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The ascent of Gray's Peak, Colorado

The sharp grating noise from the floor of my hire car brought to mind nightmarish words such as excesses and clauses and something about not driving on 4 wd roads. It's significance here was that the Steven's Gulch Road had won this particular battle and that I'd now need to turn around without going over the edge. I managed this with less difficulty than the initial panic might have suggested and soon found myself back at a parking area about half way up the track near to Josephine Mine.

Some guidebooks and websites say that you can drive this road in an ordinary vehicle and some say you can't. In the absence of a united front on either side I will say that if you value your car - don't try!

I'd left Interstate 70 at junction 221 for Bakerville back down in the valley and driven up the winding dirt track through the pines, passing a parking area before reaching a section that more resembled a dry river bed than a road - rocks, ruts, the lot! It was this short section that had defeated me and so I set out from the lower car park to walk to the Grays Peak trailhead.

I'd been going only 10 or 15 minutes when I heard a car coming up the track behind me so I instinctively stuck out a thumb in hope. The car turned out to be a jeep and I was soon chatting to 2 guys from one of the universities out east - Boston, I'm sure he'd said - as we drove up to the trailhead. I was pleased to see that even in a Jeep the driver took great care on the part that had caused me problems so at least I hadn't bottled it for no reason.

The trailhead is at a height of about 11200 feet, just on the tree-line, and the 3 of us set off together. The path was obvious and easy to follow, leading up a wide valley towards the snow covered Grays and Torreys Peaks at its head.

One of my companions was a sports instructor at the college, specialising in coaching ice hockey and it soon became apparent that they were somewhat fitter than I was so rather than hold them up, I suggested they carry on and we meet up at the top. They carried on up the trail and I followed at a slightly easier pace - after all, we were at over 11000 feet here!

One thing I'd noticed here more so than in the UK or the Alps, was that when walking alone, I'd often be asked if I wanted to join up with any hikers going the same way. I don't know if people were simply friendlier or whether it stemmed from a culture of walking in very remote areas where some of the wildlife may even occasionally

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