Last week while visiting Rocky Mountain National Park I had the chance to climb Longs Peak. It was the best and most challenging hike I have ever completed. Here is a photo chronical.
The Day before:
Here is a view of Long's Peak from Moraine Park. I took this photo the day before my hike. Longs Peak is the highest peak inside RMNP. It's the furthest peak to the left in this photo.
Here's another Long's Peak veiw taken the at sunset the day before my climb. This shot was taken from Trail Ridge Road.
Above the tree line before sunrise:
In order to beat the afternoon storms that form almost everyday in RMNP it is necessary to begin hiking well before sunrise. I started at 4:00 am. The first two hours of the hike were completed in darkness. I hiked through pine forest and could hear a river pouring down the mountain side but couldn't see it because it was still dark. By the time the sun was high enough for a photo I was already well above the tree line. Here is the first photo I took of the hike. This is looking backwards down the trail. The trailhead was in the first valley you see in this pic.
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Across the tundra:
The next two hours were spent hiking across miles of alpine tundra. There where numerous streams and and pools from melting glaciers. This photo shows a view of the summit across the tundra.
The Boulders begin:
The last three miles of the climb are not really hiking at all but rather scrambling over boulders. Here is the begining of the boulder field. If you look to the right you can see the keyhole.
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The Keyhole:
The keyhole route is the only nontechnical way to the top of longs peak. The keyhole is two miles below the summit. There is a shelter and two camping sites nearby. The keyhole is the turn around point for the feint of heart. Beyond the keyhole it's nothing but hand over hand climbing and thousound foot drop offs.
The trough:
Beyond the keyhole the trail follows a cliff edge for a ways and then the hardest climb of the hike begins. This is a view from the top of the trough. The trough is about a mile long and feels like it's straight up. This part of the hike is at about 13,500 feet. The air is really thin for an east coaster like me. This is a view from the top of the through looking back down. The orange spots you see on some of the rocks are trail markers.
The final ascent:
After the trough there is only one more major uphill effort. This spot was difficult because melting snow made the rocks slick. Also, it's now around 14,000 feet and every few yards I had to stop to let my heart rate slow. I put a hiker in this picture to give it a sense of scale.
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Made It!
Here's me, completely exhausted and delirious with altitude, standing at the top.
IMAGE: http://www.pbase.com/rbndave/image/46495476.jpg
The proof, 14,255 feet!
IMAGE: http://www.pbase.com/rbndave/image/46495502.jpg
The trip down was an adventure too. I got stranded in the keyhole shelter for an hour while a storm passed. I didn't make it back to my car until 5:30 pm. If you are in RMNP and like adventure I highly recomend this hike. It's difficult, but possible.
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