Longs Peak Page 3

Other climbers working down the Trough

Ice, snow & loose rock make the Trough a tough segment (Marisa in upper left)

The Ledges seemed a lot longer than we remembered them, but eventually we emerged back into the Keyhole.  Descending from the Keyhole back across the Boulderfield was a tiring process and it was easy to imagine how tired and careless climbers could get injured amongst the huge boulders due to fatigue.

The Agnes Vaille shelter below the Keyhole

Our tent is just a speck on the Boulderfield looking from the Keyhole (another lesson in scale!)

Panorama from the Keyhole

We arrived back at camp exhausted.  Marisa was really wrecked and crawled into her sleeping bag to rest.  I set about filtering water and making dinner even though neither of us was particularly hungry.  As I sat outside making dinner the most amazing dark and ominous cloud began rolling its way up the mountain from the direction of Granite Pass below us.  In a few minutes it enveloped the Boulderfield cutting visibility to only a few dozen feet or so.  It was incredible.

The cloud races up the Boulderfield

After eating dinner and cleaning up we turned in early and prayed for a windless night so we could get some sleep.  Right before we went to sleep we could hear freezing rain hitting the side of the tent and the temperature was dropping quickly.

There was no wind Wednesday night and we slept very well, no doubt worn out by the previous days exertions.  The tent was extremely cold however and frost covered everything inside including our sleeping bags.  Awake and getting cold we decided to break camp and head out.  I opened the tent flap and was amazed to see about 6 inches of powder snow up against all sides of the tent!

I got outside and started putting items in our backpacks as Marisa handed them out to me.  Even though it was freezing out the view down in the valley was awesome.  The sun was just coming up and the valley was blanketed in a shroud of fog.  Soon the sun peeked above the rim of the earth and bathed Longs in beautiful alpenglow.

Rising before the sun and above the clouds!

Our tent drifted on all sides by snow

The sun illuminates the face of Longs

Trying to rock hop up to the Keyhole would be dangerous in the fresh snow

Marisa working her way out of the Boulderfield

At least the view is different with the snow!

The slow trek down the mountain

After Granite Pass I figured the snow depth would start to decrease, but all down Mills Moraine alongside Mount Lady Washington the snow stayed anywhere between 4 inches and 3 feet.  Post-holing our way down was pretty fatiguing and to add insult to injury all of our water had frozen the night before so we were down to putting snow in our mouths for water and we needed it bad!

The further we descended the more our mood improved as we realized we were making slow but steady progress.  Eventually we ran into several people working their way UP the path toward the Granite Pass and the Boulderfield, but I couldn't see the logic in that.  Getting across the Boulderfield to take a look through the Keyhole had to be a treacherous affair with the snow on top of all the boulders.

At the Chasm Lake junction and almost out of the snow!

Longs with a new coat of snow

The fresh coat of snow did make the return trip interesting since the views were totally different.  Longs looked really spectacular with the new snow coating it.

Alpine Brook with fresh snow

As we descended further into the forest we recognized things we had passed on the way up.  Knowing that our hike was almost over and that soon we'd be gorging ourselves on real food kept our spirits up.  It was also fun laughing at the people headed UP the trail that were totally unprepared for the conditions above the tree-line.  We would wait for them to be well past and then laugh and snort "can you believe that...tennis shoes and knickers to get to the Boulderfield..??! Right!"

When we reached the ranger station at the bottom the rangers were very interested in the conditions above the Chasm Lake junction since we were the first to come down from above that point that day.  I filled out a detailed description of how much snow was in the Boulderfield and on the trail and we were rewarded by an elderly ranger who gave us some fresh baked cookies!  What a deal! 

Safe and sound back at the trailhead!

Without exception all of the rangers we met in RMNP were outstanding people full of information and of great assistance.  In particular ranger Ray Nordeen down at the main ranger station really helped us.  Our thanks go out to all those people who make RMNP such a wonderful place to visit.

If you would like a copy of the DVD we made of our climb, drop me an e-mail at:  beachav8r@carolina.rr.com and we will be happy to send you a free copy!

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