I arose at 3:00 a.m. “Arose” is more appropriate than “awoke” because I barely slept at all that night. I never could seem to get my adrenaline, or general discomfort from sleeping on the ground, under control. We prepared in relative silence. To use a cliché, the excitement was palpable. At about 3:45 a.m., we hit the trail. Most of us wore headlamps to guide the way. I had borrowed enough from friends to outfit my whole family. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered after leaving the trail that my batteries were nearly dead – my lamp must have gotten switched on in my luggage. Wouldn’t you know, this was the one day that Mr. Radio Shack decided not to bother with the extra weight of two additional AAs? Fortunately, the lights of my crewmates were more than enough to watch my steps. The light was clearly not enough for our intrepid leader, who at one point quite obviously missed a footbridge and trudged right through a stream without breaking stride.

Rising above treeline, the stars were incredible. To the east, the lights of Longmont and Boulder could be seen in the distance. I could see a snaking, bobbing trail of lights making their way ahead and behind us. Dawn began just as we reached the Chasm Lake Junction. The sun crested the horizon bright red. Unfortunately, by this time, Mt. Lady Washington blocked my view of the alpenglow reflected off of Longs. I am sure that those awakening at the Boulder Field had quite a show.

(Place cursor over picture for caption. Click on picture to enlarge.)

From the Chasm Junction, the trail forks to the north for 1/2 mile to Granite Pass. At the Pass, the trail works west, through a series of switchbacks, to the Boulder Field. As we slowly climb in elevation, Longs Peak begins to rise past the shoulder of Mt. Lady Washington. Standing so close to the East Face, the size is staggering.

A well-developed trail reaches all the way into the Boulder Field to the backcountry camp. This camp serves as a base camp for many who seek to summit the peak. Frankly, for those taking the non-technical Keyhole Route, lugging packs all the way up to the Boulder Field seems counterproductive, and the camp doesn’t look very comfortable. There is little vegetation – just a lot of rocks and makeshift rock walls to shield tents from the wind. There is, however, a trickle of a stream that runs through the camp, giving those with filters one last opportunity to fill up.

The trail ends at the camp. From there, the path to the Keyhole, already visible in the distance, is marked by rock cairns. I found this 1/4-mile stretch, hopping from boulder to boulder, to be one of the most trying portions of the hike. The Keyhole never seems to get any closer until, suddenly, you look up and are right beneath it.

The Keyhole is a notch in the north ridge of Longs Peak shaped – sort of like a keyhole. The Keyhole offers an amazing view of the west side, and whatever approaching weather may be in store. It was 8:30 by the time we reached the Keyhole, and I was nervous that I would look through and see stormy clouds. Thankfully, all was clear. We rested and took some pictures, admiring the view down into Glacier Gorge, where we had hiked just a few days before.

My dad decided that he would go no further than the Keyhole. He told us good luck, not to do anything stupid, and reminded us about how angry Mom would be if we killed ourselves. From the Keyhole, the first leg of the ascent is called the Ledges – a series of rock ledges that, more often than not, seemed to decrease in elevation. The path was marked by large spray-painted bullseyes, which are fairly easy to follow.

I lost a little momentum when the Trough – the next leg – came into view. The Trough is very steep, 600-yards long, and filled with loose rock. As it turns out, the Trough was every bit as difficult as it appeared.

The Trough narrows as you ascend, and the top is blocked by a massive boulder called the chockstone. It requires a bit of a scramble, but is not too difficult for anyone in good enough shape to make it that far. The route up the right of the stone is a bit easier.

The next stage is the Narrows. This short passage is aptly named though, again, not as bad as it might seem. At its narrowest point, there is easily 2 - 3 feet of clearance and plenty of handholds. Of course, it isn’t the width of the passage that bothers people, but the sheer several-hundred-foot drop next to it! And, of course, there is the rock formation below unhelpfully called “The Hearse.”

The final leg is the Homestretch – a last, 200 vertical-foot push to the summit. I was surprised by how difficult this leg was. It is no steeper, and certainly much shorter, than the Trough, but the very smooth rock and shortage of handholds can be treacherous and slow-going.

I reached the summit with a great sense of satisfaction. It was 10:30 a.m. The top of Longs is very flat and very big. One large boulder sits near the East Face and marks the highest elevation, 14,256 feet. We shared the summit with about 50 other people. We stayed for about half-an-hour, eating lunch, signing the log, and taking some pictures. In retrospect, after all the effort, it doesn’t seem like we stayed long enough. Still, most of the experience of climbing Longs is in the ascent - the summit is just the final goal.

The descent was much quicker, but it seemed to take forever. It was also much tougher on the knees. Descending from the Keyhole to the Boulder Field was even more tedious than the ascent. We finally returned to Goblins Forest at about 2:00 p.m., struck camp, and returned to the trailhead by 4:00 p.m. Climbing Longs Peak was a fantastic experience. It was fun and very challenging. Tomorrow, we planned to take a break from the hiking and hit Trail Ridge Road.