Grizzly Peak and Cupid
Grizzly Peak and Cupid from nearby Mt Sniktau. From left to right: Mt Edwards, Mt Torreys, Grays Peak (tiny bulge to the right of Torreys), Grizzly Peak, Cupid (with the snow in the foreground)

For years I've come to Keystone in July for an important work related trip. Every year I drive up from Denver and take Loveland Pass over the divide. There's dozens of worthy mountains in the area. Grays Peak and Torreys Peak are the most prominent and well traveled. But there's plenty of lesser climbed 13ers too: this year I bagged Grizzly Peak and Cupid from Loveland Pass. Its a nice 1/2 day hike with great views and exposure. Here's my trip report and field notes

Grizzly Peak and Cupid Hike Overview

Loveland Pass, at 11,990 feet (3,655 m), is one of the highest paved passes in Colorado and the highest that stays open all year. Its crossed by US Route 6 and is frequented by daytrippers, peakbaggers and plenty of slow moving tankers who aren't permitted through the Eisenhower Tunnels. From the pass, several hiking routes depart including a varient of the Grays Peak/Torreys combo and shorter jaunts up either side of the Continental Divide.

Grizzly Peak (13,433 ft / 4,094 m) and Cupid (13,125 ft / 4,000 m) are two of the hundreds of Colorado 13ers with no special features other than classically beautiful Colorado views. I just got tired of driving by them and leaving them unclimbed.

Here's my route, note some GPS errors. My total distance was 5.6 miles with an almost astounding 2,500' of gain (give or take ~200'). Short n' steep.

Loveland Pass, Grizzly Peak Cupid Peak
From near Loveland Pass, looking at a deceptively straightforward traverse of Grizzly Peak and Cupid Peak

Trip Report

I managed to park at Loveland Pass without too much trouble. Remarkable considering I started at 2PM on a summer day. From there, I headed up the path of least resistance towards Loveland Pass Peak. After 1/2 mile and 500' of gain, I found an obvious heard path that heads towards Cupid Peak and cuts off about 400' of gain from the ridgeline.

The trail gains another 200-300' to the pass below Cupid. Pretty straightforward hiking for the most part. Cupid Peak was an easy bag: 1,100' of gain and about 1.5 miles from Loveland Pass

Cupid Peak Colorado
Cupid Peak's gentle summit

From here it was more of a scramble. It's only 1.3 miles between the two but there's a lot of up-and-down. Two cols and a minor sub-peak stand between Grizzly Peak and Cupid Peak with about 500' of loss and re-gain. The scrambling is never greater than class II but its hard with no aclimitization.

Several paths descend the step flanks of Cupid peak to the sub peak. I just picked the path of least resistance but there was some doubling back. Gaining the sub-peak then descending again was demoralizing but there was no way around it.

The final push up Grizzly Peak was slow but steady going. Marmots, pikas and a lone mountain goat offered me some company. After about 2 hours of hiking and scrambling, I was on the summit proper.

Grizzly Peak Colorado
Summit of Grizzly Peak, looking towards the taller and better known Grays Peak and Torreys Peak
Chihuahua Lake
Chihuahua Lake from the summit of Grizzly Peak

The views were extraordinary. Greys Peak and Torreys Peak looking far more imposing from Grizzly Peak. Though they're not the tallest of the Colorado 14ers, they're the highest summits on the entire Continental Divide. Other sights from the summit included Keystone and Dillon Reservoir, the Tenmile Range, the Mosquito Range and even Pikes Peak (70 miles south).

The return was the same; re-climbing Cupid Peak was arduous. But the descent back to Loveland Pass was lovely with the sunset. The whole affair took about 3 hours and 45 minutes and was well worth the effort.

Hiking Loveland Pass
Back to Loveland Pass!

It was a great hike. Later that week I did Mt Sniktau and I'll post a trip report soon.