[The Toninator]

Took a week off of the bike to do some high altitude training getting ready for BEND MONKEY FEST. I went from sea level to 14,259’ in less than 48 hours. I roxored Longs Peak (it in turn roxored me.) Spent the rest of the week chillin on some sweet back country hikin trails.
The first pic is from the edge of the Boulder Field just as the moon was setting and the sun was rising. Freakin awesome. (little blurry cuz I was breathing to hard to hold the camera still )
The second is from the summit.

 

[pigboy]

you sir are one crazy son of a bitch. I take my hat off and salute you!

 

[luelling]

Where at? I'm a bit surprised, that is close to the height of Ranier. BTW, good job

 

[The Toninator]

Where at? I'm a bit surprised, that is close to the height of Ranier. BTW, good job

Thorry! I forgot to even post where I was, I was tired when i got in but wanted to post something up.
That is Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. Colorado as 70-someodd 14K peaks. I've now hiked a total of '1' and driven to the top of another one - Pikes Peak.
It was awesome.

 

[Sherpa]

Thorry! I forgot to even post where I was, I was tired when i got in but wanted to post something up.
That is Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. Colorado as 70-someodd 14K peaks. I've now hiked a total of '1' and driven to the top of another one - Pikes Peak.
It was awesome.

Theres 54 Fourteeners.

 

[Big_Papa1080]

which way did you go up longs? the keyhole or the loft route?

 

[The Toninator]

sherpa - ok sure i forget. there's a lot thanks.
papa - KeyHole

It's taken all morning but I’ve finally gotten all the pictures together. I took 380 (a lot of redo's to try to get the color perfect - hard with that camera phone i'm using.) Also Arcsofts Panamaker4pro roxor's the hizzy. I might even buy it although I’ve already stitched all my photos from all my previous trips.
Still working on writing up my Longs Peak experience. It'll take a while still.
BTW most everything I did was on the eastern side of the park. There is still a whole bunch of the park I didn’t even get to.
After the Longs Peak assault I took a day off and did a little driveby touristin. Old Fall River Road was worth the drive. I had XM in my rental and was blasting the XL whatever hairband radio station that is while sliding along the road. Rentacars are kewl.

mis stream

moon rise over keyhole

keyhole

this guy charged at me so fast i thought he was going to bite me

this is the boulder field from the Keyhole

this final phone is from the backside of the Keyhole

 

[Skookum]

Nice pics.

At any rate, that will certainly get someone acclimated to Bend,
if anything that's a little overkill.
i live at a few feet above sea level and ride up to 5 to 8k every weekend in the summer.
It's a "little" overblown on how it can effect your riding.
Usually you just have to adjust and slow yourself a little for one ride,
but you're usually gold for a day 2 ride.

You should have a blast in Bend.

And how come i haven't heard anything about this West side Monkey Fest?.......

No love for the Skook.

 

[luelling]

Theres 54 Fourteeners.

No sh!t? I've climbed Rainier and I thought that was one of only a handful in the U.S., shows what I know

 

[luelling]

this guy charged at me so fast i thought he was going to bite me

What in the heck is that?

 

[Rip]

Duh, a retarded squirrel.

 

[luelling]

I was thinking a beaver that got jip'd on the tail

 

[Skookum]

I was thinking a beaver that got jip'd on the tail

It's a wombat.

The 14'ers in Colorado don't really count since the lowest elevation in the state is like 12,000'.

 

[bean]

Were there many people up there? I've been wanting to climb Long's, but I never got around to it before all the ice and snow melted off and I'd rather not deal with the jeans and sweatshirts crowd.

 

[DRB]

Next time we need bigger pictures.

Did you kill it and eat it? I bet it tasted like chicken.

 

[SkaredShtles]

What in the heck is that?

Marmot.

 

[SkaredShtles]

No sh!t? I've climbed Ranier

You really should learn to spell it properly.

 

[luelling]

You really should learn to spell it properly.

More like I should look at what I type. fixed

 

[Wumpus]

this is the boulder field from the Keyhole

That just doesn't look fun. If I wanted to visit a barren wasteland, I'd just go to Houston.

 

[The Toninator]

That just doesn't look fun. If I wanted to visit a barren wasteland, I'd just go to Houston.

Wumppus, that was THE WORST SECTION (the little red, blue and black spots are people.) Going up wasnt bad but coming down was torture. I was very ill at the point and wanted to take a Vicodin for my knees and headache but didnt know what'd do at that altitude so I had to wait till afro I cleared that section to take it.

 

[The Toninator]

Nice pics.

should have a blast in Bend.
old for a day 2 ride.


And how come i haven't heard anything about this West side Monkey Fest?.......

No love for the Skook.

Not sure, lemme converse with the counsel.

 

[The Toninator]

Were there many people up there? I've been wanting to climb Long's, but I never got around to it before all the ice and snow melted off and I'd rather not deal with the jeans and sweatshirts crowd.

got a 3am start from goblin field. Only passed about 5 people till i hit the boulder field. Saw a LOT of people coming up. Coming back down from the summit it felt like a congested freeway, lots of people getting a late start.

 

[SkaredShtles]

got a 3am start from goblin field. Only passed about 5 people till i hit the boulder field. Saw a LOT of people coming up. Coming back down from the summit it felt like a congested freeway, lots of people getting a late start.

There are a few ways to avoid the crowds:

Climb the Loft route. Climb the south face. Climb the cable route (this one requires minimal technical climbing).

 

[$tinkle]

i bet when you summitted, there were about a dozen random people pissing & crapping everywhere. that's how it was when i did it a few years back.

also, someone had a full-on freak out just past the keyhole on the real sketch part of the route. something about falling 2,000ft made someone bug out.

that's got to be one of the longest non-technical 14ers here in colorado. and yes, coming down the boulder field was teh suck.

 

[TN]

nice.

i love the marmot pics.

 

[Konabumm]

sweet!