Longs Peak via the Keyhole

Climbing Longs Peak on 9/11/2011

Is the Longs Peak 2011 non-technical season ending? That's what I was trying to find out. I stopped in at the Longs Peak Ranger Station and asked about conditions and the Park Ranger just snapped back "It's technical!" and nothing more. I realize he's probably sick of answering that question a hundred times a day. I also realize that if there is any snow or ice anywhere on the route - RMNP considers it technical, but a little more info. would have been nice. I went outside and asked some parties just returning and they gladly gave me the info. - a little ice on the homestretch, but avoidable - a little ice and snow in the trough, but also avoidable. So anyway, after checking the weather reports (for the fourth day in a row), the alarm went off at 11:00 PM that night. We were hiking by 12:20 AM. Luckily, we had the right gear as it was cold, at times breezy, at times a little sleet, at times a little rain, at times perfect weather. The hike up through the tree line was less than fun - as usual. Once we got to the trough - we did see the ice and snow. It was avoidable for the most part. Also, some ice on the homestretch - again avoidable for the most part. If I stepped in snow - it wasn't anywhere dangerous. We had been keeping an eye on the peak for several days now. Usually by 10:30 AM there was a cloud over the top that seemed to stick there all day. Last year we summited Longs into a cloud. We really didn't want to do that again. With this in mind we decided to leave very early. We wanted to go the loft route this year but it looked like it was full of snow. We took the keyhole and made the summit by around 9:30 AM and probably hung out around an hour. Not sure, I haven't checked my GPS on that one yet. No cloud for the entire time we were up there and the temp. was great and it wasn't windy. However, we did see some clouds that looked like they were rolling in. They were. We got a very tiny amount of sleet in the boulder field and we got a very small amount of rain heading toward Chasm Lake turn off. Coming back down through the Keyhole we ran into someone with a knee injury. He said he couldn't move it and he was way up at the Agnes Vail shelter. We told him we'd report it and I told several parties I passed to check on him an try their cell phone from the keyhole or summit to get the word out. My girlfriend didn't feel well from pretty early on during this trip and it only got worse. So she started slowing down in a big way. We didn't make it back to the trail head until 6:10 PM. That's almost 18 hours of fun. Historically, I have been the weakest link on these things - which is cool (if not a little humbling) because the only way it doesn't get done is if I can't do it. We met this guy on the way on the way down that said he made the summit in only a few hours. He didn't have much more than water with him. Also, met a nice lady at the start of the home strech. I was digging in my pack looking for energy gel. She asked what I was looking for. I told her and she offered up some of hers. Very cool. When we got back, a Park Ranger was still at the Longs Peak TH just locking up. We reported the issue and she told us someone called from a cell phone and said that the knee was now wrapped and that he was going to try and make it down under his own power. Speaking of drama, coming down through the trough we saw what looked like blood on the rocks. It was at the bottom of a decent sized drop.

My girlfriend is sleeping up a storm now - if she's not dead... Nope, she was sleeping. That's my bad.

We took a water filtration pump with us. We started with about 2 liters in our Camelbacks (to save weight). We pumped another 2 liters a piece before the boulder field. We ran out on the way back and pumped another two a piece on the way down. There are numerous places to fill up. None after boulder field - unless it's runoff.

Images

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