A Mountain Adventure: Hiking Longs Peak

It was 1:45am and I was awake.  It’s not that I couldn’t sleep, I was waking up to climb a mountain.  Longs Peak is something of a legendary Colorado climb / hike.  It’s around 15 miles round trip ending at a summit over 14,000 feet high.  Apparently, an average of 2 people die per year trying to climb Longs and someone from my town had just perished on Longs in the last month.  This was enough to give me a bit of pause.  I would guess many of these are due to unforeseen weather changes or just poor preparation.  I printed a map, read the NPS guide and looked over the FAQs to prepare.

As I pulled into the parking area at 3:30am a dude in shorts asked us if we knew where he could fill up his 2 water bottles. He had planned to stop at a gas station but they were all closed….um at 3:30 in the morning. It is true that super fitness champs in shorts have speed run this route in a few hours on a couple of liters of water. However, I brought 5 liters and the climb typically takes 10-15 hours. Here was our collective packing list:

What To Pack for Hiking Longs Peak:

• 4-5 liters of water (I prefer to have plenty & the route can be dry)
• High energy food, around 3000 calories
• Extra water bottle and food in the car for recovery
• Rain and warm weather gear in layers
• Winter hat and gloves
• Sunglasses & hat with brim
• Sunscreen
• Grippy hiking boots
• Extra pair dry socks
• Headlamp
• Topo map / compass
• Knife (always on hikes and camping)
• A first aid kit (with ibuprofen)

Hiking Longs Peak: The Start

We set out in the darkness from the parking area up the trail. I was a bit nervous wondering how many layers I should be wearing? Is my pace right? After walking for the first couple of hours, we got up above the tree line and out of the forest. We could see a few head lamps from other hikers who had begun earlier. They dotted the peak like bright stars in the distance. The sun started to rise over the mountains around us and I got pretty excited to be here.

We almost took a wrong turn toward Chasm Lake when the trail split but we caught ourselves. We kind of chuckled about the prospect of ending up in the wrong spot after all of our planning and hours of hiking in the dark.

Hiking Longs Peak: The Boulder Field

The boulder field is where our hike turned into something of a climb.  The trail gives way to scrambling over huge rocks toward the keyhole along the ridge.  This is where the trickiest part of the climb began:

Passing through the keyhole, we could see off both sides of the ridge to the mountain tops surrounding us.  The wind whipped through the narrow passage and we started along the section of the Keyhole Route called “The Ledges.”  

Hiking Longs Peak: The Ledges

For me, this was the scariest section because I had to adjust to the idea of there being an ever present fatal fall on my right if I did slip somehow.  However, the risk felt very minimal as long as I was careful with each step and kept 3 points of contact on the rock.  A few sections of particularly smooth and steep rock had me thinking that those afraid of heights may not want to attempt this. 

Little red and yellow bullseyes were painted on the rock to mark the route. This was super helpful as it would be easy to lose it otherwise.  

Hiking Longs Peak: The Trough

As we made our way up a section called “The Trough,” we encountered a woman with 2 other climbers who had turned around. She said that she had a nervous breakdown of sorts and could not make the summit. She felt bad but was comforted by her other climbing mates who smiled and said, “we only summit if we summit together.” We replied something about how the mountain will still be there for next time and continued on our way. I read somewhere that a good percentage of the people who attempt Longs don’t make it. This steep section definitely had me wheezing a bit and needing to go slow to get enough air.

Hiking Longs Peak: The Narrows and Homestretch

We made our way across a sheer face on the ledge called the Narrows.  Parts of this section had long cracks that were slower to get through but gave a measure of safety from the long fall on the right.

One of my two climbing mates started to feel a bit nauseous from altitude as we approached “The Homestretch” to the summit.  We stopped for a short break and I ate the most delicious PB&J of my life.

The “Homestretch” was steep but by this point I was feeling pretty comfortable with the process and the summit was waiting.

Hiking Longs Peak: The Summit

It had been a long road to get here.  Two weeks prior we had planned this hike but weather rolled in and we had to cancel.  One of my planned climbing mates had possible stress fractures and had to bow out.  Another hit a critical time at work and had to make lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches so couldn’t make it.  One of those 4 was with me at the summit now.  Two years prior we both would have been working on a Thursday rather than on this mountain.

However today we had both claimed financial independence and are currently spending some time not working traditional jobs.  We had been hiking, biking, and skiing together.  Now we had climbed Longs Peak and I likely would not have made it happen this season without him jumping on board.  Being part of a community and sharing experiences with others is a big part of why I started this website in the first place.  In a way, this added another dimension to the adventure for me and it was great to share this experience with my friend.

The summit of Longs is not some dramatic spire but rather a mesa top about the size of a football field.  After all, that boulder field back at the base had to roll down from somewhere.  The views from the top are endless:

Hiking Longs Peak: The Celebration

“Why is the second half of this hike so much easier than the first?”  Whenever I climb something, I make the same lame dad jokes on the way down.  I only met my second climbing mate the morning of the hike. He was in shape and ready.  He had also recently moved to Colorado from flat land and the altitude was really rocking him.  We made a few stops to be rested along the upper climbing sections.  I know how hard it is to climb and hike when all you feel like doing is lying down or throwing up a bunch of trail mix and energy bars.  However, he downplayed the challenge and made it down like a champ.

We celebrated our 12.5 hour adventure with some outdoor beers and burgers before sleeping 11 hours the next night. I am grateful to fit this in before the fall snow came. It’s amazing how many days are hard to recall but some you’ll never forget. 2020 has been a rough year. Sometimes the mountains we have to climb are metaphorical and sometimes they are real.

My Secret To Avoiding Blisters

I always get blisters on long hikes and this 12 hour hike / climb is one of the harder I’ve done. However, this time I taped the crap out of my heels with leukotape and was totally fine. It was a revelation to me with one downside. It sticks forever and I lost some leg hair taking it off.

If you have a question about hiking Long’s or a mountain story of your own feel free to chime in on the comments below.

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