Bit off more than we could chew. Date: July 4th, 2013.
Scariest 14er so far. Friends of ours in Boulder invited us
to climb Longs for the 4th of July. Since this one is in Rocky
Mountain National park, Cody wasn’t allowed. We had heard Longs was more
technical than the other routes we’d done, but we had no idea just how
technical it was. Or how deadly. On average, 2 people die on Longs every year!
The first
part of the route was gorgeous, winding up tame switch backs that were
perfectly runnable. The day was perfect, and we hoped the weather would
continute to hold as we got to the top.
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| What a perfect day to hike! |
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| A picture of Me! |
The first
main part of the trail takes you up to the boulder field, just above tree line
where you hop and scamble over giant boulders to continue on the route.
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The Boulder Field
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| The view looking out from the Key Hole |
After the
boulder field, you make a quick ascent to the Key Hole. I thought this was
supposed to be the scariest part of the route- but no, this just marks the
beginning of all the scary parts. At the key hole, we stopped to eat a snack,
including some yummy potatoes.
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| Potatoes = Yum |
From the
key hole, you begin another stretch called ‘The Narrows’. You follow these
bulls-eye signs that mark the ‘trail’. And yes, I put trail in quotes, because
this is not a trail, this is precariously walking on rock ledges on the edge of
a 1000 foot fall. There are only a few spots where 1 mis-step will lead to
death, but for the rest of the route, if you trip a little bit, you don’t have
much room for error.
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| Ryan navigates the Narrows |
Finally,
after what felt like hours of slow, slippery progress on the edge of a cliff,
we got to an area called ‘the Home Stretch’. From here, it’s just 100 feet up
an 80% grade ‘wall’ to the top. At this point, about half of the people around
us were turning around because there was still a lot of snow, ice and water on
the rocks, making it a very slippery ascent. Without the proper shoes, you
could easily slip and fall of the ledge, toppling down another 500-1000 feet.
Ryan was up ahead of me, on the wall, and I could see he was not having a fun
time- his feet were slipping and we was stuck on a ledge. I decided I wasn’t
going up- my shoes were slipping all over the place, and I didn’t have any
confidence I could trust my feet to not slip away from me. Oh, and another
thing- I’m TERRIFIED of heights. I hadn’t really noticed this before, since
I’ve never been up on a ledge on any of our previous climbs. But up here, at
14,200 feet, on a ledge with a 1000 foot drop- I was starting to have a panic
attack.
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| The Home Stretch- there's Ryan, stuck on a ledge |
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| See that little bulls-eye marking? That's the route. Those little rocks- that's the trail |
We finally
got turned around, and could start slowly making our way down these crazy rocks
and ledges. Coming back down was harder than going up, because the force of
gravity was working to push you over the edge and down the side of the cliff.
My hands were getting sore and torn up from using them so much. This was not a
very fun time.
Finally, we
got back to the Keyhole and the Boulder field, and everyone from our group was
still in one piece. Three of us made it to the summit, while 3 of us decided to
turn around. I do not regret my decision. The following week, a kid from Missouri
fell to his death, right where I was the most scared.
The trail
back down was great- perfectly runnable, and I was in much better spirits. We all had a really good time running together. I'm not sure if I'll go back to summit Longs. I haven't been terrified of heights since the trip. If I go back, I will definitely bring gloves to protect my fingers on the rocks, and shoes with rubber soles (not plastic- I was wearing Asics get fuiji trail racers- the wrong shoe for wet rocks).
Overview:
The first 5 miles up to the Keyhole are all wonderfully runnable
single track, with a steady switch back grade, and not too many technical
areas. Past there, it’s all climbing.
Elevation Profile:
Elevation Profile:
