Solstice '06 on Torreys

TNAB doesn't happen very often in Denver, but the Solstice must be celbrated properly - as high as possible, with some hot chocolate, heavily spiked. Grays & Torreys are the closest 14'ers to Denver, and not bad for an evening hike. Oddly enough, after a couple weeks of just absurdly hot weather, the temperatures had dropped considerably with the official arrival of summer. And it was pretty cloudy in Denver, causing a couple Denver types to wuss on account of the "weather" (Denver people are worse than Californians when it comes to cloudophobia). But passing Georgetown, it cleared, and we had a fantastic evening. We met one skier coming out as we hiked in. He'd put some very nice tracks on Dead Dog Coulier. Other than that, we had the place to ourselves.

Still overcast in Denver - got some serious ha-ha rights from this hike.

The mountain is closed????!

Didn't get very close to the sheep this trip, unlike last year Maybe Magnus (Leah's dog) scared them off, although we never even got close.

Finally, hitting the summit of Torrey's, a nice evening shot of Gray's, and, time to celebrate! Steve and Mike had just come back from Poland with an extra treat - Bison Grass Vodka! Mighty fine stuff, if you ever see it, buy some. Although you'll most likely have to go to Poland for the chance. Na zdrowie!

The Vodka was especially useful in trying to stay warm - my little thermometer was reading just barely above freezing, and it felt like it. Fingers were going numb fast as we tried to head down, coping with the brisk air, and, more to the point, the effects of very good vodka... at 14,260 ft

Happy Solstice! - Matt K, Gretchen K, Leah S, Mark D, Mike S, and Steve J

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