Yesterday I completed the most intimidating hike of my life, 14,255' Long's Peak. I hate to say it but there were actually a couple places I stopped to think "is this right, should we be doing this?" I don't think I saw these pictures from 14ers.com which describes routes in detail before the trip.
In the first, the trail navigates along the side of this ledge, over the knifes edge and down the other side. In the second you climb (or descend) hand over foot in any of the cracks which best suits your fancy. Looking back I have been in more life threatening situations, but I think my fear of heights and inexperience on REAL mountains escalated my need to rug a rock more than necessary. And on the descent I was back to my usual jumping w/o hesitation, and I guess experience is really the only real way to gain confidence and skills for the future. So I can check that box. Drew (a buddy from work) and I left my place at 01:40, were on the trail by 03:10, summited around 10:20, and were back to the trailhead at 16:00. The 15 mile 10,000 foot (5 up 5 down) hike made quite an impression on my quads, but other than that it wasn't too bad. We stopped once we cleared the tree line to take in the Denver lights as well as more stars I have ever seen at one time. Zero cloud cover, zero moon, and 10,000' less atomosphere really makes a difference, its not even worth trying to describe, but definitely one of the most awe inspiring panoramas ever. We took another break a little before 6 to set up in a good spot to eat breakfast and watch the
sun-rise over the great plains. Long's is significantly higher than the surrounding peaks so it is much more dramatic of a view than Elberts, and with a very large summit provided a great place for a nap. We treated ourselves to some Estes Park health smoothies for the ride home (we felt a little gay in the shop, noticing we were the only guys w/o girls there) but they were tastey. Awesome, exhausting day
In the first, the trail navigates along the side of this ledge, over the knifes edge and down the other side. In the second you climb (or descend) hand over foot in any of the cracks which best suits your fancy. Looking back I have been in more life threatening situations, but I think my fear of heights and inexperience on REAL mountains escalated my need to rug a rock more than necessary. And on the descent I was back to my usual jumping w/o hesitation, and I guess experience is really the only real way to gain confidence and skills for the future. So I can check that box. Drew (a buddy from work) and I left my place at 01:40, were on the trail by 03:10, summited around 10:20, and were back to the trailhead at 16:00. The 15 mile 10,000 foot (5 up 5 down) hike made quite an impression on my quads, but other than that it wasn't too bad. We stopped once we cleared the tree line to take in the Denver lights as well as more stars I have ever seen at one time. Zero cloud cover, zero moon, and 10,000' less atomosphere really makes a difference, its not even worth trying to describe, but definitely one of the most awe inspiring panoramas ever. We took another break a little before 6 to set up in a good spot to eat breakfast and watch the 
sun-rise over the great plains. Long's is significantly higher than the surrounding peaks so it is much more dramatic of a view than Elberts, and with a very large summit provided a great place for a nap. We treated ourselves to some Estes Park health smoothies for the ride home (we felt a little gay in the shop, noticing we were the only guys w/o girls there) but they were tastey. Awesome, exhausting day
1 comment:
I can't imagine how you were able to get up this thing! I'm glad you made it! Love you! Mom
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