14ers.com • Trip Report

Peak(s):	Longs Peak - 14,255 feet
Post Date:	09/09/2013
Date Climbed:	09/07/2013
Posted By:	Beman

Longs Club

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With the recent addition of a little boy to the family the time to get out and about has been cut short. So this was just a quick day trip.

I hit the trail head after about a .75 mile walk from the truck. I didnt expect that it was going to be this busy and hadnt done much looking but after reading a few trip report seems pretty typical. Any way off I went at about 5 or 5:05 am some where right in there. I was moving a long in the dark and couldnt not tell distance covered or but the trail seemed well traveled. Compared to some of the other peaks I have done this was like a super highway to the clouds as far as the lamp shade would show.

It was cool but I could tell by the sweat that the elevation gain was fairly consistent. I got out of the trees before the sun broke up and the stars we pretty good. The trail was not soaked but definitely wet from the night before. Sun came up and head lamp came off about just before the turn off from the lake. The easiest part of the hike seemed to be the section between here and the turn off to the boulder field. You can dang near run all the way between these two points.

After the turn off up to the boulder field the amount of people I could see in front of me was staggering. I never expected this many people absolutely insane. I was in a hurry with the new kid at home so I just kept moving waiting to get to the boulder field. Once there a straight forward run along the creek stay dry and burn on for the key hole. The size of the rocks at the hole are impressive. Bigger feature compared to what I expected.

After this is to my surprise was the traffic jam. I just shot high and kept moving. Way to many people who dont know what they were getting into or were tired all ready and moving to slow. The trough or whatever its called was filled with people. Rocks were moving every once in a while. The only hard part was the incline. Just keep head down and stairmaster the beast. The Narrows were nothing super complex but it looks like in the winter this and the home stretch could be more complex. At the home stretch I found fastest way up was getting out of line to the right and blow and go. The conga or sit and wait line to the left was amazing. This is why I call this trip Longs Club. After seeing all the people on the way up and on top it seemed more like a night club. To busy for me.

Spent 10 mins on top taking a couple pics and slamming an apple down. Then back to the TH I got there at 12:23 or so. A good 7 or 7 hours and 15 mins away to clear the head. Off to home where I was promptly sent to the store for wipes and laundry detergent.

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Comments or Questions (1)

Peak_One

Nice! 2013-09-24 21:29:22

All business and a very successful trip. Looks like you beat my time in early Sept by about 15 minutes. I like it! It seems to me that hikers on Longs tend to move more slowly than their fitness level would allow, overdress for the temperature and basically psyche themselves into a slow motion drag.

I think most people would have a better hike if they took off the coat and pushed just a bit. Congrats!

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