Mount Kelso, Colorado
September 3, 2001
13,164 feet
Route from Grays to Kelso to the trailhead
Kelso from Torreys summit
Kelso fromGrays summit
Kelso from
Grays Peak Trail
"Kelso Ridge" from the side of Kelso
Kelso summit
Rich on the summit of Kelso. Grays and Torreys in the background
The first bit was tough. I went straight up the side of Kelso's southeastern side from the Steven's Gulch stream to the ridge. It was very steep, and the footing wasn't the greatest. A few steps, rest, a few steps, rest. Once I got to the ridge, it wasn't too bad. The ridge from the infamous "Kelso Ridge" on Torreys to the summit of Kelso is a nice, gentle ridge with a bunch of little false summits which I skirted to the east. I signed the register on the summit, which I hadn't bothered to do on Grays and Torreys. According to the register, I was the only one who had climbed that day. Only one person had climbed the day before. Especially compared to the mass of humanity on Grays and Torreys, it was nice and quiet on Kelso. Nobody to bother me, not even the famous mountain goats. After taking pictures, I headed east down the side of Kelso to catch the main trail. There was a lot of loose ground on the way, tough on the knees, and I ended up landing on my backside several times. At least I didn't do a head-first face-plant. Once I got to the trail, I headed back to the trailhead, caught up with Dennis, and caught a ride in the back of somebody's pickup truck for the mile and a half back to our rental car. Total time for Torreys, Grays, and Kelso was almost 9 hours - a bit slow, but not too bad for a flatlander.
