Here is the story of my ascent of Long's Peak on Friday Sept. 10th, 2004.  The forecast was calling for sunny and warm all day (like it had been all week long), so I didn't get up until 4am.  Lori drove me to the trailhead, I signed in the register, and was on the trail at 4:45. It looked like there were a few clouds in the sky, but it was a very nice morning, not much wind and around 55 deg. 

I made good time, a little over 2 mph, so I was at Chasm Junction (3.5 miles) around 6:15.  I stopped for about 10 minutes and visited with the 6 or 8 people who had stopped there, and then I was off again.  At 6:30, the sun came up and bathed everything in a beautiful alpenglow.  Unfortunately, the clouds swallowed up the sun in about 5 minutes so I didn't get any cool pictures.

Around 7:45 I made it to the end of the trail where the campsites are, at the start of the Boulderfield (5.9 miles from the TH).  There was only one tent there, and the occupants were moving around getting ready for their day.  At this point, the wind was picking up and the temperature had fallen to around 40 deg, and the sky was completely overcast.  I made a quick stop at the privy and set off across the Boulderfield.

At 8:30 I arrived at the shelter at the Keyhole (6.5 miles from the trailhead, 13,100 ft), and it was snowing like crazy.  The rocks were wet and slick, so I stopped at the shelter to see what the weather would do.  After a while, I met a guy name Bryan who was there with a friend.  After an hour and a half, it was still overcast and wet, and lots of people were turning back down the trail.  Several people had come back from the Ledges saying it was too slick for them.  Bryan and I had just decided to go see for ourselves when a young couple from Boulder showed up and started putting on their climbing harnesses.  Bryan and I looked at each other and said "Hey - they have a rope and know what they're doing.  Let's follow them."  So after they got all of their equipment on and organized, all five of us took off through the Keyhole and across the Ledges.  One other guy started out following us, but everytime I looked back to check on him he was further and further behind, with a seriously pained expression on his face.  After a few hundred yards, he turned around and we never saw him after that.

The Ledges were completely wet, with a couple of small patches of ice, but were easily navigable.  We just had to carefully place our steps and take our time.  Fortunately, we didn't get any more snow after we left the Keyhole.  It took us about 45 minutes to negotiate the Ledges, and then we entered to Trough.  The right side of the Trough was covered with a couple of inches of snow with ice underneath (very dangerous), and there was a fair amount of lighter snow-covered ice in the middle and left side, but again we just took our time and chose our steps (and handholds) carefully.  In 2 loooong, steep hours, we had climbed the Trough and negotiated around the chockstone at the top and were ready for the Narrows.

We decided to ditch our packs and make a quick dash to the summit (except for Bryan and his friend, who kept their's on).  This did make negotiating the couple of tight spots on the Narrows a little more comfortable, but it would have been easy enough with the pack on.  I was really surprised - much of what I read about the Narrows is completely misguided.  It is actually quite easy to cross (even if it was slick I don't think it would have been too difficult).  The view is certainly breathtaking, but the path is wide and there are plenty of handholds and footholds to keep you on the mountain with relative ease, though if you have a problem with heights this is not the place for you.  After about 15 minutes we were across the Narrows and headed to the HomeStretch.

The HomeStretch had some very thin ice on it in spots, but the rock was rough enough that we were able to ascend without too much difficulty in around 20 minutes or so.  At 1 pm, we were all on the summit!  Unfortunately, we were almost completely in the clouds, so we couldn't see too much.  We signed the register and rested for 20 minutes or so and headed back down after I called Lori on the cell and let here know I made it.

Whoa!  Going down the HomeStretch is harder than going up, at least when it is slick.  I ended up kind of slowly skiing down the difficult sections on my feet while in a crouching position (so I didn't have far to fall onto my behind ).  A little more than half an hour and we were back at the top of the Trough with our packs, eating lunch.  By this time, the clouds were completely gone and we were privileged to enjoy some incredible views.

The trip back down the Trough and across the Ledges was uneventful, and easier than going up since the rocks were dry and most of the ice had melted in the middle and left side of the Trough.  We were back at the shelter at the Keyhole at 4.  After 10 or 15 minutes of visiting, I said goodbye to my new friends and headed down the trail.  Fortunately, for me at least, I left just in time.  A T-storm started brewing in the North and I ended up almost jogging down the trail to get to treeline before it got to me.  I was just past the Alpine Brook bridge when the first thunderclap came from directly above me.  I was a little concerned, knowing the my new friends were way behind me on the trail and above Timberline during the storm.  Fortunately, the lightning seemed to be confined to the clouds so I figured they were OK.

A quick 40 minutes took me the last two miles in the hail and rain to the TH, where I signed out (at 6:58 pm) and jumped into the truck where Lori and the kids were waiting to take me back to the camper.  I made it! - car to car in 14 hours and 13 minutes, 15 miles with 1 mile of elevation gain.  Here are the pictures:



The Trailhead sign (during the daytime)



Rebecca at Chasm Junction on the Tuesday before my ascent



Me trying to get the latch to work on the 'Sky Potty' at Chasm Junction



Here's a great shot of Peacock Pool, Ship's Prow, Mount Meeker, and the couloir leading to the Loft,
taken from Chasm Junction



A closeup of Peacock pool from Chasm Junction



A shot of the Diamond and North Face from the trail before the BoulderField



The Keyhole from close to the end of the trail.  If you look close you can see the Privy in the lower center.



One of the tent sites at the start of the Boulderfield.  The rocks are stacked up to help block the fierce winds
that often blow up here.


Bryan (red pack) and the climber from Boulder



Awesome view of Glacier Gorge from the bottom of the Trough



View of snow/ice on the right side of the Trough



Here's me at shortly after we entered the Trough - just follow the Bullseyes and you'll eventually get there ;-)

This is the start of the Narrows, the narrowest part.  The fog at this point was
good, since it blocked the view of the 2000 foot dropoff on the right.


Here's the proof - the obligatory Summit photo



Bryan's friend had a nasty fall trying to get over the chockstone at the top of
the Trough.  Ow - that lump stuck out almost an inch from his shin.


Preparing to leave the Summit in the fog







Going down the HomeStretch in the fog



A quick look at a small, unnamed lake close to Keplinger's lake, seen from the bottom
of the HomeStretch.



An awesome rock formation called the Pallisades that blocks the view of the South side routes
up Longs.  That's Mt. Meeker and part of the Loft in the background.


A great shot of the HomeStretch from the bottom.



Here is Pagoda Mt. and the saddle called the "Keyboard of the Winds"



Another shot of the Keyboard of the Winds



Back across the Narrows





Just follow the crack and you won't fall off ;-)



An awesome frozen waterfall about halfway down the Trough





Here's a good clear view down the Trough into Glacier Gorge



Here's the hardest spot on the Ledges.  There is about 10-15 ft of smooth
rock to the right of the bottom bar and then a serious dropoff.


As near as we can tell, the bottom bar is a foothold, and the top one is
a handhold.  We could have negotiated this without the bars, but were
certainly more comfortable having them there.


Chasm view and the North Face and upper part of the Diamond, taken from the BoulderField on the way back down.



I couldn't resist this shot of Mt. Ypsilon from the Boulderfield, with the storms starting to brew.