LONG'S PEAK EXPEDITION
Height: 14,261 feet
Location: Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park
Lat/Lon: 40.2547deg N, 105.6153deg W
(coordinates for all you pilots and Jeep owners)
The Long's Peak Trailhead is at 9,400 feet and provides access to the East Long's Peak Trail.
The Keyhole Route is by far the most popular route on the mountain. From the Long's Peak
Trailhead the route is a classic class 3 climb and measures 15 miles round trip with 5000' elevation
gain.This is a long, arduous ascent normally that gets quite difficult and even dangerous when
conditions are bad. Many people have died on this route. Summer storms can makes the
Homestretch quite slippery, and the Trough will normally require an ice ax through mid July.
The route spirals almost completely around the mountain and bailout descents will likely take you
down Wild Basin or Glacier Gorge and make return to the trailhead a difficult proposition. Even when
conditions are good the crowds make falling rocks a very real threat.
From the Trailhead follow the well marked trail 5.9 miles to the Boulder Field at 12,750'. Continue
southwest to the Keyhole at 13,150'. Be sure to follow the painted bull's-eyes marking from here.
Scramble on another .3 mile to the large couloir called the Trough. Climb the Trough to the Long's
west ridge. Save your strength for the last 1,000 feet, you will need it. Just before reaching the ridge
you must pass a chockstone, probably the most difficut move on the climb. At the top of the Trough
cross to Long's south side and travese across the south face along the exposed Narrows ledge.
Continue about 250 yards past the Narrows to the base of Homestretch. Cross the slabs carefully,
especially if they are wet. Past the Homestretch its a 100 foot walk up to the summit. Whew!
This route can be seen in Fig.1, follow the red path to Mills Moraine and take the green path through
the boulder field (see campsite) to the keyhole and around Long's south side.
Fig. 1
