nearby Torreys Peak Greys Peak trailhead.jpg, Grays Peak trailhead Grays Peak Trail, cairn, hikers, Grays & Torreys.jpg, Cairn along trail CDT sign, footbridge at Grays Peak Trailhead.jpg, Footbridge at the beginning of the trail

References

External links

*
Grays and Torreys Peaks on TrailCentral.com
{{Authority control Mountains of Colorado Mountains of Clear Creek County, Colorado Mountains of Summit County, Colorado Arapaho National Forest Fourteeners of Colorado Great Divide of North America North American 4000 m summits

Climbing

Wildlife

Gallery

See also

References

External links