Stumbling by torchlight under a starless, moonless sky along a snow-drifted trail through pitch black forest in eerie silence I eventually emerged in the dim, grey light of dawn onto open tundra extending above the timberline.
A long, gradual ascent crossing rushing streams wound upwards and around the imposing Mount Lady Washington to gain an extensive, level, boulder field. Breakable crust on deep, soft snow made progress difficult but this was offset by the allure of the huge rock monolith of Long's Peak - the "Matterhorn" of the Colorado Rockies - rising abruptly at the far end of the plateau. On its eastern side was the immense, vertical wall of the Diamond Face.
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Long's Peak from the Boulder Field |
Across the plateau an awkward scramble on large, slippery boulders gained the "Keyhole", a notch in the rocky ridge connecting Long's Peak with the adjacent Storm Peak. Through the gap the South Face plunged abruptly into the deep, icy chasm of Glacier Gorge. On the opposing side towered the sheer rock walls of the Chief's Head Peak. Ominous black clouds swirled around its bald top - portents of possible thunderstorms.
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Chief's Head Peak |
Abandoning aspirations of an attempt on Long's Peak I retreated to the plateau and instead kicked steps up easy snow slopes to the summit ridge of Storm Peak ( 13,326' ) to achieve a consolation prize and a superb viewpoint. Extending from the nearby Chief's Head Peak were the lesser tops of the Front Range - part of the Continental Divide - while directly below stretched the narrow trench of Glacier Gorge with its string of silvery, ice-bound lakes. Across the boulder field loomed the majestic Long's Peak - at 14,255' the monarch of the Front Range and the reigning "fourteener" of the Rocky Mountain National Park - fully exposed in all its glory as the black clouds had now fortunately, but frustratingly, dissipated.
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Long's Peak from Storm Peak |
On the way down I contoured round beneath Mount Lady Washington to visit the secluded Chasm Lake nestling in a rocky amphitheatre at the foot of the awesome, 1,000' Diamond Face - one of the renowned "big walls" of American climbing rivaling those of Half Dome and El Capitan in California's Yosemite Valley.
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Diamond Face of Long's Peak above ice-bound Chasm Lake |
With a few days in hand I relocated to the pleasant campgrounds in the wooded meadows of Moraine Park with a fine outlook over to Long's Peak and an excellent base for hikes along well signposted trails to picturesque lakes and waterfalls amid the spectacular mountain landscape of the Colorado Rockies.
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Hallet Peak above ice-bound Bear Lake |
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