Longs Peak: Confusion on the Ledges

Carly and I left Moab, Utah on July 27th and headed for our next destination, Aspen, Colorado, so that we would be in position to attempt a series of 14'ers during the following week. After a brief stop at the Rockslide Brewery in Grand Junction, Colorado (which makes an excellent sandwich called the Hot Italian), we drove an additional two hours to Aspen. On the way, we came up with the crazy scheme that we might as well head to Longs Peak that night and make a summit attempt. And that's just what we did after checking in to our Aspen hotel. Upon arrival in Boulder, Colorado, we decided to kill a bit of time at The Corner Bar. I downed a cup of chowder and then we were on the road again, ascending up Highway 7 toward the Longs Peak trailhead.

At 11:15pm on July 27th Carly and I began our uphill hike towards Longs. Hiking this trail at night always seems to go by fast. Soon, views of the Denver metro area city lights appeared, and before we knew it we were above treeline. We kept slogging upwards toward The Boulder Field, which was a nightmare to tackle in the dead of night. Finally The Keyhole came in to view...a slightly less dark feature silhouetted against a starry black background. It towered menacingly above us, and upon reaching this iconic hiking landmark, a black chasm lay beneath our feet...Glacier Gorge.

It was now around 3-4 am. We carefully began traversing along the ledge section of Longs Peak, making exposed class 2-3 moves on occasion. We then reached a section of The Ledges, which in hindsight we should have descended in order to reach The Trough. However, it was pre-dawn, and we couldn't locate the yellow-orange guide dots painted on the rocks. We searched and searched for the correct route, but we just couldn't find it. In addition, an upper-level disturbance was quickly advancing toward our area. The wind increased dramatically and clouds were rolling in. After waiting for 15 minutes in hopes of another party strolling by to serve as guides, and seeing that no one was going to come, we decided to turn around and start moving back to The Keyhole, if for nothing else than to avoid hypothermia. The mountain rejected our summit attempt this time, but we both vowed to return and finish the hike in the future.

Google map location is here.