Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park

Longs Peak - Rocky

Mountain National Park

Longs Peak -

Rocky Mountain

National Park

Colorado

September 9, 2023

This was my fourth time visiting Estes Park and I had always taken note of the massive, jagged peak that towers over the town.

This mountain is Longs Peak, a very iconic peak that stands alone as the only 14,000 foot peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. A part of Colorado’s Front Range it is one of the most popular and challenging class 3 climbs on the 14,000 footer list with some fun exposure and lots of scrambling. It tops out at an elevation of 14,259 feet.

The view of Longs Peak summit and "The Diamond" from the boulder field at sunrise. We would approach from the keyhole all the way to the right and wrap around the back of the mountain.

Brian and I were sipping coffee around 2:15am and starting up the trail by 3:15am.

We thought that arriving at the trailhead by 3am would ensure parking in the actual lot, but we still ended up about a quarter mile back on the side of the road. Coloradans are just different.
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The first 4 miles and 3,000 feet were chilly and uneventful. The trail was easy on the knees and the temperature dropped and the wind picked up dramatically as we ascended above the trees towards the boulder field. That first, orange light on “The Diamond” was absolutely stunning as the mountain came into view.

A view of Longs Peak taken from a hike in Estes Park the previous year, looking back across the boulder field at sunrise, and the approach across the boulder field towards the Keyhole.

By the time we crossed the boulder field and reached the famous Keyhole the sun was up above us.

The wind was whipping through the keyhole as we climbed up and over (a small moment of stress that our entire exposed ascent would feel this way) but thankfully we were back under the cover of the mountain as we wrapped around the back of the peak.

The trail was well marked with the yellow and red bullseyes. The hundreds of other people on the mountain certainly helped as well. A Ranger would later tell us this was the busiest he’s ever seen the trail due to the ideal weather window later in the season and the frost that had lasted through mid July.

After 30 minutes or so from the Keyhole we reached “The Trough” and there’s no sugar coating this, it just sucks. A sustained, rugged couloir with lots of loose rock that just kills the knees (especially on the way down). At the top of The Trough is probably the biggest climbing move of the day before entering “The Narrows".

The Narrows is a ton of fun. Lots of exposure on this short traverse but plenty of solid hand holds and placements for the feet.

One more steep climb up a few massive rock slabs followed (with plenty of cracks for hand and foot placements) before we arrived at the summit around 9am after a 5.5 hour ascent.

The summit is massive! I thought it might be a singular sharp point but there is loads of space to spread out and enjoy the view of Estes Park and the surrounding mountain ranges. After some snacks we started the long hike down. Everything below the Keyhole looked entirely different in the sun and we saw loads of hikers ascending both to the summit and to the lower Chasm Lake. I had torn a massive hole in my hiking pants sliding over some boulders on the descent so I had a half-assless-chaps-look going on.

In total the hike took us just under 10 hours, 14.5 miles, and 5,500 vertical feet. Here's a link to the AllTrails map