Longs Peak

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 8/10/2022, By: ksafford
Info: Did the Keyhole route today (Wednesday). Arrived at parking lot about 2:45am, probably 10 spots left. Surprisingly uncrowded and beautiful weather. Trail in good shape up to the Boulderfield though the section below the Chasm Lake trail junction is a little hard to follow in the dark. Too many cairned “trails” up to the Keyhole … suggest staying to the right when looking up. The Trough is just not really fun up or down… take your time and be careful. The crux is the top…. We went to the right on the way up and to the left on the way down. Total travel time for us was about 10.5 hours … about 5.5 hours up and 5 down with some stops. No issues at all on any of the sections after the keyhole… just look for the red and yellow bullseyes and follow them. I don't recall seeing the bulleyes on the trough the last time I did the route 20+ years ago but they seemed to be in the least bad place. 

Route: Grander Slam
Posted On: 9/2/2022, By: PeakMiller
Info: Finally posting this...

I spent the last day of summer break slogging Longs Peak and it's surrounding peaks in what Roach calls "The Radical Slam". In total, we knocked off Meeker, Longs, Pagoda, Storm, Lady W, and Battle Mtn.

After bushwacking down from Battle Mtn to the Estes Cone Trail, we decided Estes Cone wasn't very fitting for the day we had had so we decided to run back to the Longs Peak TH and do our 50 pushups, thus calling the day The Grander Slam. 

Route: North Face Cables Route
Posted On: 8/10/2022, By: tmac90
Info: Ran up to the base of Cables Route today. Got a late start so didn't actually climb it but thought I'd share the current condition. Route was slightly wet but no ice to be seen anywhere. In the afternoon anyways. Beautiful day! 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 8/5/2022, By: awatch26
Info: Summited August 4th on an absolutely beautiful day. This is a LONG hike, but the trail to the boulder-field is expertly maintained so the hiking goes pretty fast. After the keyhole, the hike slows down. The four components of the climb offer differing challenges, but the hardest will be the Trough. This is a long, slow climb no matter who you are. The only challenging move of this section is at the top of the Trough where you need to navigate around a large boulder. We went left. The narrows have the most exposure of the climb, but stick to the mountain side and you can keep at least a foot between you and the edge at all times. The homestretch was relatively straightforward in dry conditions, but this would likely get much more challenging when wet. Route finding is very straight forward thanks to the spray painted markers from the key hole to the summit. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/30/2022, By: Split_the_FR
Info: Showed up at 3am and the parking lot was full unsurprisingly, found some roadside parking less than a quarter mile down the road.

Everything up to the keyhole is in fine shape. After the keyhole, there was a decent amount of ice on the rock after the heavy rain and hail this week. Early this morning was definitely a bit sketchy in some parts of the home stretch, specifically going down. Just something to keep in mind if you plan on going up soon.

3:15 start, 6:40 summit, left the summit at 7:15, back at the car by 10:20.

Edit - Looks like the user under me has pretty much the exact same trip report as me. 

Route: Loft Route
Posted On: 7/30/2022, By: thebeave7
Info: Updating because the hail storm earlier this week dropped several inches on the mountain and all the slabs are running very wet. Haven't seen this much water on the slabs (all aspects of the mountain) outside of June. The mountain was far drier when I was there on July 4th.
Loft traverse was a river, homestretch was running very wet, north face was also very wet. 

Route: Kiener's
Posted On: 7/15/2022, By: alwetend
Info: The snow on lamb's slide is in fine shape. Stay left for the softer snow then traverse to broadway. Snow on broadway is avoidable. Everything else it dry. 

Route: Camels Route and Northwest Coulier
Posted On: 7/12/2022, By: arthurtect
Info: My son and I had a blessed and beautiful day on Longs Peak. Started the day with the sunrise at Chasm Lake and the morning glow on the Diamond, then proceeded around to the right of Chasm Lake to the Camels gully. There was some snow on the left, but it was avoidable to the right and was the preferred route. We stayed true to the right until almost to the ridge because the direct route to the Camel Rock looked more like miserable scree. The whole climb was pleasurable and fun. When we reached the ridge and after taking a seat on the Camel, we decided to climb Mount Lady Washington since we only had a few hundred feet to go (also dry as a bone).

After that we traversed around through the Keyhole and the Ledges, well past the steel rods in the rocks, and to the last gully before the Trough, which is the Northwest Coulier. The cave crux is actually visible from the Ledges. The Northwest Coulier was dry (no snow at all) and we lucked out that there was very little moisture trickling down at all. This route makes the Trough feel like a walk on the beach. We felt like there were many class 4+ moves throughout the route, both before and after the cave crux. Make sure you read some of the previous trip reports and take the photos and descriptions with you. I plan to do a trip report one day soon.

We continued up the gully and finished the ascent to the summit via Rossiter's Ridge, while waving at the folk below going up and down the Trough. Please feel free to reach out to me for more info, photos or videos. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/9/2022, By: Clay5981
Info: The Keyhole route on Long's is in complete summer condition. Some people carried spikes/axes, but they were not needed. The trail is dry and has been maintained well.

Additional Note: The parking lot fills quickly (especially on weekends). We started at 2:50 am and claimed one of the last spots. Get there early to avoid the extra hike to the trailhead. 

Route: Radical Slam
Posted On: 7/4/2022, By: zsapinsley
Info: Very full day in the high alpine.

Nearly all snow is avoidable, save for 2 crossings from the bottom of the Keys of the Wind ascending back to the Keyhole. Manageable without any traction. Ice axe was nice to have for 2 glissades but these were mostly for fun and can be easily avoided.

Some spots are slick with run-off, nothing crazy but good reminder to choose all steps wisely in challenging terrain. Depending on sun level these wet spots are not always easy to see. Very windy in the morning but turned out to be a beautiful day. Hoping to post a full Trip Report soon. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/4/2022, By: thebeave7
Info: Keyhole route is on basically summer conditions, at least in the sense that now special gear is needed.
Lower trail is totally clear to the Boulder field. Water is flowing nicely down low and in the Boulder field.
Keyhole traverse is almost completely dry. Some water still running in the Trough, most noteably the slabs on climbers left (which i usually climb) and at the very top of the Trough. Can easily be navigated through.
Narrows and Homestretch also have some wet spots, again not too difficult to navigate around.
The Loft looks to by drying off quickly, might be passable without gear?
Broadway still looked to have several large snow patches with lots of water running down. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/6/2022, By: zt0313
Info: Route is 99% clear of snow. There are some little bits of snow in the trough that you can walk around, as well as a couple wet spots in the trough and homestretch. We didn't need microspikes and certainly not an ice axe. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/4/2022, By: haydenm3
Info: There's still some snow up there. Homestretch had a tiny bit of ice/running water. That said, no traction needed. Full summer conditions with a little excitement. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 7/4/2022, By: mjsherman
Info: The trough has some snow still. Upper looks dry. 

Route: Keyhole Route
Posted On: 6/30/2022, By: borscht
Info: Completed keyhole route with no gear except poles. Some small patches of snow and water on the Trough and Homestretch portions, but not enough to justify extra traction. Plenty of wind after the keyhole and until coming back through it. Safe to say Longs is good to go for the summer season.