Rocky Mountain National Park - Longs Peak

A before-the-crack-of-dawn assault on the northern-most Front Range fourteener, Longs Peak. 


Time: 4:32
Distance: 14 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny & Warm


The stars definitely aligned for this run. Brandon was considering a run up Longs Peak and I was camping in Rocky Mountain National Park and planning an early Sunday morning run. Around 7 p.m. Saturday night, the plan was set. Meet at the Longs Peak Trailhead at 4:15 a.m. and go for a run.

Longs Peak from a viewpoint along Highway 7 

I'd been up Longs once before, perhaps 10 years ago. A friend, Becca, and I hiked it one sunny October day in a year when the snows were way late. We started mid-morning, around 10 a.m. and finished the hike in the dark, mercifully coming across a pair of hikers that had the good sense to bring headlamps. We weren't so smart. And, as I recall, it was hard.


Fast forward a decade and Brandon and I are signing in at the trail register and heading up the trail in the dark (with headlamps) with plans to hit the summit in 2.5 hours and, for me, to be back at camp in time for a late breakfast. 


Brandon led off, setting a steady pace up through the forest with his new, super-bright headlamp illuminating the rocky and water bar-laden trail ahead. We passed several groups of not-terribly-friendly hikers (was it the early hour? Was it my stinky hat?) as we made our way up and out of the trees into the sub-alpine zone. As the trees disappeared below us and the sun began to crack the eastern sky, the hikers we passed got friendlier, which was a good thing because we were passing a .surprising number of hikers. These people had to have started their hikes before 3 a.m. That's way more impressive than running up a trail!


We soon hit the Chasm Lake junction and started cruising up the long, flattish sections bound for the Granite Pass trail junction. I was feeling really good this morning. Everything was clicking. Legs felt good,. The altitude was a non-factor.


Through this section, I took my turn leading the run about the time the sun began illuminating the sheer face of Longs. I gapped Brandon a bit in this section as he slowed to document the scenery and the morning in pictures and video. This was just as well as I managed to trip and hit the dirt, bloodying my elbow and hands and scrapping my left leg. No major damage, but I was happy to have this happen out of sight of other people.


We regrouped at Granite Pass and made quick, steady work of the switchbacks leading up to the Boulderfield.  On the approach to the Boulderfield, we came across Paul Smith, who was out training for Leadville, fresh off an impressive finish at Hardrock.

After a quick break at the privy here, Brandon and I set off on the slog up to the keyhole, where a phalanx of people were hanging out marveling at the views, the majesty and the accomplishment of getting this far. After a brief pause for the same, we made our way over to the Trough for the haul up to the Narrows.

At the Keyhole on a bluebird sky day.

Heading over to the trough just past the Keyhole

The Trough was tough. Looking up, it just looks hard...steep...rocky and daunting. Once in it, it's not so bad. The distance shrinks quickly with each step. Before we knew it, we are standing at the entrance to the Narrows. I remember thinking here how easy it would be for some altitude-affected person to lose their equilibrium here and take a fatal tumble.


Fortunately, we didn't have any such problems as we made our way to the last climb to the summit - the Homestretch.

Marching up the Homestretch

Via a series of cracks in the rock, we finished off the climb, meeting at the lip of the precipice and ran the last 30 meters over to the highpoint on the huge, rock-strewn and flat summit.


A few people called over to us inquiring about our ascent time and were suitably impressed with our 2:27 run/climb. Although tempted to point out that there are many folks that climb this mountain way faster than that, we kept our mouths shut and congratulated others on the accomplishment that is climbing this mountain.

The Summiteers

After 15 minutes or so on the summit and some more good conversation with Paul, we headed back down the way we came. The return down to the Boulderfield was uneventful, save for getting to hear a woman at the Keyhole marveling at the fact her cell phone had full bars! She called her mom. "Guess where I am!" Sigh.


Met a really nice FoCo runner just below the Keyhole. Forgot his name, but he knew from Brandon's blog that a run was in the works on the mountain today. 


By the end of the Boulderfield, Brandon and I were both very ready to run again. Even though it was only around 9 a.m., the sun was up and it was warming fast. I was glad we started this run so early. It was looking to be a hot one.


Down in the trees, about 1.5 miles above the finish, we came across Kraig out for a run. Learned later that Homie (whom I've yet to meet) also was on Longs a bit later this day. Definitely a small world.


Got back to the campsite just after 10 a.m., just in time to pack things up and head into Estes Park for some lunch while JP hiked up to the beautiful Odessa Lake from the Fern Lake Trailhead.  Another great weekend in the mountains.


Read Brandon's excellent write-up, complete with pics and video here.


Elevation gain: 5,542 feet.


Most of the pics courtesy of Mr. Fuller.

Rocky Mountain National Park - Fern Lake Trailhead

Early evening low elevation loop run from the Moraine Park Campground in Rocky Mountain National Park.  


Time: 1:10
Distance: 7.2 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny & Warm


Got up to Rocky Mountain National Park mid-day on Friday after a busy morning of work and packing. Definitely learned (again) that I need to get better organized so everything isn't always being crammed into the car at the last minute before camping trips. I envy the hyper-organized...


After a morning sojourn down the Cache le Poudre River just west of FoCo with four other families and their kids, we returned to the park and I snuck away for a bit o' the singletrack. 


From the campground, I ran the 1.5 miles over to the Fern Lake Trailhead and jumped on the Fern Lake Trail, which runs for about 1.8 miles along the Big Thompson River. Once I hit The Pool and the junction Cub Lake Trail junction, I hung a left and climbed up a few hundred feet, greeted a resting group of Boy Scouts and cruised by the lily pad-filled Cub Lake. 


Just as I was passing the lake, I flushed a rock ptarmigan on the right side of the trail. I stopped to watch it zip away and then saw another ptarmigan perched atop a boulder on my left. This one wasn't nearly as jumpy and pretty much stayed put as I slowly crept by just two feet away. Just past ptarmigan #2, I saw a pair of pint-sized ptarmigan chicks slinking around the logs and shrubs along the trail. A lovely wildlife moment.


From Cub Lake, the trail undulates through the forest before emerging at the Cub Lake Trailhead, about .75 miles east of the Fern Lake Trailhead. From here, it was an easy half-mile jog back to the campground where dinner was just about ready.  Perfect.

Troublesome Gulch - Bergen Peak Upper Loop

A busy work day meant I didn't get out for a run until late and that I'd be running a good bit of this one on the trails of Bergen Peak in the dark.


Time: 1:56
Distance: 12.33 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Cloudy & Cool


By the time the workday was wrapped up, errands had been run with the kids and I had a few minutes to catch up with JP, it was 7:45 p.m. Well, I'll take what I can get, so off I went.


I had on a long sleeve tech shirt, thinking it would be cool after the early evening rains we got today. By the time I'd cruised over to Lewis Ridge Road to make the descent down to the bottom of Troublesome Gulch, things had warmed up. From the water treatment plant, I followed the social trail over to the gulch and run up the gulch to Bergen Park.


After a quick stop at the rec center, I ran into Elk Meadow Open Space and over to Meadow View Trail. From here, it was the standard Bergen Peak upper loop, which is a combination of the Too Long Trail and the Bergen Peak Trail. Today, I climbed Too Long, running up by the quickly fading twilight and, a bit later, the near-full moonlight. I finally switched on the headlamp about five minutes from the intersection with the Summit Trail where the trees thicken up a bit making it difficult for the moonlight to penetrate.


I ran down the Bergen Peak Trail using the headlamp the rest of the way. While I really like running in the silence of the dark, I quickly get tired of running in the little light bubble. Makes me think about what the Pb runners will have to tolerate.


I had mountain lions much on my mind on the descent. The other night, JP and I were hanging out in our room around 10:30 p.m. when we heard the loudest screaming outside. It sounded like a woman screaming and the sound was coming from right outside our bedroom windows. At one point, we were looking out our bedroom window into the dark scanning for movement. The sound seemed to move to the east, so I ran over to our open bathroom window right as the loudest scream yet pierced the night silence - seemingly right outside that window. A chill went through my body and it literally felt like my hair was standing on end. The sound soon moved away and eventually ended.  I figured it was a mountain lion, and some subsequent online searches for sounds seems to confirm.


Click and listen:




So, on the way down I was thinking about those sounds just as I came around a dark bend. The headlamp caught a funny-shaped bush and, well, it scared the crap out of me. I had a sharp intake of breath, got the same chill and the feeling like my hair was standing on end. Never knew shrubbery could be so scary.

The good news...I didn't break stride, but I did spend a couple of minutes laughing at myself.

Made it back home via Meadow View and neighborhood access trails...safe and sound.

Elevation gain: 2,075 feet.

Alderfer-Three Sisters - Elephant Butte - Uphill tempo

Managed to squeeze in an afternoon run between thunder showers. Ran hard up Elephant Butte, a little-used, off-the-map Denver Mountain Park adjacent to JeffCo's Alderfer-Three Sisters Open Space park.


Time: 1:08
Distance: 6.06 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Cloudy & Cool


It started raining hard just as I was driving over to the upper parking lot trailhead at Jefferson County's Alderfer-Three Sisters Open Space park. Big ol' honkin' raindrops were smacking the windshield, making me wonder if I should scrap the run. But, since this is Colorado, I figured there was a good chance the downpour would end as quickly as it started, enabling me to get in a solid mid-afternoon run without getting soaked.


Right about the time I pulled into the parking lot, the clouds parted, patches of blue, followed by a warming sun appeared. And, off I went speeding down the Bluebird Trail into the lower half of Alderfer. Initially, I planned to run the outer loop of trails that ring this part of the park. However, at the bottom of the first descent, I had another idea as I gazed up at the rounded and rocky hulk of Elephant Butte. 

View from the house of Elephant Butte rising from behind the ridge above Bear Creek.  

It has been well over a year since I ran up this lightly-used, but prominently visible local mountain landmark. The butte isn't big, but it rises suddenly from the relatively flat Elephant Park that lay below its southern flanks. As Colorado's 3,383rd highest peak -- topping out at 8,405 feet, it ain't going to make anyone's life list, but it is local, it is steep and it's our local version of Boulder's Green Mountain, only smaller. It's got a lot of rocks, a bunch of step-ups, a little scrambling and amazing views to the west of the Evans group -- Mt. Evans, Mt. Rosalie, Mt. Epaulet and Mt. Spalding - and over to Bergen Peak to the north and Evergreen Mountain to the south. I'd go so far as to say it's among the best views in the county.


From one of the main trails in Alderfer, I located the faint track heading west that leads one up the eastern flank of Elephant Butte. The trail is unmarked, and somewhat hard to find from the Alderfer trail system. However, once the trail starts to climb, it improves. Someone has invested a bit of time cutting some downed logs, checking some erosion and very subtly marking the trail with mini cairns.


With the exception of one scramble, I ran the whole thing, hitting the split at 24:44 at the butte's highpoint on the western side of the rounded summit. For the hell of it, I'll make that the FKT from the Alderfer parking lot.


After a few minutes of scenery gazing, I descended a bit and found another likely marked trail that headed out across the southern shoulder of the large uprising that extends off Elephant Butte. I followed this trail over to another high point, then continued on south on a series of ever-fainter trails until I was dumped out on a dirt road that provides access to a few houses and ranches. From there, it was 1.5 miles of road running back to Alderfer. I then ran a quick loop around the Bluebird Meadow Trail to round out the mileage at just over six miles.


Elevation gain:  1,444 feet.