The rising sun illuminated not only mountains, but also memories as I looked long and longingly at this magnificent mountain. Longs Peak, in its morning glory looked similarly to this when my dad and I emerged from the forest to the boulder field in 1963 when we climbed it together. It was very important to get an early start, and twilight had not yet appeared on the horizon as we walked up the forested path in limited moonlight.
After making it through the boulder field we skirted the vertical east face, known as “The Diamond,” and went up the Cable Route where a thick cable had been bolted into solid rock to assist climbers up the final, steep pitch. Dad had to help me a bit on this part, but we reached the flat-topped summit in fine shape.
After adding our names to the roster in the stone cairn at the top and taking in the views, we began our descent down the steep south side to the narrows, where we followed pained blaze marks along a slim passage across a nearly vertical cliff that would tolerate no missteps. Finally, about a mile and a half from the summit, we returned to the north side of the mountain through a deep notch in the ridge, with ragged overhanging rock, known as the Keyhole. Next to it was a rock shelter that had been built after several climbers had died of exposure in the 1950’s.
The rest of the trip was just a steep hike back down to the forest and on to the campground. We had made the 15 mile round trip to over 14,000 feet elevation and back in good shape, and it was a journey that I will never forget.
#longspeak #hiked #14000feet #mountain #estespark
Eskildoodle Photos and Feelings 