If your new to hiking, new to the area or just looking for something different, Longs Peak is a great start for a difficult hike. There aren't many flat spots in the trail so be prepared for a workout. About a mile into the hike there will be a nice waterfall off to the left that is half frozen but still beautiful. Going another half mile or so you'll come across a small wooden bridge that travels across another waterfall that is completely frozen and you could walk across if you'd like.

Shortly after this you'll be above tree line and it will be extremely windy! Make sure you are covered for it is also very cold. Another 3/4 of a mile and you'll reach a crossroads where you can continue your hike or turn towards the Boulder Field campground (roughly 12,500 ft. above sea level). It's 0.3 miles to the campground and there are only 9 areas to camp - you also need a reservation for these. Call the Rocky Mountain Backcountry Office to inquire about permits at (970) 586-1242. The nice thing about this campground is that its almost centered between the trailhead and the summit so if you wanted to divide the hike into two hikes you could - it would also give you an extra day to acclimate yourself to the elevation.

If you keep heading up the trail you'll continue to battle the wind and cold for another quarter mile or so. You'll then come up to a cliff where the trail takes you down along a ridge that is protected from the wind. This trail can be covered with snow/ice and is a bit narrow in places. As you walk along to your left will be Peacock Pool and Columbine Falls - while beautifully frozen in the winter, I could imagine what they look like in the summer.

You've now reached the patrol station and this is where you can decide if the weather is decent enough for you to continue to the summit. We were going to head to Chasm Lake but luckily ran into some pros who tried to go the week before but they couldn't because the trail was covered with ice - they had come back with their technical gear. We didn't bring any technical gear and there was a blizzard covering the summit now, so we decided this was going to be as far as we could go at the time. We turned around and headed back down the mt. The overall trip took us 4.5 hours with a couple of stops along the way to snack and hydrate ourselves.

This was still a very challenging hike with gorgeous scenery - even with the blizzard! I will continue to hike this area this winter and plan to reach the summit next summer.

Directions: Going through Estes Park take Hwy 7 for about 5 miles and you'll see the Longs Peak turn on the right side of the road.

Tips: Bring LOTS of water, bring snacks, wear warm clothing in layers so that if you do get too warm you can just take them off, make sure your head/ears/hands are covered, you may want to wear ski goggles when above tree line, bring technical gear if you plan on going farther than the patrol station

My name is Michele Schenk and I've only been in CO for 7 months. I moved here from North Dakota and absolutely love it. I've always been attracted to the mountains and look forward to writing about my hiking and snowboarding experiences.

~Namaste~