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Peak(s):  Longs Peak  -  14,259 feet
Date Posted:  02/20/2009
Modified:  06/22/2016
Date Climbed:   08/09/2008
Author:  jedrejcic
 The Finest Mountain I Ever Climbed   

Ah, the elusive summit of Long's Peak. This mountain has been the bane of my existence for a while now, probably ten years. I first came to Colorado to camp in 1995, and that's when I first saw it. I came back in 1998 or so and went hiking on it, and got up to the lookout over Chasm Lake, smoking cigarettes the whole way up, and got stuck in a lightning storm on the way down. I think it was on that day that I decided I would climb the mountain, but I had no idea how long it would take.

Having learned a couple of things on my first hike on the mountain, I set off a couple of years back, in 2006, to climb the peak in earnest. My friend Rob and my wife were with me, and we started hiking out in a freezing and gusty sleet at 1:30am from the trailhead sometime in August of '06. My friend and my wife were both weatherbeaten by the time 4am came around and we had passed the Chasm Lake trail, and they turned around to go back to camp. I felt strong, and decided to keep on going - my safety wasn't in danger as I felt great, and I had plenty of food and water, and there were plenty of people on the trail besides. I made it through the long trek over the boulderfield, over the Ledges, and when I saw the trough, I sighed. But I kept climbing. I got about a third of the way up when I decided that my legs were going to get too tired to make the return trip safely if I kept going. So I stopped at about 13,500 or so, had a cigarette and some trail mix, and turned to go back. I arrived back at camp sometime in the late afternoon to herald my relative success to my wife and friend. And that time I realized something more. I was not only going to have to have enough information in order to hike the mountain, I was going to have to be in shape too. I know, it's stupid not knowing that, but I didn't know it at the time. That day I learned.

The next year I had no plan to summit as I was getting married and the summer was already taken up with plenty of other things, and besides, I hadn't stopped smoking yet anyway. Right after our wedding, I started the arduous process of stopping smoking, and I had already started running as well. By the time August of 2008 came around, I had been running for over a year, and smoke free for over eight months. I'd also climbed Pikes Peak on Memorial Day by that time, which was my official first 14er, but I felt like that was just preparation for Longs. I assembled a summit team of six folks, and we camped at the trailhead the night of August 8th.

We got up in the very early morning of August 9th, ate some food and packed up and got on the trail - I don't remember exactly what time it was. My friend Rob quickly succumbed to an ongoing problem with his knee, and responsibly bowed out early in the hike, and made his way back to camp to get the remainder of a night's sleep, and the rest of us kept climbing. My wife had the goal of reaching the Keyhole, and that would be the end of the trip for her - she wasn't confident about the perils that lay afterward, and I'll second that notion (she doesn't like paying attention to where she walks, so being on the Ledges wasn't my favorite place to see her anyways). The rest of us were hell bent on reaching the summit, barring anything that might kill us of course.

So sunrise came, and Meg and Zach, two of the five remaining, were ahead of me and my wife and my (other) friend Rob (the one who was still on the trail with us), but when they got to a certain level, they saw what they called clouds around their heads, and stopped to wait for the rest of us three to catch up to them. Don't know how long it took, but I remember thinking they must be cold, cause wehn I stopped for a mintue or two I got cold. But here they were, after Michelle and Rob and I had caught up to them, and we held a little meeting here in this eirie glow on the way up to the boulderfield. We decided that the weather was good enough to continue, even though the peak was shrouded, we decided that it was still early and that this would likely clow off, and if it didn't, we could turn around at some other point. At the moment, everything was fine to continue.

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At this point, or actually a little bit before this, my wife, who is a little prone to altitude issues up beyond 13,000, got past her "wall" and was on her personal homestretch to the keyhole. Once we could see it, she was gung-ho. So we crossed the never ending boulderfield, go to the keyhole, and we all met up there once more. It was nice and windy, and there were still clouds above us, but we could make the walk across the Ledges without obscuration, so we kept on going. My wife made it up to the keyhole long enough to enjoy the view and turn back around after I'd handed her a radio to be her companion on the way back (along with the other 400 hikers on the trail).

The rest of us kept hiking - here's a picture of Meg, me, and Zach making their way alongside the fried eggs:

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We eventually got to climbing the very friendly Trough, and this time I didn't need to stop for a cigarette break. This is a picture abotu half way up or so, obviously looking down. The weather had totally cleared by this point, and the views were spectacular, although I really couldn't enjoy them cause I was concentrating too hard on the task at hand.

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I didn't get to take a picture of the "technical" move at the top of the Trough, but it's safe to say that there was a minor blockage of traffic at that point, where more experienced folks were helping the less expereinced folks make the one semi-techincal move that needed to be made at the chockstone. It would have not been very difficult if one were unencumbered and with proper rock climbing shoes and whatnot, but having a pack and hiking shoes made it a bit more difficult. After I made that move, and was standing on top of the Trough, I knew I'd make it to the top, no question. So seeing the Narrows for the first time in my life was exciting, as evidenced by the large grin below:

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I couldn't have been happier. And when I rounded the corner to see the Homestretch for the first time, I couldn't have been more anxious - both in a good and bad way. I was near the top of Long's Peak, and I wasn't really tired enoguh to have to turn around. However, I had what seemed like a very difficult climb ahead of me. I had often wondered what the Homestretch would be like, having seen both pictures that made it seem impossibly steep, and pictures that made it seem like a walk in the park. Not having any ropes tied to me, and wearing hiking boots, and having some water flowing down portions of the rock, when I got there it kind of seemed more like impossibly steep. But I started climbing it, alongside the other hundred hikers around me.

I encountered a number of instances where I was clinging to the rock with both feet and both hands, and not having a good handle to hang on to, and not having a good backup plan to resort to, and not having a great future move ahead of me. It certainly involved climbing with both hands and feet, no question, and perhaps the mixture of not having protective gear and the rock being wet made it seem a lot harder than it was, but in any case, I kept moving one step at a time. Other folks were coming down and scrambling on their butts on the way down, some were even standing up and hopping from non-existent step to non-existent step while I was clinging to the rock like a freshman mountain climber (which I was).

Well, I finally made the last move and took the last three or four steps up the Homestretch and climbed onto the large top of Long's Peak, sometime near noon of August 9th, 2008. I didn't bother looking down as I knew it was going to be frightening, and I figured I would just deal with that when I needed to. Here's our summit crew:

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So there was a strange feeling about being on top of Long's. There was a very real hesitation about being there, as looking around revealed that the only way down was back the way we came, and that was going to be difficult. You knew you couldn't stay long, cause this was no place to be stranded, so you really couldn't give up at this point if you were too tired. Plus we were all kind of loopy from the altitude, I think Rob got hti the worst, and I'm not sure he ate anything for lack of appetite while we briefly rested on the summit. I remember eating something, and I recall being offered the chance to see the geological marker at the top, but it was way over on the other side of the peak, and I stupidly declined. Then I started my way down. I don't think we were on top more than 20 minutes for sure. Meg had the presence of mind to text her brother to say where she was, and to get her picture taken next to the marker, and I can't hardly remember spending any time at the top.

We turned back, and I was the last person in our line as we made our way down the Homestretch. This is the part most people don't tell you about - going down. Eveything leads up to the peak, and then there's no information about how it was when you were going down. Going down the friggin mountain is not easy. You can see the entirety of the Homestretch right below you, and you're facing into it. The rock was still wet in places, and it was quite steep (in terms of hiking, at least, if not climbing - but again, we're not prepared for climbing, so comparing it to rock climbing is kind of unfair cause all we have is hiking shoes). I made one move at a time. I stopped after each move, regained my breath and my composure, and then put 100% of my effort making sure that the next step I made was sure-footed, and then I'd rest and start over again. I wasn't going to take two steps too close to each other for fear that my muscles would give out or something (after all, I was tired). And I began to realize that all I needed to do was to get to the bottom of the Homestretch. That was the only part of the climb that I was uncomfortable being on. Once I got down to the Narrows and the Trough, it would just be hiking downhill. It was just going down the Homestretch that made me nervous, so I took my time.

When I got to the bottom of the Homestretch, I think that my friend Rob called on the radio to say he was at the Keyhole - no joke. I think he was petrified enough of the exposure that he literally ran down all of the portions he could until he got to the Keyhole where he felt safe again. his intentions were to stay at the Keyhole until we caught up, but we were so far behind him that he eventually called back and said he was going down a bit further. While I negotiated the move around the chockstone once more, and while the rest of us three were making our way down the Trough and the Ledges, Rob was taking a nap in the Boulderfield, waiting for us to catch up.

Well, we eventually caught up, and by this time the afternoon storms were beginning to gather as we looked back at the peak:

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Meg was especially concerned with the storms, and there was no reassuring her that we were down far enough, and that likely the folks that get struck by lightning were normally further up the peak, and that we were probably below 13,000 by now, etc. etc... Every time we heard the clap of thunder, she walked even faster. We kept a record pace going downhill, passing a nubmer of folks, which was fine by all of us, and I was leading the pace. Except, at some point, I began feeling a bit weary and lightheaded. And I thought that was weird cause I'd never had any problems with altitude before, and I'd eaten throughout the day and I was continually drinking water. But nevertheless, I felt lightheaded. Even to a point where I sat down and asked Meg to chill for a minute while I regain my wits, as the lightheadedness was a bit too much. She waited about 2 minutes before another clap of thunder sent her running down the hill, so I got back up and we all four continued our march down the hill. Now I was last in line, and when we finally got down below treeline, I was able ton convince Meg to hang out for a properly long break, where I took my pack off and laid down on a large rock on the side of the path. Folks passed by, and I drank some water, and still couldn't really shake the feeling I was having. So I took a handful of some one of the three different kinds of trail mix I had, and this one happened to have m&m's in it. Well, I swear almost instantly I felt the lightheadedness go away, and it only took a minute for the rest of the group to point out that there was m&m's in the trail mix, and they asked me when the last time I had any sugar was, and I said, um, I have no idea. I hadn't drank anything besides water for 24 hours, and I had only eaten sandwiches, beef jerky, and other assorted trail items. I hadn't had sugar in forever. So I had a couple of handfulls of m&m's and we rested for a bit, and then finished the hike down the hill.

One somewhat funny part for me (a little mean I guess, but whatever) was that I was the only one in the group that had hiked up to the Trough and back before, and I was the only one who had experienced the hike down. I was the only one that knew that the sign for Goblin's Forest would appear to the dismay of everyone, as they would undoubtedly think that camp was right around the corner, and then that sign for Goblin's Forest would appear and dash their hopes to the point of mutiny. And sure enough, when we saw the sign, everyone was like, "what? Goblin's forest? Where is that? Aren't we right by the trail head? What do you mean 1.2 miles? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? SERIOUSLY???" And I thought that was kind of funny. Perhaps it was the only thing I could do to keep myself from being dismayed as well was to lay in wait for my teammates to be appreheded by this sign. Like I said, maybe it was a little mean that I didn't warn them, but it was funny. They would have been upset anyway, even if I did warn them, so no harm done I don't think.

Anwyays, end of trip report. I am so totally late on this, but at least I wrote it down - I had sent emails out and put pictures up on Facebook, but I never told the stroy in depth like this. I hope it helps someone here in terms of the description of the path and whatnot. The bottom line is that Long's is certianly no walk in the park mountain. It kicked my ass at least twice before, and I would say that it kicked my ass even when I got to the top and came back down in one piece. This mountain was a worthy adversary. It helped me to get in shape and to quit smoking. There was simply no other way I was going to get up to the top. So, here's to Longs Peak - my favorite mountain. And a hearty cheers to Pikes Peak for helping me prepare for this more formidable, decade long journey.

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Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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Comments or Questions
Chicago 14er
User
Congrats!!
2/21/2009 2:59pm
Thanks for telling your story and congrats on reaching your goal.
Being out in a storm is no fun been there done that. I am glad you and your group had a safe and fun climb.


TylerStorm
User
Great Report!
2/26/2009 7:19pm
I climbed Longs that same day! I summited at about 9am, so I was slightly ahead of you, but I started pretty early too. But anyway, Great job! Longs is no easy feat! I have a trip report for that day as well if you‘re interested! Good Luck and hopefully there will be many more summits in your future! Cheers!


James Scott
User
the way down
3/3/2009 7:38pm
I enjoyed the part about ”What- Goblin‘s Forest??? What do you mean 1.2 miles to go???” I have been told by two separate people that the longest half mile on earth is from the last milage sign going down Longs to the trailhead. It takes forever!
This reminded me of my wife, who made this her first 14er. To this day, I don‘t know how she summited and made it back, but I guess if you never give up, you eventually get there.
Great job!


bookofjohash
User
props!!
7/9/2009 7:24pm
this is honestly one of the best trip reports i‘ve ever read. done 4 easier peaks, but i kinda wanna do longs this year now..

thanks for sharing!
much props for quitting smoking and following through on your goals!!



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