Longs Peak Trip Report 10/13/2007

Peak(s):	Longs Peak - 14,259 feet
Date Posted:	10/13/2007
Date Climbed:	09/02/2007
Author:	Hohnerm

Longs Peak
I made my third attempt for the Longs Peak summit on Sept 1, 2007. I started at the trail head at 11:30 PM. The temperature was 45 degrees and no wind and the sky was clear. I am a slow hiker so it took me a while to get to the boulder field but, then again, I stop a lot to look around and take pictures, but I got to the boulder field in time for the alpenglow on the Diamond and The Keyhole. I made it to the Boulder Field on my second attempt but had to turn around because of my knee. After resting and snacking, I slowly made my way up to the Keyhole where there was already a crowd. I reached the Keyhole and stood up to receive the obligatory blast of wind and the view of Glacier Gorge. Since there were about fifteen people there, I decided not to stick around and started onto the ledges right away. I had already been on this part of the rout on my first attempt, with my niece and her boyfriend, so rout finding wasn't hard. At that time we made it to the part that dips down and curves to the left. We didn't continue then because it was the first 14er for all of us and there was still snow in the Trough, which none of us had experience for, and Kevin was being affected by dehydration and altitude, so we turned around. Now I was there again and next was the trough but rout finding was not hard because, hey, it was Labor Day weekend and people were marking the trail for me. I made my way up the Trough as slowly as I made it through the Boulder Field. I made it past the choke stone with no problem and stood up at the top, just before starting on the Narrows, and just took in the views for about ten minutes. From my reading and peoples stories about Longs, I thought the Narrows would be the part I might have problems with mentally, but it was the opposite. The feeling I had along the Narrows, and up the Home-stretch, was better than any thrill ride I've ever been on. I followed a group of five people along the narrows. A man in about his med forties and four people in their late teens or early twenties. The man seemed to be quite experienced in climbing and he was showing/telling the others what to do. Since I had no experience, as this was my first 14er, I just did what he told the others in his group. Half way up the Homestretch, a man on the summit started yelling to hurry up because storm clouds were moving in. I just stared up at the guy thinking 'This is my third attempt and I am so close. Shut up you bastard and make the clouds go away while you're at it!" I was so close; I gave in to summit fever. Once I was on the top, I saw what the man was talking about as far as the storm clouds but the views made me forget about that right away. I puled out my camera and asked a man if he could take my summit photo for me and he did. Then, he asked me to do the same and I did. A group of Asians saw us doing this and asked if I could do the same for them and I was happy to. The group of five stood together and held up a flag with an emblem and Asian writing on it. I spent about ten minutes on the summit and decided it was time to leave because of the clouds. Half way down the Homestretch, a combination of snow and sleet started coming down lightly. Along the Narrows it began to get worse and worse. When I got to the choke-stone at the top of the Narrows I could not get any traction because it was so wet. The man who was leading the group I followed along the Narrows saw this and found a way to bypass my problem area. I followed. It was a lot more technical when dry, let alone wet, so I got a crash course in rock climbing. The guy before me had someone spot him and I did the same. I did half of the move just fine but the other half was a problem. I lowered my foot to the height it needed to be but could not find the rock I needed to step on and slipped. It was only about a two foot drop but enough to injure my ankle. Luckily, the man spotting me kept me from falling too fast and hard. I only ended up with some scrapes on my shin. By this time the visibility was cut drastically; I could barely make out the bottom of Glacier Gorge, Though I could not make out the lakes. The Narrows were slippery. The trail is quite different with running water on the rocks. The rocks I had perfect traction on before, now had puddles. I was wearing gloves, though cloth, which became soaked as I grabbed onto handholds filled with water. I had my rain jacket on but no rain pants. My pants were soaked not only from snow/sleet but sliding on my butt at times since my Merrels were having trouble gripping the wet rock. Three points of contact? I had four and my butt at times. To make things worse, when I jog, hike, snowboard, or just walk in the rain, my nose runs; and it would not stop dripping. My travel along the Narrows was slow and cautious. By the time I made it to the Keyhole the snow/sleet had turned to rain. The stone hut was pretty full but they made room for me. I huddled in there with my new friends for about twenty minutes. My gloves were soaked. I took them off and wrung the water out of them; as wet as they were I figured it didn't matter any more if I wore them and left them off. When the rain became a light drizzle I left the hut for the Boulder Field. I followed a couple, the man was leading and I was behind the wife. I was picking my way slowly; I slid down a boulder and put out one hand and was able to stop myself just before crashing in to the woman. She heard my expletives and turned around asking if I was ok. I replied " Yes, nice to meet you". She and her husband laughed. The drizzle was still coming down as we made our way over the boulders. My fingers were freezing; I thought about putting my gloves back on as I tucked my finger tips into the palms of my hands. I thought about putting my hands in my pockets but what would happen if I slipped again? I just kept moving with my fingers dipping into my palms, and my nose dripping. My line of sight was ended right at the outhouses and that is what I followed. By the time I got to the out-houses the drizzle had stopped and the sun was starting to show. By the time I got out of the Boulder Field it was warming up and I had to take off my rain jacket. After I passed Granit pass I had to take off my fleece jacket. The sun was out and I thought about putting on some sun block. From the Boulder Field to the trail head I only saw about four people; it was great. Good times; I'm thinking of doing Longs again next summer. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Longs Peak

I made my third attempt for the Longs Peak summit on Sept 1, 2007. I started at the trail head at 11:30 PM. The temperature was 45 degrees and no wind and the sky was clear. I am a slow hiker so it took me a while to get to the boulder field but, then again, I stop a lot to look around and take pictures, but I got to the boulder field in time for the alpenglow on the Diamond and The Keyhole. I made it to the Boulder Field on my second attempt but had to turn around because of my knee. After resting and snacking, I slowly made my way up to the Keyhole where there was already a crowd. I reached the Keyhole and stood up to receive the obligatory blast of wind and the view of Glacier Gorge. Since there were about fifteen people there, I decided not to stick around and started onto the ledges right away. I had already been on this part of the rout on my first attempt, with my niece and her boyfriend, so rout finding wasn't hard. At that time we made it to the part that dips down and curves to the left. We didn't continue then because it was the first 14er for all of us and there was still snow in the Trough, which none of us had experience for, and Kevin was being affected by dehydration and altitude, so we turned around. Now I was there again and next was the trough but rout finding was not hard because, hey, it was Labor Day weekend and people were marking the trail for me. I made my way up the Trough as slowly as I made it through the Boulder Field. I made it past the choke stone with no problem and stood up at the top, just before starting on the Narrows, and just took in the views for about ten minutes.

From my reading and peoples stories about Longs, I thought the Narrows would be the part I might have problems with mentally, but it was the opposite. The feeling I had along the Narrows, and up the Home-stretch, was better than any thrill ride I've ever been on. I followed a group of five people along the narrows. A man in about his med forties and four people in their late teens or early twenties. The man seemed to be quite experienced in climbing and he was showing/telling the others what to do. Since I had no experience, as this was my first 14er, I just did what he told the others in his group. Half way up the Homestretch, a man on the summit started yelling to hurry up because storm clouds were moving in. I just stared up at the guy thinking 'This is my third attempt and I am so close. Shut up you bastard and make the clouds go away while you're at it!" I was so close; I gave in to summit fever. Once I was on the top, I saw what the man was talking about as far as the storm clouds but the views made me forget about that right away. I puled out my camera and asked a man if he could take my summit photo for me and he did. Then, he asked me to do the same and I did. A group of Asians saw us doing this and asked if I could do the same for them and I was happy to. The group of five stood together and held up a flag with an emblem and Asian writing on it. I spent about ten minutes on the summit and decided it was time to leave because of the clouds.

Half way down the Homestretch, a combination of snow and sleet started coming down lightly. Along the Narrows it began to get worse and worse. When I got to the choke-stone at the top of the Narrows I could not get any traction because it was so wet. The man who was leading the group I followed along the Narrows saw this and found a way to bypass my problem area. I followed. It was a lot more technical when dry, let alone wet, so I got a crash course in rock climbing. The guy before me had someone spot him and I did the same. I did half of the move just fine but the other half was a problem. I lowered my foot to the height it needed to be but could not find the rock I needed to step on and slipped. It was only about a two foot drop but enough to injure my ankle. Luckily, the man spotting me kept me from falling too fast and hard. I only ended up with some scrapes on my shin. By this time the visibility was cut drastically; I could barely make out the bottom of Glacier Gorge, Though I could not make out the lakes.

The Narrows were slippery. The trail is quite different with running water on the rocks. The rocks I had perfect traction on before, now had puddles. I was wearing gloves, though cloth, which became soaked as I grabbed onto handholds filled with water. I had my rain jacket on but no rain pants. My pants were soaked not only from snow/sleet but sliding on my butt at times since my Merrels were having trouble gripping the wet rock. Three points of contact? I had four and my butt at times. To make things worse, when I jog, hike, snowboard, or just walk in the rain, my nose runs; and it would not stop dripping. My travel along the Narrows was slow and cautious. By the time I made it to the Keyhole the snow/sleet had turned to rain. The stone hut was pretty full but they made room for me. I huddled in there with my new friends for about twenty minutes. My gloves were soaked. I took them off and wrung the water out of them; as wet as they were I figured it didn't matter any more if I wore them and left them off.

When the rain became a light drizzle I left the hut for the Boulder Field. I followed a couple, the man was leading and I was behind the wife. I was picking my way slowly; I slid down a boulder and put out one hand and was able to stop myself just before crashing in to the woman. She heard my expletives and turned around asking if I was ok. I replied " Yes, nice to meet you". She and her husband laughed. The drizzle was still coming down as we made our way over the boulders. My fingers were freezing; I thought about putting my gloves back on as I tucked my finger tips into the palms of my hands. I thought about putting my hands in my pockets but what would happen if I slipped again? I just kept moving with my fingers dipping into my palms, and my nose dripping. My line of sight was ended right at the outhouses and that is what I followed. By the time I got to the out-houses the drizzle had stopped and the sun was starting to show. By the time I got out of the Boulder Field it was warming up and I had to take off my rain jacket. After I passed Granit pass I had to take off my fleece jacket. The sun was out and I thought about putting on some sun block. From the Boulder Field to the trail head I only saw about four people; it was great. Good times; I'm thinking of doing Longs again next summer.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Hohnerm

Uh, I'm drinking.
11/30/2010 5:20pm

Ok, I'm drinking. The part that starts off with ”The Narrows were slippery” is supposed to the the Ledges.

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