The view of Long’s
Peak from Colorado’s Front Range cities can be described in one word:
majestic. The view stretching from
Boulder to Fort Collins, Longs Peak stands towering above surrounding
peaks. Fortunately for me, the very best
view of the mountain is from my back porch.
I have always looked at that magnificent pile of rock and wondered what
it must be like to stand on the summit and look back towards my house. However, the trek to Long’s Peak summit is no
small feat and should not be taken lightly.
Many people who have gone unprepared have been injured and even killed
by the brutality of the mountain. It is
a physically exhausting climb that depletes all of your energy reserves. The challenge of the 15.5 mile trail and 2
mile elevation gain only adds to the distinguishing accomplishment of standing
on the summit. My first step onto the
summit was the first step into an elite group of mountain men and women.
The beginning of
my journey started at midnight when my phone burst into song blaring “Highway
to the Danger Zone” telling me to get up.
It is crucial to leave the trailhead before 2 a.m. to avoid dangerous
afternoon thunderstorms so we had to leave my house at 12:30. I thought I should be so groggy from only two
and a half hours of sleep, but I had an incredible adrenaline rush that left my
whole body tingling. We piled in my
friend’s car and headed towards the trailhead.
The parking lot of was deserted not only of people, of lights as
well. It seemed queer to me however that
the parking lot was overflowing with cars and some were parked down the road. After we parked, I threw on my light backpack
filled with water, food, jacket and rain gear then we headed down the
trail.
The first part of
the trail is by far the longest stretch in terms of distance, but it seems to
go by fairly quickly. The trail weaves
through the trees for the first two to three miles. Streams cascading down miniature water falls
were meshed with the sounds of the wind rustling the trees. The sounds were hard to distinguish but the
harmony of the noise was soothing and enveloping. The excitement was still building in me as we
reached tree line (about 10000 ft. elevation) and I was hard pressed to move
faster. Even though I could feel the first burn in my legs as the trail become
rockier and more difficult to traverse, I still picked up my pace. Unconcealed by shaggy trees, the full moon was
so brilliant that I turned off my headlight to walk by the light of the silvery
moon. We stopped for a short break just
above tree line and I remember squinting to see the individual craters on the
surface of the moon. It looked as if
Bruce Almighty lassoed the moon again and pulled it in.
A sigh of relief
rolled over me as we approached the first Y in the trail. Chasm Lake and the Diamond face trail veered
off to the left. A sign to the right
read: “Long’s Peak Summit: 5.2 mi”. I
had to sit down after reading that. My
phone read 3:02 a.m. and we had come about three miles which is making pretty
good time. We were passing people coming
up the trail, I didn’t see any lights in front of us which was a good
thing. I slung my pack onto a rock and the
early morning breeze made me shiver as it reached the sweat on my back. At 11000 ft. there is no air to hold the heat
from the previous day so the temperature can have a range of thirty to forty
degrees in a twelve hour period. With
wind chill the temperature, even in August, can feel like sub forty degrees
before the sun comes up. Fortunately for
us, the wind was calm and the temperature was in the mid-50s which is
comfortable for me.
It was time to
press on after a ten minute break because wanted to summit before eight that
morning. The trail ahead beheld the trek
around Battle Mountain. It got its name
directly from hikers “battling” the wind, rain, snow, and lightning. It was not very much of a threat to us
because there are very rarely storms or wind at three in the morning. As I came around Battle Mountain and started
to climb, I saw the lights from all the Front Range cities from Thornton to
Loveland. The light from the moon was
not enough to illuminate the ground around the city which made the lights of
the city look like fireflies caught in a still, black sea. This view gave me a rush of wonder, wonder of
what the view must be from the top if even here, half way up the mountain, it
was spectacular. Immediately I no longer
felt the burning in my thighs and calves.
I knew that whatever pain I had then or in the miles between the summit
and me would make it all that much more worth the climb.
The trail went all
the way around Battle Mountain and up a trough on the backside. On top of the trough was the Boulderfield
Campground. This is the transition point
in the trek. This is where it changes
from a hike to a treacherous climb. The
light from the sun was just beginning to paint the sky a plum purple and I
could see the Boulderfield. The
Boulderfield is exactly what it sounds like, a giant uphill field of
boulders. Up until this point we had been
on a path carved out of rock, dirt, and vegetation but the Boulderfield has no
trail, no direct way, and no dirt or vegetation. Scrabbling up some the precarious rocks, that
I can only imagine weigh in excess of a million tons, can be a heart
racer. I am sure there is nothing to
worry about.
At the top of the
Boulderfield is the famous Keyhole. The
Keyhole follows the naming process of all landmarks on the accent of Long’s
Peak and looks like a big keyhole in the side of the mountain. The Keyhole is the second and final landmark
in the climb and beyond it lies the most difficult part. Near the top of the Keyhole is a stone hut
that was built by an Army Ranger Company almost fifty years ago. The hut is about twelve feet high and has a
pane glass window. I have no idea how
they got a single piece of pane glass up six miles but it is a pretty
spectacular and yet queer sight to see.
The trail passes right through the Keyhole and on the other side is a
near sheer drop off to a small crystal blue lake. Sitting on the Keyhole is quite an
accomplishment as there are many people who cannot even make it that far. I sit and enjoy the sunrise as well as strike
up friendly conversations with my fellow hikers. After a while, my friends and I, along with
this new group of friends made just moments ago, decided we were all going to
take off for the summit together.
We crossed over
the Keyhole and entered into the darker, more deadly side of the climb. The Keyhole sits at 13200 ft. and the summit
is at a lofty 14255 ft. There is only a
mile left until the top. This is the
most dangerous part of the whole climb.
For the whole rest of the trek, if I wasn’t walking along near vertical
faces, I was scaling them. The hardest
section, in terms of physical effort, is known as the Trough which is just
beyond the Keyhole. The Trough is a
slight valley between two false summits (a high point that looks like a summit
but is not). Climbing the Trough is taking
three steps, stop, and repeat, it is incredibly exhausting. My thighs were burning so much that I thought
if I raise my leg above my waist, I might tear my muscle clean off. The top of the Trough is the Narrows,
followed by the Home Stretch. The Narrows
is a short section treading carefully on a cut in the rock along a 500 ft.
cliff. The Home Stretch is the final
stretch before the summit. At this point
it does not matter if my legs will hold me or not, I was determined to make
that summit.
Cresting the
summit of the near insurmountable mountain is the conquering step on this great
journey. It immediately leveled off as
if I had stepped out of this world and entered a whole new realm. I took a screenshot of my phone when I hit
the summit, it read 7:42 a.m. 7.5 miles
of hiking and 2 miles of elevation gain in just under 7 hours. I pushed through my exhaustion and took in
the beautiful scenery around me. The
summit was about half a mile square of level rocks and the far eastern edge was
the top of the treacherous Diamond Face.
The Diamond face is a solid slab of granite towering nearly 1000 ft.
above Chasm Lake below. Rocky Mountains
behind me and the great Colorado Plains in front of me was a truly
indescribable moment. The sun was poking
through the sparse clouds in the sky and individual rays of sun were visible. As I stood on the edge of the granite face, I
attempted to take in the majesty of this sight.
My legs were growing weaker by the second but that only added to the
delight and satisfaction that I am now in an elite group of rugged mountain
people who have climbed Longs Peak. The
hardest part was turning around and knowing the trip was only half over. It was a 2 mile decent and a long 7.5 miles
of walking to the car. It was the decent
out of the heavens.
by Cole Moffitt
by Cole Moffitt
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