Grays Torreys and Chihuahua Lake

[wgerken]

Has anyone tried summiting from the southwest route, hitting Grays and Torreys and descending off trail to Chihuahua lake - descending from there on trail.

Seems that the gradient coming down Torreys heading west is the same as the north route. Heading down further to chihuahua lake seems to be less than the initial descent.

We are thinking of camping where Ruby gulch trailhead forks to chihuahua lake as a base camp to cut down on the hike a bit.

Good idea ? Bad idea?

[Trotter]

Has anyone tried summiting from the southwest route, hitting Grays and Torreys and descending off trail to Chihuahua lake - descending from there on trail.

Seems that the gradient coming down Torreys heading west is the same as the north route. Heading down further to chihuahua lake seems to be less than the initial descent.

We are thinking of camping where Ruby gulch trailhead forks to chihuahua lake as a base camp to cut down on the hike a bit.

Good idea ? Bad idea?

Shouldn't be an issue. People use that ridge of Torreys for the Grizzley Peak D to Torreys route. Check trip reports for both grizzley peak and torreys, should give you an idea of the ridgeline.

Just make sure you eyeball the ridgeline descent to the lake, on your way up Grays SW route, or when you setting up camp.

[scottaskinger]

I did this route several years ago as my 2nd/3rd 14er. Chihuahua Gulch TH up SW ridge route to Grays, over to Torrey's and down the Torrey's Chihuahua route (west ridge) into the gulch. You can easily go to the lake or down past it to TH via trails. It is very straightforward. This route is described in Roach's book.

I'm not sure about camping, don't remember...I did it as a day hike. A beautiful hike other than the last scree section to get to the top of Grays. Ugh. One of those hikes where you see no one the entire route to Grays and then get to the summit along with 50 people from the north slopes route.

Have fun.
Scott

[scottaskinger]

We are thinking of camping where Ruby gulch trailhead forks to chihuahua lake as a base camp to cut down on the hike a bit.

Good idea ? Bad idea?

I didn't really answer this question. If you're only trying to cut down on the hike, then bad idea. The extra pack weight, logistics and setting up camp won't save you any time. It is only a couple of miles of easy trail hiking in to where you are talking about setting up camp. You can travel lighter and faster with a daypack.

If you want to take your time, set up camp and soak it all in over a couple of days...that's a different story. I would say good idea then.

[scottaskinger]

Not sure when you were planning on going but just saw that there are camp closings on Montezuma Road. You can read more in this thread, http://www.14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=49943" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.