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Longs Peak - Standard Route (Keyhole)
14 miles
5,100 ft of elevation gain
Time to summit: 5 hours, 15 minutes
Total time: 10 hours (rest time included...as well as 45 minutes at the top)
Seven years ago, I summitted Longs, but was the only one out of my group of four to do so. One other member of that group is now my husband. Since he didn't summit, and it is now required to so we can obtain one of our life goals (summit all 14ers in CO), back to Longs we went. This time with three other friends.
The only trouble I have with Longs is the ungodly hour you need to wake up! Alarms went off at 2:30am. The drive from Boulder to the TH took about an hour, and we were at the TH by 4:30am. After a pit stop at the bathroom, we were on the trail at 4:45am.
Here are a few pictures of the beginning of our hike, in the dark.
The sun started to rise about two miles in to the hike.
And, by about mile 2.5, it was pretty much up. Right at the time we reached the Chasm Lake junction.
The trail is VERY well maintained for the next 1.5 miles. Here's a pic just after Granite Pass, as our first look at the Keyhole came into view.
Traversing the Boulder Field on our way to the Keyhole.
One of the sides of the Keyhole, once we were in the "hole."
From the Keyhole to the top, it took us about an hour and 15 minutes. We were making pretty good time. On average, I'd allow about two hours. Here's a look at the traverse from the Keyhole to The Trough.
Then we hit The Trough. My least favorite part of the hike. Brady's face says it all.
Finally, after conquering The Trough, here we are resting before attacking The Narrows.
Part of The Narrows.
And, the Homestretch!
At the top. It was awesome weather. Barely any wind and sunny. We spent about 45 minutes eating lunch and soaking in the rays.
The hike down is never as easy as one thinks, and the Longs descent is no exception. It took us almost the same time to get down as it did to ascend (break time included), and that was with a very brisk pace.
After driving back to Boulder, dropping off the crew, driving home to Denver, getting food and showering, we were in bed by 7pm. Woke up for work the next morning at 7am. There's nothing like 12 hours of solid sleep after hiking Longs Peak!
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Thanks folks... and congrats on the summit... we're heading there in two weeks (after being snowed off two years ago!) and have been lokoing for a recent TR. hope we get as great weather.
thanks for the TR. I've never tackled Long's and this is the last of my goals for the summer. i was hoping to hear about ideal conditions. how many people were climbing that day? pretty packed?
Super nice experience it would appear y'all had! Haven't seen much on Longs this Summer due to the late snow = low volume of hikers; nice to see some of these again. Good job! 8)
@forbins_mtn, hope you make it up Longs this summer. Go quick, while the weather stays! I'd say we shared the summit with about 20 people...but the Longs summit is very big, flat and wide. So, people were spread out and it didn't feel crowded. The trail was busier than the average 14er, but it wasn't too bad. When I did Longs 7 years ago it was much more packed. Yesterday, people were spread out enough that there wasn't much two-directional traffic (read: not much stopping/waiting for people to pass by). Hope you get up this year!
MoSko, you made it sound like a breeze and all were smiling in the pictures! Great job. We are going in just under two weeks, hope to get the weather you described. Never been to Longs but heard it gets crowded. We are going on a Friday night/Sat. morning, what do you think the best depaparture time is to avoid the crowds? 8)
Thanks, @D_Price! It was a fun day, indeed. Seven years ago I summitted on a Saturday, and it was crowded. Yesterday was a Sunday (obviously), and it wasn't that crowded. My guess would be that Saturdays are busier than Sundays, in general. But, as others have commented, I think this year is probably different because of the late snow. To answer your question, and if you really want to avoid crowds, I'd try hitting the trail around 2 or 2:30am. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it may help. The trail register had LOTS of sign-ins during the 3 o'clock hour. Good luck, and enjoy Longs!
MoSko, thanks. We were planning on 2:30 so sounds right on. Will have to take some sleeping aids and crash early....!
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I'd say we shared the summit with about 20 people...but the Longs summit is very big, flat and wide. So, people were spread out and it didn't feel crowded. The trail was busier than the average 14er, but it wasn't too bad. When I did Longs 7 years ago it was much more packed. Yesterday, people were spread out enough that there wasn't much two-directional traffic (read: not much stopping/waiting for people to pass by). Hope you get up this year!