Longs Peak // Running Colorado's Deadliest 14er
Longs peak is one of the most popular 14ers in colorado and the only one in Rocky Mountain National Park. It also happens to be somewhat technical past the iconic "Keyhole" formation and exceptionally long, coming in around 14 miles round trip. Because of the combination of ease of access and technical difficulty, it is one of the deadlier peaks in the state, seeing a heightened number of rescues and accidents compared to most other areas. When we heard there would be crowds, we decided to meet at 2:00 AM in Boulder and get there early to beat them. We were very much off on this estimate and ended up having to park almost a half mile from the true trailhead. on the way up we passed hundreds of people and continued flying by the conga line all the way to the summit. The views were spectacular and the climbing was fun and flowy but taking the most popular route may have been a mistake because of the lines comparable to disneyland on some of the narrower sections.