Conquering Longs Peak

We did it!
We climbed Longs Peak this weekend, September 15-16th. Longs Peak is the most famous fourteener (mountain higher than 14000 feet, red.) in Colorado. A sheer 14259 ft high (4,3 km) and the highest mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park. It has been romantisized for centuries and cost many alpiners and mountainers their lives. This is a place where you need a sturdy foot and a clear head. Any time a storm can whip up within a few hours bringing strong winds, rain, snow, hail and not least lightning. As the pictures will reveal this is not a place to be caught in bad weather. Since I started reading about the fourteeners, I have dreamt of climbing Longs Peak. Special inspiration came from the letter collections written by Isabella L. Bird in 1873 and the very informative webpage www.14ers.com which has trail descriptions and mountain weather forcasts and loads of pictures. Climbing Longs Peak is so far my only defined "must do" during my stay here in Boulder, Co.
Preparing for the trip, I did my first 13er in July on Mount Audubon and after Morten arrived we climbed an easy 14er called Mount Bierstadt. This was a few weeks ago and since we didn't feel the altitude very strongly I was confident about trying my luck with Longs Peak. After reading multiple trail descriptions, Morten wasn't very convinced that this was a good idea. Up to the last day, I was not sure whether we would end up not going. On Wednesday we had pretty bad weather in Boulder and when I called the rangers backcountry office on Friday they said that it had snowed and that there was some snow and ice in a steep part of the route called The Trough but also that it was avoidable. How much was "some" snow? Was this now only a hike for people experienced with cramp ons and ice picks? This information did not pull our confidence in the right direction. Luckily, the forecast promissed us a clear sky and temperatures above freezing during daytime. We hoped that the snow would melt away and agreed to continue as long as we felt safe. And thankfully, the day of departure came with sunshine and good mood.
On Saturday we got our backcountry permit (permission to sleep in tent in designated areas of the park) and the ranger assured us that there was not too much snow up there. He had just been up the same week. He also showed us the route on a 3D model and said that it was more than 2 years ago any major incidents had occured. Longs Peak is a very visited mountain and on clear weekends 100s visit each day July-September "when the window is open" and there's not too much snow. We felt much better after talking to the ranger and went back to the car. We had double parked in this rather large parking lot and had to drive quite a while down the road to find a spot for parking. It seemed that most of Colorado's outdoor enthusiasts had chosen to climb Longs Peak this day...

The trip to the Boulder Field where the camping site is located is a 7 mile (10 km) hike. It is a nice long stretch of slow inclination and the Boulder Field is where the hike gets technical. With is location at 12750 ft (3,9 km) it is pretty high and many do not sleep well due to the thin air and sometimes strong winds. The first few miles were in pine forest and the intoxicating smell of butterscotch from the ponderosa pine with its orange stems followed us along the trail. As we went higher yellow aspens started to dot the pines with their beautiful fall colors. The trees got shorter and after a creek crossing a sign reminded us of the dangers of severe weather.

So many hazards... Courtesy of Morten

The next mile or so the forest was replaced with alpine tundra. Golden grasses, small bushes in red and yellow and large rocks decorated the scenery.

Alpine tundra and to the right a sneak peak of Longs Peak. Courtesy of Morten

Longs Peak became visible from the east side as we aproached the trail fork to Chasm lake which lies right beneath a vertical face of Longs Peak called The Diamond. Many climbers have tried to climb the diamond, some with luck. The first woman to succeed was a famous climber, Agnes Vaille. It took her 4 tries and in January 1925 she finally succeeded. The climb up took 25 hours and after that she was so exausted that she couldn't go on. Her partner, Kiener went for help, but she froze to death before he and a rescue party got back to her. Kiefner, lost toes, fingers and even a foot from frostbite. He eventually became an alpine botanic professor and continued to climb mountains. A cabin shelter has been put up by Vailles family at the keyhole so others might have a chance to survive the mountain.
We continued behind a mountain pile of loose rock and lost sight of Longs until we passed the peak and climbed a few switch backs before arriving at the Boulder Field where the view offered us mountain ranges to one site and the keyhole with the Agnes Vaille cabin just below it. We cooked our great freeze-dried food and went to bed when it got dark.

Cooking in our little stone lot. I am so happy I brought my "bearskin" hat. Note the bear canister, it's mostly protecting the food from pikas and marmots. We enjoyed the view of The Keyhole to the far right. Courtesy of Morten 

My light 2 kg tent had to endure a night of increasing wind and I was anxious to see how it would perform. The inner tent is almost only mosquito net... We were in bed at 9 pm and at 12 I still hadn't slept at all. I didn't feel sleepy at all and wondered if it was the excitement or the thin air. I think I slept a little the rest of the night and so did Morten. The wind picked up but the tent withheld. We got up a bit later than intended and set off at 7:15.

Morning glory

Morten at the top of the Boulder Field, just below The Keyhole


Me in the middle of The Keyhole. Courtesy of Morten.

The wind was firce in The Keyhole. We were almost scared to blow of the mountain. A hiker who was on his way back assured us that once we got off the opening there was alsmost no wind. We were very happy to hear that and continued 5 feet onto the other side of the mountain and hiked a shallow part called The Ledges.

View of The Ledges. We were happy that we brought plenty of warm clothes. Courtesy of Morten.

Here's a pic of Morten at The Narrows and one from a bit further on. Notice the carefull woman in a black jacket and her nochelant husband with his hands in his pocket. The difference between the first climb and "oh, I've done it before".



In case you don't know which way you are going, here's some guidance

And we made it to the top



Courtesy of Morten

Pika!

So cute and so fast!

Majestic towers

Do you see the trail?

After climbing Longs Peak we had a nice and fast lunch at the tent, pack our stuff and went on our way. What had taken us 7 hours up only took 3 hours down. I was in a good mood and feeling energized. The backpack didn't seem heavy at all. However, when we made it to the pine forest I was pretty tired and my knees too. Now Morten was the energized group leader and we didn't have too many breaks. When we got down I invited Morten for a victory dinner at a restaurant and inn that had grand views of Longs Peak.

Needless to say - today we are having a hard time making our legs transport us from A to B. Today it is snowing on Longs. It was an extraordinary experience and I am very happy we did it and that we had our luck with the Holm talent of planing trips in perfect weather.