A little over a year ago my brother and I set out on a hike that would take us to the top of Longs Peak. The night before we hiked it the first snow of the year hit the mountain making all the routes extremely technical due to the layer of snow and ice that covered the stony path to the summit.We made it past the boulder field and through the keyhole, but once on the other side of the keyhole snow and ice got really bad, forcing us, and many other hikers to submit to the mountain, give up, and go home.
Since then I've wanted to revisit the mountain. I had planned to hike it tomorrow with my brother. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen.
I recently injured one of my ribs, leaving me in a lot of pain when I try to breath, laugh, sneeze, cough, etc. I figured climbing the boulder field, which required some arms and legs would be a bit much.
Plus, when I called the Back Country Ranger Station to get conditions for the mountain; they reported that all routes on Longs Peak have snow and are are now classified as "technical."
Well, I won't be hiking Longs tomorrow. Instead, I'll be hiking Grays and Torreys.
The weather is suppose to be beautiful so I hope to get some great pictures while I'm up there.
I just finished packing my backpack. I'm only carrying the bare minimum to keep the pack light and to keep some of the pressure from the backpack off my ribs.
Tomorrow will be one of the few times I look forward to waking up early on a work day. Instead of work I'll be enjoying a beautiful day in the high country! With any luck I'll double my goal of hiking just one 14er this year and summit both Grays and Torreys.
*Image of Longs Peak taken during my summit attemp last year.
2 comments:
Mission Accomplished. I hiked both Grays and Torreys Peaks. It was a great day to do it! I'll post pictures and a trail report soon.
Sweet! Glad you made it :) G & T were our first and we had a blast.
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