Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

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jibler
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Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

Post by jibler »

Hey 14ers!

I have won the lottery for permit for RMNP this summer

hopefully it is finally time to get up longs - the way I always wanted to - via an overnight camping trip!

but I am clueless about what is best spots.

Goblin Forest?

Boulderfield? I seem to recall this 2nd one being talked about a lot.

as long as I'm getting a good crack at longs I hardly care.

but help me out - what is the coolest one?

THanks
Keep looking up - Jack Horkheimer
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Re: Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

Post by cottonmountaineering »

boulder field is the most popular spot, i think the last time i read about it was that its kind of a crap shoot camping there as its too windy to sleep. goblin forest is only like a mile in, so not really much of a point
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Re: Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

Post by jibler »

I guess I'm leaning to this battle mountain one?

goblin too close to the trailhead and boulderfield seems like you'd be exposed as hell all night.
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Re: Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

Post by TheRealRooster »

jibler wrote: Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:15 am I guess I'm leaning to this battle mountain one?

goblin too close to the trailhead and boulderfield seems like you'd be exposed as hell all night.
I did Meeker via Dreamweaver from Goblin Forest a few years back. Unless you just feel like camping beforehand, not really worth it for the head start on the trail in my opinion. But it was a perfectly nice place to camp! We were pretty much full on snow camping in early June, FYI.
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Re: Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

Post by jibler »

although now I read fine print that battle mountain only good for large groups?


I guess in that case I'd just as soon go for boulderfield?

seems dumb to go up 2 miles to goblin forest and then have a ton of hiking to do the next day?


i thought coming up from the NW was an option? but I don't see that on 14ers routes for longs.

boulder brook? is that a thing?

EDIT

I guess now I'm focusing in on early September at Boulder Field? Seemingly that is a good time of year weather-wise to to be exposed up there all night?
Last edited by jibler on Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

Post by Aphelion »

I'll be the contrarian and vote for Goblin Forest, solely because you're doing it in the summer (I'd say boulderfield in the winter). GF is a bit off the trail and gives your campsite a little privacy from the hordes, whereas BF is just out there without a scrap of cover. If you don't care about privacy, then boulderfield is much better from a "summit day" perspective.
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Re: Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

Post by justiner »

May get a bit chilly in Sept. at the Boulderfield.

If you're really interested in something different, consider hiking into Sandbeach Lake starting at Wild Basin, which is a legit backpack in, and taking Keplingers Couloir up Longs. From Sandbeach Lake, it's mostly off trail, and you're not going to see many people along that way, until you get to Homestretch. In summer, it's not the funnest of routes - kinda loose, morraine-type stuff, but it will give you a little more of a lonely feel. Dragons Egg up Meeker is also an option - and probably a better one, quality-wise, but you will have to traverse to Longs. Could make it a loop down Kep, if you don't mind a slog down.

Could be some fishing at Sandbeach, too.
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Re: Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

Post by peter303 »

Boulderfield hands down. Goblin is only about 10% up. Boulderfield is 2/3 the way up in distance and altitude, but only halfway in terms of effort. Its class 1 trail to the Boulderfield, and class 2/3 afterwards. Class 3 means there are several spots where you must use your arm strength to pivot between ledges or climb troughs. Camping at the Boulderfield means you can start the summit attempt at dawn rather than 2AM from the parking lot or Goblin.

Goblin is in the woods, next to a stream. Boulderfield has no trees and exposed to thunderstorms. It usually has some stream water or the trailhead signs will tell you it doesnt. Both are near the main trail where there are over a thousand hikers on a weekend day, day. There is constant traffic all hours of the day and night from mid July to mid September. Boulderfield has an outhouse.
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Re: Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

Post by jibler »

Thanks for the tips everyone

I guess I am locked in on hopefully Goblin Forest and fallback to Boulderfield - mid september


that is that nice time of year for less afternoon storms so hopefully this pans out.


and really - settling on goblin isn't that bad as one reason I never did longs before is I wanted to not have to wake up at 4am after 'trying' to sleep in my car at the trailhead or whatever.

so just getting a toe hold on the mtn is a good start!
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Re: Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

Post by jrs1965 »

When doing Kiener's last August I spent the night in the bivy cave above Chasm Lake...
Chasm Lake Bivy.jpg
Chasm Lake Bivy.jpg (162.66 KiB) Viewed 2017 times
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Re: Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

Post by justiner »

Usually there's a trickle underneath the talus near the Boulderfield, and the Dove holds snow for a while. Water flowing from the creek next to the Jim Grove turnoff is usually running year round.
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Re: Need help selecting backcountry camp site for Longs Attempt!

Post by markf »

Where are you coming from, and what time do you expect to arrive? If you're not acclimated, you're quite possibly not going to sleep especially well at 12,000 feet in the Boulderfield. Add in the cold and wind at higher elevation and a night at the Boulderfield is not going to be as comfortable as a night lower down in GF. Then factor in the need to haul your overnight gear up there and back down. Goblin Forest is a very pleasant, secluded location with a good water supply nearby. Having slept in both locations, I would take Goblin Forest, but that's just me.
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