Joshua Harrington

This is one of my weekday-overnight goto places! There's a gate on the road up to the lake that opens July 15th each year and I believe it closes September 30th (not 100% certain). When the gate is closed you will have to hike up to the camping area (LOTS of dispersed sites), which is about a 15min hike. Past these amazing campsites you'll continue to the lake for another 10 minutes or so.

Camped at the trailhead and then hiked Crystal Peak the next day. Check out my adventure detailing what that was like: https://theoutbound.com/colorado/hiking/hike-to-crystal-peak

This hike was so fun for my friend an I. I believe it took us around 13 hours (she was really slow :-| ) but damn it was still so good. The views to the west from Green Mountain, Bear Peak, and S. Boulder Peak were amazing. The Flatirons are literally like the door to an unbelievable landscape behind them. Take plenty of water and snacks and possibly trekking poles.

I remember once I reached the pass and looked over I thought to myself, "My god there must be 20 years worth of adventures just in this area". It's truly an incredible viewpoint. The hike is easy and pretty short, but still pace yourself especially if it's your first 14er. The false summit indeed is some trickery!

Man... this is such a great route. I can't speak highly enough of it. Be sure to take some gloves as you'll be using your hands a lot. The "knife edge" section is about 8-10' foot of easy but really scary moves-about 80' down on one side and 1,200' down on the other. It's heady! Once you summit Torreys you may as well head over to Grays before heading back down.