Long Long Way To Go

This is Part 4 of a vacation I have been taking with my family over the last two weeks. I’m home now and working on catching up on my blog. My brother and his family flew back to North Carolina on Thursday. My parents left this morning (Saturday) to drive to Buffalo to see GG. This post goes back to Monday, August the 4th. It involved the portion of this vacation I was looking forward to the most. I was also somewhat worried about it. My brother and I would attempt to climb Longs Peak on this day.

Longs Peak has an elevation of 14,259 feet. Park rangers confirmed the elevation. There were different sources that had it a few feet shorter. Longs Peak is the northern most 14er in Colorado. It can be see from Denver, and it dominates the surrounding mountains. It is the most popular 14er in Colorado. It is also an extremely tough mountain to climb. There is only one non-technical route up the mountain, and it is a Class 3 climb. Class 3 is the hardest climb one can do without ropes and other equipment. The route is called the Keyhole Route, and it is 15 or 16 miles depending upon the source.

Our day started by waking up around 1:00 A.M. We got on the trail at about 2:00 A.M. I got maybe 2.5 hours of sleep and my brother got maybe 3 hours. The thrill of the hike seemed to get us going. Fatigue from a lack of sleep didn’t seem to be a problem. We started out at an elevation of about 9,400 feet. I was in the lead with my headlamp, and my brother followed. We passed quite a few people early in the hike. We made good time getting to the Boulder Field. The Boulder Field is at 12,750 feet and is about 6 miles into the trip. From the Boulder Field we worked our way up to the Keyhole. The Keyhole is a break in the rock ridge that allows one to access Longs’ west side. It got light enough that I was able to turn off my headlamp during this portion of the hike. At the Keyhole we were able look down on Glacier Gorge. Jim and I hiked up Glacier Gorge two days earlier. It was a cool new perspective of the gorge.

Jim above Glacier Gorge shortly after going through the Keyhole

From the Keyhole, the route contours and scrambles over rocks around the mountain to a place called the Trough. The Trough is a steep climb from 13,300 feet to 13,850 feet over loose rocks and gravel. You have to be careful not send rocks down on somebody below you.

Me looking up at the Trough.

Me on top of Longs Peak

At the end of the Trough, we had to get around a rock called a chockstone. We had to pause to figure out how to get around it. Once around the chockstone, we were at a section called the Narrows. The Narrows contours around the south side of Longs Peak. While the route is narrow as in its namesake, it was a nice breather after the Trough. After getting by the Narrows, we started up the Homestretch. The Homestretch was steep! There are basically two parallel cracks in the rock slab that you use to pull yourself up the mountain. It was tough. The altitude didn’t help. Once we got to the top of the Homestretch, we were within 100 feet of the top. We made it to the top at about 8:00 A.M. It took 6 hours to get up. We were 3rd and 4th persons to reach the summit on August 4th. A whole bunch of other hikers reached the summit right after us. The top is a large rocky flat area. There is probably room for a couple of football fields up there.

Slim Jim on top of Longs Peak

Slim Jim & Mighty Mike on Longs Peak

Looking down on the Boulder Field and the Keyhole

The high altitude did not bother me as much as it did climbing 14ers last year. I was able to eat something on top without getting nauseous. After about 45 minutes on top, we decided it was time to go down. While the Homestretch was tough getting up, it was quite scary going down. I always find that it is tougher getting down something than going up. We made it though. There was a constant stream of people going up as were going down. I hope they got down before any weather hit Longs. I wouldn’t want to be on this mountain when it is wet.

I'm on the left. I'm going down the Homestretch while others are going up.

Jim looking down the Trough

That's me working my way through the Boulder Field with the Keyhole behind me.

We got back too my car at 1:35 P.M. It was a wonderful experience. It is the toughest mountain that I have ever climbed. I’m glad I did it.

Stay tuned for the 5th and final part of this vacation series...