After a long day climbing Pyramid, I needed a relatively simple climb to finish this visit to the Rockies. With that in mind, I chose Grays and Torreys, two 14ers right next to each to each other which can be climbed entirely on a rugged trail, with no scrambling involved.

With the discussion recently about the parking issues, I decided to just drive up the night before and sleep in the car. I'm glad I did, because the parking did fill up early in the morning, and it was a Friday morning, not a weekend. Do arrive at this one early unless you want to hike up the road as well. The road is rather rough, too - I don't think an ordinary passenger car is a good idea. You'll want something with a little clearance.

With most of these, I like to give advice on routes and such - but this climb doesn't need it. The trail, while rugged and somewhat steep at times, is clear all the way up to both peaks. There's no route-finding difficulty, and no exposure unless you intentionally wander off the trail on the way up to Torreys. Start by crossing the footbridge at the parking lot and hike on up. Pictures along the way:

Keep an eye out for a trail splitting off to the right, which leads to a low point on Kelso Ridge, the rough ridge climb to Torreys. It's a class 3 scramble, not the standard route. Turn right if you want the challenge, but continue straight for the standard class 1 route.

As you work up towards the saddle, you'll reach a fork:

Left is the most direct route to Grays' summit. Right takes you to the low point of the saddle between Grays and Torreys, and is the most direct route to Torreys. I turned left for Grays' summit.

The path ascends some long switchbacks up Grays' face. After some back and forth, you'll reach the summit:

From Grays, the path to Torreys is clear:

The path down Grays to the saddle is probably the steepest / roughest part of this path.

Torreys is an odd mountain: as you ascend, the left side that faces you is gentle, while the right is craggy and steep. The path ascends the gentler side.

Before long, you'll have reached Torreys' summit as well.

From Torreys, I returned back to the saddle and hiked back to the trailhead from there.

Even on a Friday morning, Grays and Torreys were pretty crowded. Dozens of people and a few dogs were climbing these peaks, many of them trying their first 14er. And I think Grays and/or Torreys are a perfect first 14er: There's nothing easy about hiking 3000+ feet uphill, but whether hiking one or both, the path is easy to follow and has minimal danger of rockfall, exposure, or scrambling difficulties on the standard route. And if you do want a class 3 scrambling challenge, you can try Kelso Ridge.