A year ago, a couple of my friends and I challenged ourselves to climb Long's Peak in the summer of 2009. After a couple of months, the thought was only mentioned with a chuckle at such a foolish thought. Then, the chuckle became a "hmm...," then "wow," then "okaay. :-/" And whaddya' know? Two of us (along with a bunch of friends) made it to the top! [not before we had more than a few "less than desirable" thoughts of my dad & Mr. O'Hair for being the ones to convince us to do this crazy thing, though.]
All of the difficulty is behind us now, however, and the exhilaration of meeting this incredible goal is what takes the most space in our minds. That's right, we climbed one of Colorado's "Fourteeners!" (14,259 feet, to be exact!) Long's Peak required about the most physical effort that I have ever given to one challenge. Of course, by default then, it was also one of the most rewarding challenges, too. I hope you enjoy some of our pictures, videos, and commentary.
There she is! Beautiful, but imposing, to be sure!
Altitude Acclimation Exercises! We hiked around a bit at 12,000 feet elevation the day before to get a feel for the higher altitude.
Okay, so we don't look that hot, but this is 1:30 IN THE MORNING!!!
Signing in @ the trailhead to Long's Peak.
Looking good a little ways up the trail!
About 1/2 way up the trail, we finally saw light...well, other than our headlamps!
The dreaded Boulder Field!
The Keyhole is so beautiful!
And the view behind it is even more stunning!
The Ledges
Finally, the Homestretch! This is arguably the most difficult part of the climb. While this picture slightly skews the actual angle of the climb, it does great justice to how the climber feels while finishing up this last little bit of the climb.
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