Longs Peak! Colorado - 14,255'
Keyhole Route
14.6 Miles Round Trip
4980 feet of elevation gain
Date Climbed: September 1, 2019
Longs Peak!! - Sunday September 1st, 2019 set up as the perfect day to climb the iconic Colorado 14er Longs Peak, the highest
mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park!! Being so close to the Denver area, Longs is an extremely popular hike. There are
many routes up the mountain, and I set out solo to attempt the standard, Class 3, Keyhole Route. Estimates are that
about 10,000 people per year attempt Longs but that only somewhere around half will make the summit given the extremely
grueling and technical climb. Sadly, many people have died on this mountain. The route covers 14.5 miles round trip, 5000
feet of vertical gain, and 2 miles of technical climbing (up and back to the summit) to complete this bad boy. Assuming
you survive, this hike will kick your butt! It took me 15 hours car to car.
Normally you want to start hiking by 2AM or so for an attempt on Longs so you can summit and be back below tree line
before afternoon thunderstorms might hit. But knowing I had a bluebird day, and having already been in Colorado
climbing for a month, I started at 4:30AM. Of course just as I got started (keeping in mind it is still dark!) I
got lost on a side trail near the trail head. Fate would have it that a couple of other guys who I ran into were
beginning their ascent and were also lost. Happy that I had downloaded the route onto my GPS from 14ers. com, I
was able get us straightened out. The two climbers, Christian and Eric would end up hiking with me all the
way and we would end up being pals afterwards!! That's one of the coolest things about hiking is that you always
meet great people!! Christian is an Army vet who served in Afghanistan.. and it was an honor to meet him and climb
with these guys. They were both strong hikers and it was Christian's first 14er! Normally Longs is not a peak you
would recommend for a first 14er, but Christian is a bad ass... this was cake for him. The three of us made a great team!
To even have a shot at Longs via The Keyhole route, you first have to go up about 6 miles of trail, 4000' feet of
gain, and across a huge boulder field. This just gets you to The Keyhole itself, a giant fracture in the ridge
which, named appropriately so, looks like a huge keyhole!! After passing through the keyhole, this is where the
technical portion (and the REAL FUN) of the hike begins!! There are 4 sections past the Keyhole; The Ledges, The
Trough, The Narrows, and The Homestretch. All are different and all are challenging.
The Ledges is this creepy set of angled rocks that traverses the western side of the mountain. The light is flat
and there is a lot of elusive exposure. Quite intimidating, the section is up and down with very careful yet very
fun rock scrambling. A slip or slide would be painful if not fatal in many spots. It is quite a ways, maybe close
to 3/8 of a mile, across to reach the base of The Trough.
The Trough is 600' vertical gain, loose gulley from hell. It just goes up and up and up and is painful every
step of the way. You've already dealt with the exposure of The Ledges, and The Trough keeps taking it out of
you. There are lots of places in the Trough were a fall might not kill you, but it would hurt real bad! And
you’re slipping and sliding all over the place to make it more interesting (and grueling). There is a huge
chockstone at the top of The Trough which is rather difficult to get over. At the chockstone, I skirted up an
angled rock band to the right that had less than ideal hand / foot holds.
At the top of the Trough, the trail turns a hard corner to the southern side of the mountain and the beginning
of The Narrows. The sharp turn takes your breath away as the floor literally drops away into nothingness!! (See
the video posted in this album) … This exposed ledge is one of the coolest mountain features I've ever experienced. In
many places we're talking about 2-3 feet of rock that you walk along with a huge drop off to the right hand
side (while ascending). The cool part is there is always a great place to hold on to a wall or a rock. So, while
the adrenaline is pumping the whole way across, if you take your time (and make sure your shoes are tied well with
no loose laces!), you can make it across and it actually helps you build confidence. I would definitely recommend
having done at least a bit of other exposed hiking before attempting this. The section is much shorter than the
Ledges (maybe 1/8 of a mile). At the end, there is another chockstone, and then you arrive at The Homestretch.
Check out this video of The Narrows!! NOTE!! ... THIS IS NOT MY VIDEO and we ARE NOT IN THIS VIDEO!!! This was
taken from a YouTube video put up by Eric Scharf. I have reposted it here because we did not have video and this
shows you what The Narrows is like!! It is a long video to watch, but if you really want to feel The Narrows, kick
back and take a ride!!
The Homestretch is this steep, angled, rock slab that goes all the way to the summit! While it looks bad, there
are lot of cracks to give you great hand and foot holds. It's actually really fun climbing / scrambling, plus you
know you are almost at the summit!! A few more moves and you arrive!!
A video of the the beginning of The Homestretch:
The summit of Longs is very different than most peaks as it is long and wide and flat!! It's basically the size
of a football field! Under normal circumstances, I might have gone to explore the summit more, but I was already
tired and knew I had to downclimb the technical sections and then walk the long trail out!! We stayed a good 45
minutes on the summit taking pictures, having some snacks and celebrating. It was a perfect, warm day with very
little wind and barely a cloud in the sky... a rare day on Longs and a blessing as it let us take our time.
A video of the summit of Longs Peak:
I was also blessed to have have met Christian and Eric. My friend Bob and I had failed on Longs in 2016, and as
bad as I wanted to make it, I had doubts in my mind. Christian and Eric were true brothers, and we supported each
other as we ran into difficulties. Eventually we gave each other so much confidence we knew we were going to
make it!! Longs is an unbelievable day, but it is really tough, even if you are in shape. Unless you're a
super-experienced mountain climber, it definitely helps to have someone with you to help you evaluate route
challenges, and just to give you the "we got this" confidence.
The descent across the 4 technical sections takes pretty much as long as the ascent. You just have to watch
every step!! Getting back to the Keyhole is such a relief mentally. You still have a major haul out of 6+ miles
but you know that the part where you will die is in the rear view mirror!!! As painful as it was to do the
death march out, I had a smile on my face the whole way because I SUMMITED LONGS PEAK!! What an accomplishment!! This
mountain is beautiful, but is no joke!!
Hope this has been enjoyable and / or helpful to anyone reading it!!
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