Grays and Bierstadt for first timers
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mschultz1212000
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 4/25/2015
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Grays and Bierstadt for first timers
Hi, my fiance and I are planning on heading to Colorado for our honeymoon and are planning on climbing a few 14ers while we are out there. We are planning on doing Bierstadt and then Grays. We have three days planned to do both peaks and I am wondering if their is anything special we need to know before we start the hikes. For Grays we are planning on taking the east slopes route and Bierstadt the West Slopes. We will have plenty of food, water, clothes (layers) and have snowshoes, microspikes etc. My main worry is losing the trails and how well they are marked. We are planing on doing the mountains on the days of May 19,20,21. Any help or advice would be much appreciated. Thanks
Re: Grays and Bierstadt for first timers
You may already know this...but I'm pretty sure neither of those trail heads will be accessible by vehicle yet at that point, so just note the extra mileage of hiking up roads, esp. for Grays which will add like 5 or 6 miles RT. Other than that, the trails themselves should be un-losable. They are very popular trails through wide open spaces, literally no woods along either trail.
Re: Grays and Bierstadt for first timers
Another option would be Quandary. The TH is easily accessible and parking at the lower lot doesn't add much mileage if the upper lot is closed.
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tjmartn1
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- Joined: 4/22/2014
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Re: Grays and Bierstadt for first timers
I did Grays, Bierstadt, and Quandary in the spring for my first colorado 14ers. I found Quandary the most fun of all of them this time of year. especially considering the easier access to the trailhead. My least favorite was Grays, because avoiding the Kelso avalanche slopes meant thrashing through some shitty willows with deep postholing on the way down.
