Longs Peak

We hiked Longs Peak in RMNP from the Longs Peak Trailhead on August 10, 2009.  This was our big goal for the summer and our first fourteener, and had been planning for it for quite some time.  We started our hike at 2 in the morning, since we knew it would be a long one that needed adequate time.  It was dark for the first few hours until the sun came up around 5 AM.  the sunrise was beautiful, and by this point we had made it about 5 miles in, not quite to the Boulderfield.  We got to the Boulderfield, which was 5.9 miles from the trailhead, and we looked up towards the Keyhole, which was 6.2 miles away from the trailhead.  That .3 of a mile was killer.  Hiking over huge boulders is hard on your legs, so by the time we got to The Keyhole, we were already exhausted.  We looked on the other side to see what was left to get to the summit, and decided that we were much too tired to safely attempt the remaining mile.  We hiked 13 miles that day, with a 3750 foot incline.  It was a very difficult hike.  On the way down, we were amazed to see the same lady from Philadelphia that we had seen on Flattop, so we stopped and said hello, and chatted for a few moments and were back on our way down.  Maybe someday, we will go back and summit the peak, but we will try some easier fourteeners until that time comes.