Longs Peak
Hiking/Trekking Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park
This is a joint writing effort between my friend Mohan and me.
First our background - we are two 52 year old men who are average fitness for our age, perhaps a little under average. So far our major achievement has been to hike Sandakphu/Phalut which goes to an elevation of about 11000 feet and a distance of over 100km in 6 days, but this is a relatively easy trek. While it pushed us, we didn't feel it stressed our limits in any way. We are both vegetarian. We don't smoke. We have lived at sea level for the last 25 years plus. We are not technical climbers. We have a reasonable fear of heights. The goal of this post is to explore hiking one of the most well known 14ers in Colorado - Longs Peak from our point of view, a POV we have not found anywhere else on the web.
[Mohan]It was almost a year since we (Krish and me) finished the Sandakphu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandakphu) hike (2019 December). That was around 12000 feet and we have always wanted to go higher than that to see whether our bodies can take it. I was planning a trip to Grand Canyon in Spring of 2020 early in the year without knowing much about how this whole year will be wasted away. Around that time, I see this message from Krish about the plans for a hike that we can do later in the year. That’s when I mention Longs peak (randomly) for the first time to Krish (Feb 2020). In a month or so, my Grand canyon trip was cancelled due to the pandemic and we were hoping that the summer of 2020 would be a good time for the rocky mountains. Finally we ended up doing this in September 2021 Labor day weekend.
The decision to try Longs Peak was made round about March of 2020, just as COVID was beginning to hit and we knew we would have to do it somewhere in summer since Colorado turns icy in winter. We chose Longs Peak purely for the elevation of 14000 feet since we wanted to do a trial run before Annapoorna Base Camp which is just short of 14000 feet.
Once we had made the decision to hike Longs Peak, we let the whole thing subside because there was no chance of travel in 2020. We revived the topic again sometime in February of 2021 when it was known that vaccines would be available by June of 2021 which would make travel a possibility in summer. We booked all the logistics immediately. Then started our research.
[Mohan] We booked our tickets in March of 2021 for being in the Rockies between Sep 2 and Sep 7. As much as we discussed about Longs Peak in the first month or so after booking the tickets, it sort of died off and we never discussed again up until August. Krish did some research on how we can acclimatize to the heights when we land there leading up to the Longs Peak hike. The goal is to gradually increase the altitude so that the body can get used to the higher altitudes.
Our research was to go through multiple websites on 14ers, Longs Peak, youtube videos gaining information on some key details. In the process we realized that after the keyhole, the route was such that we had never done such a thing and hence we may have to turn back at that point. Since the chance of a thunderstorm after 12pm on Longs Peak is very high, and lightning on an exposed mountain is almost surely fatal, we knew we had to be off the peak by 10 am based on our research. As you will see down the road, this is not necessarily the case, but is a good heuristic to live by.
[Mohan] Both of us started learning about Longs peak. We watched several videos some of which were scary and some looked okay and doable. We wanted to understand the elevation spread. I remember sending this in an email:
Hike to the Keyhole on Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park
www.rockymountainhikingtrails.com
Longs Peak - Keyhole Route | Route
Elevation gain:
0 Miles — 9405 feet
2.2 Miles — 10750 feet
2.5 Miles — 11000
3.4 Miles — 11540
4.5 Miles — 12080 feet
6.2 Miles — 13200 feet (Keyhole)
7.5 miles — 14276 feet (Summit)
This seems to be an accurate description based on my experience. Both of us started reading several blogs to understand the difficulty and how we should go about doing this. Several questions from the number of days in Colorado, the place of stay, day hike vs camp overnight, weekday or weekend etc.
By the time we flew to Colorado, we knew for certain that we would have to make a go/no-go decision at the top of the keyhole based on ground reality. This was quite a surprise since so far neither of us has ever experienced a hike where we have been forced to turn back before completing it for safety reasons. In general, I have always been able to sufficiently prepare for the worst case. But when it came to Longs Peak I knew that there was no way to prepare for the worst case. Definitely then, I knew this was going to be an interesting experience for me - a guy who generally hates to quit, who has been taught that quitting is a sign of weakness. But...just in June I had already had an experience in quitting. I had planned an AT trail 5 day hike of 55 miles with a back pack and had to quit about 5 miles short of the destination. So quitting ceased to have that badge of failure for me and it also taught me that simply forging towards a destination without stopping to enjoy the journey would be a waste of an experience.
We gave ourselves 3 days to acclimate to the altitude of Denver and higher elevation. This was still insufficient and at keyhole I had a slight headache already. So...ymmv, but you have to learn to notice the signs of altitude sickness and make that a factor in your go/no-go decision. Because altitude sickness after keyhole can be almost certainly fatal.
[Mohan] We spent three days of acclimatization and also talked to several people during those days to gather the exact details on what we should take on the trip.
How much water should we take with us ?
Is there any water stream available en route that we can depend on ?
When should we start the hike in the morning so that we have sufficient time to return ?
How much food should we take with us ?
What sort of layers and clothing should we take ?
We lodged at YMCA Estes Park. We don't know how other lodgings are in Estes, but we were quite happy with YMCA. My friend did say that the rooms in Emerald Mountain were too warm. I did notice that my nose dried up and I had trouble breathing. But its unclear whether that was because of central heating (my friend is used to about 65F normally and I am used to natural air) or the excessive dryness of RMNP. The breakfast at YMCA was definitely a treat because they have hard boiled eggs and fruit that you can take to go and that's a huge boon for having some lunch during a hike. Other than that YMCA is situated beautifully, but we were hiking or sleeping so I would say the view of YMCA went pretty much unnoticed.
In our reading we didn't see much in the way of preparation for Longs Peak in Estes Park itself. All recommendations were to try the easier 14ers like Quandary, Grays etc - but they are all quite far away from RMNP. What about hikes in RMNP itself as training? there was no info on that. On this point I got lucky because I knew a veteran of RMNP and she recommended Bluebird Lake trail which is about 12.8 miles and 2500 feet elevation gain. We started with that on day 1 out of 4 and it helped warm us up, unstiffen the muscles of the leg and in general do an acclimatization and warmup. For that purpose, bluebird lake was exactly the right choice. But after that we didn't know what he should do. A ranger kindly provided the answer - he suggested hiking Mount Ida to get a feel for conditions on Longs Peak above the treeline.
[Mohan] I have never done 4000+ feet elevation gain in one day before this planning. Even if we did one, would this be the same as starting at 9000 feet and gaining 4000 feet. How do you train for the higher altitude ? Denver is around 5280 feet, Estes park where we stayed is around 7500 feet and most of the hikes start around 8000 feet. It looks like there is no easy way to train for higher altitude if you don’t live in such places.
If I can ignore the altitude and focus on the elevation gain, how can I prepare for that ? The nearest one at my place was Mount Diablo (an hour away from where I live). That is about 3300 feet but you can gain 4000+ if you do the North face also. Check this one out 14.3 miles, 4600 feet in elevation:
. I took about total 7 hours to finish this including several breaks on way and the lunch break at the top of the Diablo. It was a strenuous trip and gave me an idea of what to expect. I also did the Black Mountain (https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/black-mountain-via-pge-quarry-and-black-mountain-trail) a few times which is about 11+ miles and 3000+ feet elevation gain. This was core part of my Longs Peak preparation.
Next day we hiking Mount Ida and I dressed in shorts and short sleeve t'shirt with a light fleece and rain jacket in my pack as well as gloves and hat. By the time we crossed above treeline of Mount Ida the wind was severe and it got really cold. I had the fleece, rain jacket on and my gloves but still felt cold in the legs. That clued me in to the Longs Peak experience and helped me prepare my clothing gear appropriately. We didn't end up finishing Mount Ida and turned back because gray clouds were threatening in the sky.
For the day before Longs Peak, we wisely chose to do a relatively less strenuous hike. We chose Deer Mountain for this purpose and it was a wonderful mild hike. Couldn't be any better. We returned to the room by about 6:30pm, fully packed our bags for the next day and went to bed by 7:00pm. We had scouted Longs Peak this day as well (day 3) so we knew the route. Initially we thought a start time of 3:00am would be sufficient to get to the peak by 10:00 am - assuming that we could do a mile an hour and 7.5 miles in 7 hours. I wasn't so sure about that pace:-) The we talked to multiple people about start times, how cold it would be and so on. From all that information, we had a pretty fair idea that the parking lot would be full by 2:00 am. But there is parking along the road, so that should not be the factor in deciding when to start. For me the need to start at 2:00 am arose from the fact that I suspected that our average pace would lag well behind a mile an hour. So, I suspected that a 2 am start time would be better. How right I was going to be proved was quite prescient.
So...in summary here are the logistics for the hike itself. Wake up at 1:30am, be at the parking lot by 2:00am, start the hike at 2:05am, hope to be at keyhole by 7:00am and at the peak by 10:00 am and back at keyhole by 12 noon. I started off with a full base layer (pant and shirt), wool socks, Salomon Ultra 3 (i would say the best shoe for this hike - totally grippy), a hiking pant, a long sleeve wool, a down puffy. In my pack were a ziplock of fruits, 3 hard boiled eggs and salt/pepper, vegetable biryani from Nepals Cafe, cashews, peanut butter biscuits, 3 liters of water(of which one liter was electrolytes - LMNT + salt), one rain jacket, one short sleeve wool t'shirt, first aid kit, water filtration system, gloves, hat, lip balm, head lamp. Make sure you are comfortable with all the gear you are taking, because this is not a hike you want to be figuring out stuff on!!
In summary, our planning so far had been near perfect. We were about as well prepared as could be and only the stuff that was our nature and unchangeably out of our control could change things. As it turned out, this was exactly what left us short.
On the day of the hike, Labor day, September 6 2021, the weather was as perfect as it could be. In essence, everything was setup to be perfect for this hike and if we couldn't do it in these conditions, then we would simply have to improve our own selves before attempting it again. The sky was predicted to be a clear blue and the chance of thunderstorms was negligible.
We started the hike as planned - at 2:05 am. We hiked at a relatively moderate pace - its an ascent all the way, no flat areas along the way. The path is mostly rocky with small pebbles which can place a fair amount of stress on the legs. We did find water sources along the way, so water is not a problem here if you have a water filtration system. [Mohan] Sometimes there are no clear answers as people are not sure. As for the water stream en route, people don’t want to commit. But when we met someone the previous day who just finished the trip, he said that one could rely on a couple of streams up until the Boulder creek (near the Keyhole). The clothing was spot on. I felt totally comfortable, maybe a little warm at the start, but after treeline nice and comfy. The journey is to be done to be believed. As dawn slowly emerges, the mountain silhouettes start to take shape and the city of Estes shines down below. Up above the stars are clearly visible and so so much closer. The big dipper and the belt of orion are so clearly visible and the night air is crisp and cold. Down below hikers headlamps cast an eerie glow, looking like glow worms moving in a snake like line. Hikers that pass you are invariably kind, nice and pleasant. The hue of the horizon starts to change colors - turning a pink then an orange and slowly the sun comes out, looking like a orange globe hung out - simply wonderful. We took quite a few breaks just to sit back and enjoy this portion of the hike. It was a fortunate decision since the journey was simply splendid. We were on top of the world and dawn was emerging. I was in awe at this majesty of the universe. There is an infiniteness to this that scales me down to nothing.
[Mohan] We felt that we could not be more ready to take on Longs Peak. It was 1.30 AM on a Monday morning. September 6th. When we reached the parking lot, it was around 2.00 AM and we left the car around 2.15 AM or so. We did not want to rush ourselves. It was pitch dark. We started slowly and the darkness sort of helped us as we did not know where we were going. We had two bottles of water bottle in the back pack and one water bottle in my hand. The water was mixed with Oral Rehydration Salt before we left the room. After about a mile and half, the sky opened up to the bright stars. Around 6 AM, we witnessed the sunrise. We took several breaks and reached the Boulder creek around 9 AM. You can see the Keyhole from there very clearly. We were pretty much exhausted around that point. It is a combination of altitude, elevation gain, distance and the rocky terrain that made the hike difficult up until this point. It took us another 45 minutes to complete the hike up the Keyhole. We reached the Keyhole at 10 AM, which is 8 hours since our start from the base. The last step to the Keyhole was scary where you can feel the steepness looking down from the Keyhole. It was very windy up there and peeped into what we have to do next. There is a ledge with a steep drop off that we need to traverse to go further. Another mile or so left with 1000 feet elevation gain. We heard that it is Class 3 climbing/scrambling. We did not have sufficient energy to take our journey further. We turned around. That took us another 6 hours to return with all the breaks en route.
By the time we reached Boulderfield it was already 9:00am roughly. At that time I was 80% no go. Ascending to the top of key hole took another hour. We reached the top of keyhole by 10:00am. If you remember, we were supposed to be off longs peak by 10:00 am, and based on our average pace, it would seem that it would take another 4 hours to do 1.2 miles (the hardest part was ahead of us). That put us at 2 pm on the peak, and a journey of another 8 hours down making it an 20 hour hike. In this regard, the weather was perfect and there was relatively no danger of thunderstorms. But...
One of my main criterions on this hike was safety. Musashi Miyamoto says to treat ones life as if it were a precious diamond and to not throw it away easily. At the same time, to not hold an overly deep attachment to living to the point that one loses the way. Thus, i had decided that I wanted to hike for as long as I could and summiting a peak would not be prioritized higher than my ability to hike for a few more years. I didn't want to sprain an ankle at best - how would I get back down to base? how much trouble it would be for a rescue team to carry me down if I was that badly injured. So getting up to keyhole was a superb exercise in concentration because, while it was relatively easy, it was also relatively easy to make a mistake and get hurt (not fatally, but sufficiently to cause a lot, lot of trouble). Thus all my mental focus was drained by the time I reached the top of keyhole.
So, at the top of keyhole 4 factors came into play. My mental focus was already drained. I was at about 70% mentally. I knew that the next 4 segments would require 100% mental focus. Strike 1. Then, the fact that we took 8 hours just to get to the top of keyhole meant that my physical ability was not as good as it should have been. Strike 2. Next, I have a mild form of vertigo - when I looked over keyhole down below I had a slight anxiety, which I knew would only grow as I moved past the narrows. Strike 3. Finally, I had the beginnings of a head ache - the start of altitude sickness - very bad. Strike 4. Given all this I made the decision to stop at that point and turn back. All other conditions were as perfect as you can imagine - weather, water, food, clothing.
So, we turned back and enjoyed the journey down, enjoying a nice lunch along the way and finally returning to the car at 3:45pm. That was about 13 and a half hours of trekking, incessantly up, incessantly down. Just hiking to keyhole was magnificent. I would do it again. It also showed us our own limits - they were tested on this hike.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable journey and I would highly recommend it. I believe that getting to keyhole can be done slowly in good weather. We had many enjoyable conversations with other hikers. There were people who did the whole hike in 8 hours (up to the peak and back);-)
If you decide to do this hike, you will be rewarded one way or the other. Our own goal was not so much as to summit as to try to make the journey as rewarding as possible and to really savor the journey, not the end. Detaching ourselves from the final summit was the best decision we made because it was so easy to call it off at keyhole. We did not experience any sense of failure. I would recommend the same to you - the mountain will always win in one way or the other - some mountain will ultimately, maybe just not Longs Peak. So, try not to get attached to summiting and enjoy the journey is my advice.
[Mohan] If I do Longs Peak, would I do it differently ? Here are some things to think about
Trekking poles would help a lot for the first 6 miles. This would save a lot of energy on the legs
Water is important. But don’t get too much worked up about it. At least in the month of September there are streams and a good filter system should keep your bottles filled up. A water reservoir in the backpack might also be a good option. Hydrate well the day before. 3 litres of water should be enough to go to Keyhole and be back.
We took eight hours to go up to keyhole. But it could have been done in 6 to 6.5 hours if we took fewer breaks. It is important to reach the Keyhole in 6 hours if you want to finish the last mile also. Experienced hikers take 2 hours to finish the last mile.
If your goal is to reach higher altitude, there are other 14ers in Colorado that are less complex (Class1) than Longs peak. If you are looking for a challenging one, then Longs peak is a real good one.
Though I had good layers to cover my body, it was pretty cold up at the top when we sat at the Keyhole. My beanie and the gloves was a little on the lighter side to keep the cold air out. I would prepare better next time.
On the whole, this experience gave us an understanding on what your body can do. We were glad that we turned around at the Keyhole as you need to be clear headed and not feeling tired when you want to finish the next mile. It is important that you finish the hike without becoming a burden on someone else. We heard stories about needing rescue when we were there. Accidents happen but you are a better judge of your limits.
Happy hiking !
We (my friend Mohan) and I wish you the best of luck if you decide to hike Longs Peak. And I hope this post provides some form of planning if you do decide to go on this journey.
Addendum : A lot of uncomfortable actions we take in life are not without a purpose. When I took on Longs Peak I knew going in that it would be uncomfortable. I had a deep fear of heights that I had traced back to early childhood. I have this memory when I was perhaps 2 years old of being perched up high on a wall and no one to hold on to and this feeling of total fear and crying. Since then I have tried to push myself to conquer this fear, but no matter what I do, I get vertiginous when I encounter heights without any support to hang on to. The uncomfortable action in going to Longs Peak was not about conquering the fear of heights. It was about giving myself the freedom to quit when I encountered something that was too difficult for me. For a long time I have tried to push past healthy apprehensions beyond the point of where it actually made sense for me to do so - staying in situations I should have quit a long time ago because it made no sense to keep trying or going. Quitting was simply not an option. Now, after planning something for many months, giving it my best possible shot, devoting and investing countless hours in preparation for something I gave myself the freedom to quit at the last moment and not accomplish the goal. And I have not regretted that. From here on I give myself the freedom to quit any time I have the feeling that nothing is really going to change materially by continuing down the path I am going.