Longs Peak - September 29th, 2003

 Note: this report was written from memory February 23rd, 2004
Longs Peak is one of only four Front Range fourteeners. It is also the closest to my house, yet I had never climbed it. It seemed with Angi and my recent experience, we were ready. Looking for a bit more adventure, we chose to attempt the Loft Route.
Two weeks prior, we had climbed Mt. Massive, so we thought we had a handle on conditions. However, we were not aware of the notorious Longs Peak verglas. We arrived at the trailhead just before 3am. It was quite cold, but not unreasonably so for late September. I checked the trail conditions on the board at the trailhead, which stated Longs had now become a technical climb on all routes, due to winter conditions.
We had our ice axes, and I had just spoken via email with someone from summitpost who had been on the Loft Route a week prior, and he said it was passable. We followed the trail as it climbed steadily through the dark, cold forest. We did not see any other people below timberline.
Once we had broken timberline, we could see the headlamps of other climbers near the base of Mt. Lady Washington. When the trail split, we headed off toward Chasm Lake at about 5am. It was pretty erie looking down off the dropoff on the south side of the trail to Chasm Lake, since I had never been there before, I could not see how far down it was, only that the beam of my headlamp slowly faded off into the darkness.
By the time we had reached the Ranger Cabin, we were greeted with the first glimmer of morning light, and a brisk cold wind. We continued up into the steep gully which leads to the loft. Soon, we could see a fair amount of ice high in the gully. I was not sure of the exact route, so I was not too terribly concerned. We could also see a few climbers ahead of us, which made me a bit more optimistic.
When we reached the first of the ledges that lead up into the loft, we found there was a significant amount of ice. Not only on the ledges, but in large waterfall formations as well. I was able to cross the section pictures, but Angi was not sure of her footing, and did not want to continue. Unsure of what lie ahead, I agreed it was probably not safe to continue without crampons.
Dissappointed, we headed back down the gully toward Chasm Lake. We sat down for a bit, ate some food, and tried to keep warm. The early morning sun was losing the battle against the cold wind, and we did not stay long. I must say, the view of the diamond from Chasm Lake is incredible. I would highly recommend going there sometime, as the standard Keyhole Route does pass through this area.
Just below Chasm Lake, we passed the new Ranger Cabin, and the remains of the old cabin. The old cabin was destroyed in an avalanche. We saw the remains of the old cabin strewn about the meadow below Chasm Lake. It was amazing to see how this old, stone cabin had been completely obliterated by the avlanche. The cabin was painted white, and you can easily identify the debris in the photo.
What followed was a long, uneventful descent to the car. There were quite a few people headed up the trail, many of which were not headed for the summit. I was quite surprised to see how crowded it was, even during the off season. We plan to come back to longs, but we'll make sure to try an alternative route, or a weekday to avoid too many others on the route.