What’s the point of living in Denver if you don’t flee to the mountains from time to time? I mean really…they are right there, looming over the city, begging you to come enjoy them. This morning, I could resist their siren call no longer.
So, at 2am this morning, I fell out of bed, grabbed my gear, hopped in the car, and made a dash for the Chasm Lake Trail. For those who aren’t familiar with the CO mountains, this trail starts at the Longs Peak trailhead. Longs Peak is one of the state’s “14ers,” and a very popular one at that. Typically the parking lot fills up by 3am on the weekend, and 5am on a weekday. So, even though I wasn’t planning on climbing the peak itself, it still meant an early drive to the mountains.
Arriving at 3:40am, I threw on my pack and hit the trail with my quickly dying headlamp. Two hours later I was sitting on a ridge overlooking Chasm Lake waiting for the sun to come up.
Shivering (I hadn’t planned on having to wait 45 minutes for the sun to come up), I waited for the sun to rise and light up the canyon, Chasm Lake, and Longs Peak as it stood like a sentinel above me. It was so worth the wait.
With the sun up, it was time to head back (which sounds a bit ridiculous since it wasn’t even 7am, but oh well). While the climb up in the dark was it’s own kind of exciting, the descent was spectacular. Mountain meadows, high cliffs, waterfalls, lone hikers marching to battle against Longs Peak.
And there you have it. 8 miles in God’s majesty by 8am.
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