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Note: this page does not document my actual ascent of Longs in 1996. I did not have a camera then. I am planning to climb the peak again though, hopefully in 2016, and I will update this page at that time. Thanks for your patience.
During a period of fairly predictable heavy afternoon rains in July of 2007, Suzy and I decided to get an early start, to catch a little good weather, before it turned ugly, and hike up to Twin Sisters. Even at 8:15am, when this picture of Longs Peak and the Diamond face was taken, the clouds were already building up, and by the time we got to timberline, about 30 minutes later, the view was gone. Also seen in this shot is Mount Meeker on the left and Mount Lady Washington on the right.
Longs Peak Grand Slam
Saturday, April 8th 2006, hiking the Lawn Lake trail in Rocky Mountain National Park, Suzy spotted Longs Peak roughly 12 miles south of us. I pulled out the zoom lens and steadied the camera on a nearby log to get the shot below for later reference. That evening as I put the map away, having lost the argument over the exact orientation of the photo, I suddenly realized that the shot had captured all five peaks of the "Longs Peak Grand Slam", as described by Gerry Roach in his book "Colorado's Fourteeners: From Hikes to Climbs".
The Longs Peak Grand Slam ascends
Mount Meeker
first (back-left); summits
Longs Peak
second (center); then heads southwest over to
Mount Pagoda
(right); doubles back northeast along the Keyboard of the Winds, joining the Keyhole
Route down through the Keyhole and turning north to
Storm Peak
(front & center-right); then for the fifth and final peak, the route heads southeast to
Mount Lady Washington
(front-left). At this point the 6 or so mile descent back out to the trailhead will
either seem easy, or finish you off. While the total mileage is only "supposed" to be
about a mile longer than the classic Longs Peak Keyhole Route, the Grand Slam adds
another
2,300 feet to the
vertical gain, for a total of
7,300 feet.
Note: the Diamond of Longs is also visible, though shaded, on the east (left) side of
the peak.
Roach also suggests a combo called "The Radical Slam", which adds Battle Mountain, Estes Cone, and 50 pushups to the circuit; at this point though, I think Gerry knows where to slam it.
This shot of Longs Peak, taken January 26th - 2008 along the trail leading up to Flattop Mountain from Bear Lake, centers on the North Ridge leading down to Storm Peak, which appears to be the source of the plume, and Half Mountain. To the right, the Keyboard of the Winds forms the southwest ridge.
I took this shot of the south side of Longs Peak from the summit of Mount Orton, in the Wild Basin, July 21st, 2016. While it looks gnarly rough, the first documented ascent, on August 23, 1868, was accomplished on this side.
On September 9th, 2019, I wanted to summit Longs Peak again and get some pictures, like looking across the Keyboard of the Winds Ridge to Pagoda Mountain with Chiefs Head Peak in the background, and other cool stuff. However, while the weather forecast had looked good the day before, the mountains have their own weather, and Longs had a thin layer of fresh snow with a low cloud hanging over it. I wasn't getting any pictures even if I did summit, so the Keyhole was my turn-around point. Aproaching the Boulder field though, at 8:21 AM, a spotlight of sunshine broke through the clouds and highlighted the east Diamond Wall. At least I got one awesome shot.
Colorado's Fourteeners: From Hikes to Climbs
Colorado's Fourteeners: Companion Map Package with Cdrom and Map
National Park Service - Rocky Mountain National Park - Climbing and Mountaineering
