Longs Peak via the Keyhole

Longs Peak Hike via the Keyhole

My girlfriend, Shell, and I got out to RMNP about 5 days before our Longs Peak summit bid on 07-30-2010. This day was chosen due to the moon being a little past full. In this case – it’s high in the sky in the early morning hours and meant we wouldn't have to completely rely on headlamps.

The plan was to go up Clarks Arrow and down the Keyhole. With all the rain that week and knowing there are a couple class 4 moves in the down climb, in the gully, from the loft, that might be wet - we decided to play it safe and take the keyhole both ways.

I had some new hiking shoes. Day 1 they put some pretty decent blisters on the sides of both of my heels. It’s 08-04-2010 at the time of writing and they still haven’t… healed. So I switched over to the $40 Sketcher tennis shoes from Kohls that I wore out on the plane for the rest of my trip.

Day 1 we went up to Chasm Lake to scope out a possible ascent to the Loft. It didn't look as friendly as the Keyhole route. So, on 07-30 we left Longs Peak Trailhead at 2:49 AM remembering to make a right at the sign. Walking in the dark under a partial moon and the stars within your own little cone of light from your headlamp has a zen-like experience all its own. We both started with about 2 liters of water in our 3 liter camelbaks. We were trying to save as much weight as possible as we brought a water filtration system with us. I ran out of water once on the way up. Finding water wasn’t a big deal. There had been rain most every day we were out there and there were little trickles of runoff here and there that aren’t normally there when it’s drier. I added about a liter to my camelbak. We watched the sunrise somewhere near the boulder field. We weren’t breaking any speed records due to my feet. Near the homestretch we noticed a cloud starting to form or drift across the summit. It was 10:40 AM at this point. I thought maybe we should have turned around at this point. However, I had what I call “Summit Fever”. You know what it is. You feel like you have to push the envelope a little bit and make it. Six months in planning, lots of money spent on gear, cameras, plane tickets, etc. You really want to make it. The only things that seem to exist are you the rock and how much energy you have to deal with the rock. In my defense, there were a few other parties around and only one party turned back. They cited the wet homestretch from past rain and not the cloud on top. We made the summit at 11:00 AM. The excitement of making the summit was tempered by the lack of a view and knowing that we should be leaving sooner than later. By this time the cloud had gathered strength. We were completely fogged in on the summit. We weren’t able to get any pictures of the views – just pictures of each other. Most people were leaving the summit in a hurry. I signed the log and took a few pictures for some other parties and we started down by 11:20 AM. We were some of the last people to leave the summit. I remember one couple looked pretty hardcore. I thought they might leave via the cables route. They were the only ones that didn't seem to be moving with any sence of urgency. We were somewhere around the narrows when it started raining. Then came the hail. Small hail, thankfully. The rocks got soaked and became just a little slippery. At this point things started to get real. What I should have done was pull the raincoat out of my camelbak. But things like that, at altidue, seem to be a much bigger effort than it really is. Plus, I knew it would just delay us a bit longer. Besides, I was already wet and not really cold at that time because we were moving. So, the plan was to get to the Agnes Vaille Memorial shelter as quick as possible. We got off route – I think, more that once along the way. I guess we were in a hurry. Luckily, we were able to get back to the bulleyes. At one point I think we were about 40 or 50 feet low. Someone else had done the same thing because I could see foot prints between the rocks and I was looking down and kind of follwing those. Once we got to the shelter – I was soaked, cold, and running out of gas. Not a good combination. I got my breathable raincoat out and put it on. Thankfully, Shell already had hers on. She had put it on at the summit, as she was a bit cold up there. Sitting on the cold rock bench in the shelter wasn’t helping my core temp either – I don’t think. I tried to take a couple bites of a power bar. Each bite I was barely able to get down. I decided two bites was enough. One more bite and I probably would have had to start over. The plan was to eat once we made the summit. We would then let that food settle while we rested and checked out the views. The cloud cover changed those plans for us. Two guys from Texas coming down joined us in the shelter. One of their party decided not to summit and was waiting in the center of the boulder field. We could see him sitting down there, in the rain, in a tan rain poncho - looking like a tan colored boulder with a head on it. Even at this distance – he didn’t look happy. The Texas guys in the shelter had a radio. They would radio down to him asking him to bring up some water, telling him we were having a party and he was missing it – things like that. We all decided we would be laughing about this later. At times we already were but the situation was less than ideal.

After a while the rain let up a bit and became a light rain. We all decided we could deal with that and left the shelter. Once we got down to the flat area of the boulder field the rain picked up again and then the lightning and thunder started. This continued as we crossed the wide, flat boulder field. The shelter seemed too far back and too far up to turn around and go back to it. The boulder field was not the best place to be for lightning, however. I knew we were supposed to be hunkered down somewhere – but there really wasn’t any place good in the center of the boulder field. So we just moved on as quickly as possible to lose altitude. I kept waiting for the next strike to be for me, or worse - Shell. We took a more direct route across the boulder field and lost those Texas guys. I saw some tents in the boulder field and was glad I wasn't staying the night. About half way between the end of the boulder field and Chasm Lake the rain stopped, or we walked out it, and the sun even peaked out a bit. Everything we were wearing was wicking and designed for hiking or climbing. The exception to this was my shoes. They were soaked for the last 7 miles or so. My shirt dried out underneath my breathable REI raincoat. That raincoat was a life saver. I felt much better once I put it on. The trail from the boulder field on down was a small ankle-deep river. So it was either walk in the little river or walk on the tundra. We did both. On the way down I ran out of water again and we used the water filtration system to add about another liter to my camelbak. I then ran out of water again, miles later. I checked Shell’s camelbak. She still seemed to have plenty of water even though she had never refilled hers. So for the rest of the way down – I drank from hers when I needed to. The rain runoff on the trail soon ended and we eventually made it back to the trailhead 15 hours and 15 minutes after we started. Some of that time was spent in the shelter. Not really sure how much. My brand new Sketchers that had only been worn two days were literally falling apart by the time we made the trailhead. This underscores the need for proper hiking boots.

I looked at Shell’s Camelbak after the hike. It still had water in it. I poured it into a measuring cup where we were staying in Estes Park. It had 0.41 liters of water left. I probably drank at least a half a liter – maybe more. That would mean she made the summit and returned on 1 liter of water! That, to me, seems unbelievable. It took me about 4.5 liters. I was drinking whenever I got fairly thirsty - knowing we could always get more water. She was trying not to drink too much - siting a more difficult rest stop. How much water does it take to summit Longs Peak? I think a normal person would want at least 1 gallon of water to summit Longs Peak comfortably. That's about 3.8 liters. That would be 8.35 pounds of water alone. That's a lot of weight to add to a pack, in my book. Think four 32 oz bottles of Gateraid - it's a lot of volume too.

What was less than ideal:

Summit into a cloud
Summit with bad feet/bad shoes
Getting off route
Not getting a better weather report
Not put on a raincoat as soon as it started raining
Not eating
Not hunkering down during lightning


What we did right:

Camelbaks
Climbing gloves
Wicking hiking clothes
Breathable raincoats
Water filtration
Keeping our cool when things got dicey

What did we do to prep.? I did some hilly cycling and Shell went to the gym. The more prep. the better. Cardio. I've done numerous century and century plus bike rides in one day. The amount of energy expended and time spent, start to finish, to climb Longs Peak seemed to me to be roughly equivalent to a fairly flat 150 mile bike ride in one day. Of coarse, I'm more use to being on a bike than climbing mountians. Now I have to do Longs next year and take Clarks Arrow and hope for a view when/if I make the summit.

Tips and Random thoughts

There is a spot at the top of the trough that was a little sketchy to down-climb. I took my pack off and down-climbed it first. Shell dropped both our packs down to me - about a 10 foot drop. I caught them both. Then she down-climbed it. About 20 ft of nylon cord would have been nice for lowering packs vs. tossing them. Missing catching them may have meant they bounced down the mountain for a ways with the cameras inside.

Leave yourself some Gatoraid in the car. It may be warm but you will want it when you get back - especially if you run out of water several miles early. I would also leave your route details in the car in the event the Park Rangers have to break into it looking for clues if you're missing. I left mine in an envelope on the dash board. I would leave those details with someone that is expecting a call from you that evening or they are calling RMNP and/or 911. Details like: make and model of your car, plate number, trail head you parked at, route you were to take, time you started, time you expected to be back. Don't count on the log book alerting anyone. It's not being looked at. We got back to the car after the Ranger Station was closed. They have no idea if anyone is missing until they get a call saying so. Also, Shell and I can attest that the last half mile will be the longest one you'll ever walk.

There are so many opportunities for a single-point failure. A twisted ankle in your front yard is not as serious as one at fourteen thousand feet with no one else around and 7 miles from the car. You are really kind of hanging it out there a little bit. Whatever the odds are for a twisted ankle, lightning strike, hypothermia, attitude sickness, etc. - add them up and multiply that by the number of people in your party. It's no wonder, on average, one person dies per year and sixty people have to be rescued per year.

My Longs Peak Hike Bring List

What should you bring for a One Day Hike of Longs Peak? This is my Bring List for a One Day Hike of Longs Peak. Some of these items were split/carried between two people. You want to be as lite as possible but still have everything you need.

Wear List:

wiking hiking clothes and hiking shoes

Bring List:

Camelbak with 2 liters of water vs. 3 to save weight
Water Filtration (good idea to know where you will fill up in advance)
Hat
Sunglasses
Climbing Gloves for scrambling
knife
ligther
GPS
extra batteries
head lamp
extra wiking hiking clothes for extra layering or changing into
REI breathable raincoat
light weight Fleece jacket
high energy food
Energy bars/gel
Chap Stick
small monocular-type Telescope
small Camera
Dishtowel (this can be used to wipe sweat, stop bleeding, etc.)
Phone (you won't have a signal unless near a summit - even then - iffy)
Map of area
Compass
Advil
Excedrin
Watch
Sun screen
minimal first aid
small amount of duct tape (you can wrap this around a water bottle)
small amount of TP incase the one bathroom on the way is out

Images

View Longs Peak via the Keyhole Image Gallery - 13 Images