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Departed Long's Peak Trailhead at 3:35a on Saturday, July 26 (2026). Parked on road, abt 0.25 mi from trailhead.
Cumulative time stamps:
4 hours to summit East Meeker
4 hrs 45 min to summit Meeker
7 hours to summit Long's
11.5 hours car to car, descending via Keyhole (incl. a 30 min stop at summit and a 10 min stop to filter water)
Objective of this trip report is sharing a GPX track for both Iron Gates and Loft.
Would point folks to other trip reports for a more comprehensive description of Loft route and Keyhole route.
A few things I'd highlight:
Iron Gates have several options for ascending to East Meeker Ridge - we took the route in the photo.
Iron Gates are filled with loose rock that can slide - but it's possible to pick a line made up of larger, stable rocks.
East Meeker has a summit block - a giant cubical rock - and descending it an feel a bit exposed.
East Meeker Ridge - we stayed on the left side of the ridge near the top, with more solid rock.
Knife's edge looks worse from a distance - very solid granite that's highly textured, allowing for excellent traction. When facing Long's, would recommend climber's right - lots of ledges.
Finding the Loft Route is challenging the first time - specifically the descent from the saddle between Meeker and Long's. Clark's Arrow is a silly landmark imo given its so small, and it's difficult to discern when moving toward Long's. Also, cairns are few and far between. You'll likely need to descend significantly more than you think you do - if you find yourself getting cliffed out when moving toward Long's, you'll probably want to backtrack and descend further. Feel free to use the GPX track attached.
Our path through the Iron Gates:
We took the route marked with red arrow. Other trip reports show earlier ascent - and some trip reports show a path that goes all the way to the left of the pictured rock ridge.
View when climbing toward Iron Gates
View of knife's edge - slope angle is steeper than it looks on camera
Example of ledges on Knife edge on ascender's right
My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Comments or Questions
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Download GPX file used in this map
