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Mileage...10.5 miles
Elevation...around 4,000 feeet
Route...Goatfinger Couloir to Edwards...West Ridge to Grays & Torreys
7:45am...left trailhead
9:00am...start up the goatfinger
10:30am...edwards summit
12:00pm...grays summit
12:36pm...torreys summit
2:00pm...back at car
The more of these reports I write, the shorter they get. I just don't have the patience or the time to go into full detail like some people. I don't know how they do it. I guess the illusive 5 RED star rating will have to wait for another day. Here is my abbreiviated report on the Goatfinger...
Notes...
-had a couple days off and wanted to climb some mountains
-edwards was a easy pick when I read that stevens gulch th was reachable and I had a place to stay in keystone
-picked the goatfinger because it looked sweet and I like goats
-added grays and torreys because the weather wasn't terrible and I was feeling good
-got my jeep stuck on the way down...luckily I had a shovel and some towels and was able to dig it out...I wouldn't suggest driving this road without chains or a winch or a truck with a goat tied to it with a 3 foot f*ckin rope
Pictures...
Panoramic view of McClellen Mtn, Mt. Edwards, and Grays Peak
Closer shot of Edwards and the Goatfinger. I read Roach's story about goats knocking rocks down on him. I was ready to throw down if they had that same tactic in mind for me. I would have been like, "Hey goats, put up your dukes!" And they would have been like, "We got f*ckin no dukes."
Closer shot of the couloir. Still no goats. They must have been mosh-pitting. I wasn't sure if it would go or not. Option B was the standard, lower-angle option up to the next saddle. But the snow was perfect and up I went.
Looking back at Kelso Mtn and Stevens Gulch
Looking back from the top of the couloir
Top of the Goatfinger...no goats, lots of wind
Edwards shadow
My first view of Edwards from the ridge. Crossing the snow slopes down to the saddle was no fun. On the way back I stayed on the ridge the whole time to avoid this.
Grays and Torreys...that sounds good, I'll have that
Evans and Bierstadt to the East...kinda love this shot
Heeeeyyyy
The ridge over to Grays was straight forward, but long. This shot is from the summit of Grays looking at Torreys and the clouds moving in.
3 for the price of 1. I set my turnaround time for 12pm because I had to get back to my dog in Keystone. But when I got to the saddle between G&T and it was 12:15pm...I couldn't resist. On top of Torreys it was 0 degrees and the winds were blowing 30-40 mph.
My route...red is up to edwards, orange is ridge to grays, yellow is ridge to torreys, green is route back to car.
You better get some sleep old man...you have a full day of drinking and beating the f*ck out of me tomorrow. And no, you can't frame this one.
For those of you that have no idea what I'm talking about...
Enough about goats. Let's talk about something else...Sheep! Did anyone else catch the episode of Cash Cab where the final video bonus question was something like "The descriptive name of this sheep comes from the large things coming out of it's head." And the guy said "Ram". He would have won $1200.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
I swear that last picture looks like some long-lost relatives of mine . Seriously, though, I‘m with kimo. Nice to see a unique route for popular peaks. And, I voted 5 stars just to ”get your goat” (since you didn‘t see any 8) ). Thanks for posting. Happy trails!
Mike, I don't have a clue what you're talking about, but you still made me laugh!
You can fill me in on what I'm missing out on next time we get out.
Nice write-up.
And oh yeah, I don‘t normally vote, but your plea (and the laughs)is enough for me to give it 5 stars!
Man, this is a 5 star report for the originality of route choice. This may be the only report on 14ers.com for Edwards+Grays+Torreys using the Goatfinger Couloir in January (or any month for that matter). Great to see a rare route posted for these well-traveled peaks. Cracked me up too.
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