Longs Peak

Description

Elevation: - 14,255'; approximately 13,400' maximum elevation
Location - Southwest of Estes Park in Colorado in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Trip Report(s)

Longs Peak is the northernmost 14er in Colorado, and has a dominant position on the skyline as seen from Denver, adding a nice terminus to the Indian Peaks. Almost immediately upon moving back to Colorado in 1991 I wanted to climb it. I tried twice in July, 1992. The first time was in early July with a coworker, Naren Tayal. Starting at the Longs Peak trailhead at 9,400', our plan was to take the standard Keyhole route. So we hiked to Mills Moraine and then wrapped north and west around the base of Mt. Lady Washington (13,281'). After six miles and crossing the Boulder Field, we made it to the Keyhole (13,120'), and passed through to the west side of Longs.

On the west side the trail is across a talus and boulder strewn slope. Nothing particularly dangerous, but there are a few places where scrambling moves must be made. Looking to our west we could see there were a few little clouds that had formed, but nothing serious. We then made it to the Trough, a large couloir running about 500' both above and below where the trail intersects it. In late summer this can be a talus walk, but when we got there in early July it was still full of snow. So much so we couldn't easily climb the rocks on the side past a certain point, and with no crampons nor ice axes, didn't feel like spending a lot of time on the snow itself, since there would have been no way to stop sliding if one of us had slipped, and the run out far below was onto some very unpleasant looking talus. About this time we also noticed the tiny, puffy little clouds to our west had coalesced into a nice big cumulonimbus cloud which was much closer. That was two votes against continuing, so we turned around, retraced our route, and returned to the car, the last part of the hike being in driving rain (so it had been a good idea to get off!) The round trip for the day was about 14+ miles and 4,000' elevation gain.

The second trip was a few weeks later, when I tried again around my birthday (July 15). This time I made it to the Boulder Field and then it got very cold and windy, and when it started to rain I decided once again to turn around. Being above timberline in a thunderstorm is not a good idea, unless the idea of becoming a lightning rod appeals to you. On the way down on Mills Moraine I met a ranger going up and we chatted for a bit. There was a clap of thunder off near the summit and he winced. Turns out he'd been hit by lightning twice. The second time he was alone above timberline and went blind for over 20 minutes! Fun! Personally, I would have thought after the first time it was time to ask for a job handing out brochures and maps at the gates to RMNP, but here he was, going up to check on people in the Boulder Field and beyond, exposing himself to the possibility of a third strike. Third time's the charm?

I've not tried the summit since, but have been up to Chasm Lake as a day hike, and climbed Mt. Lady Washington with John in the spring of 2003. My real goal now is to climb Mt. Meeker (13,911', and a worthy goal in itself) and attempt the summit of Longs from the south side via the Loft. Photos follow.

Photos

The first photos are from my first attempt in 1992. The last is a panorama taken by John when we climbed Mt. Lady Washington.

Very nice panorama John shot from the summit of Mt. Lady Washington. If you scroll from left to right, you will see in order:

• The plains

• Mt. Meeker

• The Loft

• Lamb's Slide

• Broadway

• The Notch

• The Diamond

• The Keyhole

• The Boulder Field

(Photo by John Stoddard)

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