One of many
trip reports under the
SilGro home page for Alan Silverstein and Cathie
Grow.
Email me at
ajs@frii.com.
Last update: July 25, 2024
(Previous trip report: 1985_0512_BearPeak.htm)
(Originally posted to internal newsgroup:
hpfcla:hpnc.general/ajs / 2:10 pm Jun 17, 1985)
Sunday, June 9: We got a late start -- 0730 from Fort Collins, 0900 at the parking lot (Longs Peak Ranger Station, 9400') in Rocky Mountain NP. Dave Landers, his brother John Landers, and I marched pretty quickly up the trail. There was very little snow to cross, just a couple of drifts near timberline. Longs Peak was melting off about three weeks ahead of schedule, according to a park ranger. (Last year it was non-technical on August 1.)
After Chasm Junction we cross-countried up the east slope of Mount Lady Washington, which was tedious but easy going. We reached the summit, 13281', at 1230. The view from the top was spectacular, looking down at Chasm Lake and across to Mount Meeker, the Diamond, Longs Peak, the Keyhole, and Storm Peak (across the Boulderfield). There was a lot of running water, and melting snow on the rocks.
The weather was very clear all morning but it clouded up quickly. By 1310 when we started to cross to a smaller west summit of the mountain there was already lightning a mile or two away. Near the second summit we got "buzzed" (audible noises, hair on end, the whole bit). That was the end of that, we started down straightaway. -- Well not exactly, they had to talk me out of waiting it out in a narrow crack in the rock! I didn't realize about spark plug gaps yet.
And we got rained on heavily all the way back to the parking lot. We were exposed to lightning a lot longer that I would have liked, that is, two hours just to get back to timberline. We went via Jims Grove; the bowl as very marshy and it was hard to follow the trail.
Sunday, June 16: A week later Andy Goris, Andy Barlow, and I started out very early. We met at sunrise (0530) and were at the Glacier Gorge Junction trailhead (9200') at 0700. The parking lot was already half full of hikers and climbers. [2024: What a difference then from now, when the lot fills up much earlier, despite being greatly enlarged, and even with timed entry permits required. When it's full you must leave your car at the Park&Ride and take a free shuttle bus!]
We went up past Alberta Falls, which was running stronger than I'd ever seen it, a powerful sluice racing down a narrow chute. We followed a sort of trail up the creek that cut a lot off the winding and twisting of the main trail.
Just over the bridge east of the creek, above the falls, we started up cross-country on the north slope of Half Mountain (11480'?) It was a steep, difficult climb at first, but around timberline it got much nicer. We arrived on top at 0835 -- I was amazed that we did the first 2300' of the climb in just an hour and half! From the summit we got a nice look down Glacier Gorge, including Black Lake, and up to Longs Peak over Storm Peak.
From there we dropped a couple of hundred feet through bramble and twisted trees to the saddle south of the summit, and then proceeded up a long, but very easy and enjoyable, winding ridge above timberline to the top of Storm Peak (13326'). The rocks were nice-sized and firm, with lots of shelter and not too much tundra. By staying on the east side we avoided most of the 40-80 mile/hour winds blowed steadily from the northwest! We reached the top at 1050, not bad at all (3:50 for a total gain of about 4300').
Storm Peak was the drop-off point of Longs Peak's northwest ridge. From the top we saw much the the same view east and west as from the Keyhole, but a different and interesting panorama of Longs and the Boulderfield.
After an hour we traversed south to the Keyhole (not easy if you try not to lose elevation). The wind must have been coming through at 100 mph, just about enough to lift you into the air! We rested below the shelter cabin, which was still full of snow.
From here at 1225 we split up, unfortunately not to rejoin until back at the car. Andy & Andy went down, across, over and up to the Mount Lady Washington saddle, then up to the summit. I hacked and plowed my way across the soft, steep snow of the Dove (the snowfield above the Boulderfield), then up to Chasm View. This was the high point where the MLW ridge joined the bulk of Longs Peak, at the right hand corner of the Diamond, just below the Cable Route up the north face. It required a lot of careful, tedious stair-stepping up steep, treacherously-soft snow to get there. The view was almost worth it though, looking down the Chasm, and across the Diamond.
Descending from Chasm View at 1335 was a quick ride down the snowfield. By 1405 I was at the MLW saddle; no sign of Andy & Andy. I strolled down the trail to Granite Pass; still nobody around. We had decided earlier to take the North Longs Peak Trail down, so I did. This was a very nice, gradual, gravel path along the west side of Battle Mountain, into many long switchbacks through some gorgeous timberline forest. Eventually (about two miles down from Granite Pass) I reached the Boulder Brook junction, and three miles later I was back at the bridge above Alberta Falls. Another mile or two took me back to the trailhead.
All told we did about 4800' vertical and about 13 miles round trip! The loop was long but very interesting. There were remarkably few people on the mountain, I'd guess maybe a total of 20 the entire day in the Boulderfield area.
Contrast that with a Sunday in mid-August, when 300 people might pass the Keyhole in an hour! I didn't meet up with anyone between leaving the Keyhole and reaching the Boulder Brook trail.
The higher lakes, such as Chasm Lake, were still frozen over. Black Lake was about half clear. Streams and creeks were running at full volume, and the trails were wet in many sections.
(Next trip report: 1985_0630-0703_Castle,MaroonPeaks.htm)