August 15, 2026
Hello Dearest Reader,
I hope you’re doing well and having a great summer.
I have recently returned from a trip to Colorado!
That’s right, I got out of my usual state of mine and experienced a place known as Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP)! How did this all happen, you may be asking? You are not asking? Well, I am telling you anyway! However, if you prefer a compromise, you can skip to the end of this entry where you will find a brief synopsis (under the “Brief Synopsis” heading).
Here is a montage / slide show of me upping my activity from “moderately active” all the way to “active.”:
Under normal circumstances I would describe many of these training activities in great detail. However, since I have been remiss in updating you about my life lately, I will summarize thusly:
- Participated in Loess Hills Enduro gravel ride (previously described)
- Hiked to a waterfall (not shown, but enjoyed a delicious dosa [shown] afterwards)
- Participated in the Tow Rope Trot at Crescent Hill at Hitchcock Nature Center
- Christmas in July theme, kind of hot; very fun! Thank you to Pottawattamie County Conservation, Loess Hills Nordic Ski Patrol, photographer Monte Smith, and the race organizer and photographer Kylie Elbin. I managed to get a place on the podium (note: one vacant place for my age group on the podium)!
- This event was tremendous, but (in tandem with my lack of proper training leading up to the event) it did cause a return in the unpleasant experience known as shin splints! Those suck and have been something I’ve dealt with off and on since high school when I tried to join the cross-country team. Fortunately I found a video with some great stretches that really worked! It was crazy how good these stretches were! They provided a lot of relief right away and by the time I made it out to RMNP they were a nonissue.
- Ate a bite out of a Clif bar that was not fully sealed (tasted kind of jerky-like / DNF)
- Went on a 9 mile hike at Hitchcock Nature Center on an unseasonably cool August day
So, when the day of my departure towards CO arrived, I felt excited and optimistic about getting out there and enjoying the beauty of RMNP along with my cousin’s husband James.
I initially planned the trip based on a discussion with my friend Todd who thought it would be great to attempt an ascension of Longs Peak. I agreed that this would indeed be great, so I started the planning process by getting some permits, maps, looking through my Colorado’s Fourteeners book, participating in activities shown in training montage, etc. When Todd had to bow out, at first I thought I’d go solo, but then I decided it would be better to have a friend out there for a variety of reasons, mostly because it’s nice to have someone to share a high-altitude experience with and safety. I decided to ask James since he is physically fit and lives relatively near RMNP in Fort Collins. He agreed!
As an aside, allow me to discuss “simpatico.” Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you are more or less instantaneously synchronized with a fellow life form. Other times it may take some time to build some shared experiences and find some mutual interests/ connections. I think part of building this connection is based on your worldview and family history. For example, I grew up with an older brother who was rebellious and it engendered a degree of rebelliousness in me. Although I occasionally enjoy being a little rebellious, I don’t consider it a defining character trait. I think we can sometimes sense our shared tendencies in others and it can be an easy way to build a connection. For example recreational drug use, a shared job under unusual or challenging circumstances, or long-term familiarity can make us feel connected on a deeper level. One thing I often tell my family on family vacations is that those who suffer together are closer than those who just have fun together. I wouldn’t say James and I were immediately simpatico, so (in addition to his fitness and location) I thought this would be a good opportunity to try to develop some of that.
For backpacking, it is good to have what you want/need but not much more than that. Here are a few things that one of us forgot (not the same person for all of them):
- Phone camera (left at base camp)
- Wag bags (left at base camp? dislodged from daypack?)
- Long part of pants from convertible pants (left at car)
- Climbing helmet (left at home)
- Pepto (left on shelves all around the world or at least North America)
The lack of these things, like the plan to climb Longs Peak, can provide challenges and opportunities and factored into our Longs day. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start with my arrival in RMNP.
I arrived at RMNP at around 4 p.m. on a Sunday evening and got in a line of cars to enter at the Beaver Meadows gate. I waited maybe 15 minutes or so, it wasn’t bad. My timed entry permit was for 1 p.m. According to the website, you should arrive within 2 hours of your designated time or you might be turned away, but this late in the day the gatekeeper wasn’t concerned. I made it out to my campsite at Glacier Basin, awkwardly set up most of my camp (I haven’t used my Nemo Osmo Dagger tent much yet) and then headed out for a nice hike up to Bierstadt Lake, which was kind of low and vegetated.
The ducks and I didn’t mind. It felt great to be out stretching the legs after a day and a half of car confinement. Nothing beats that alpine air! Although I do not yodel, I did sing a few folk songs as I gambolled back to camp.
The next day I drove out to meet up with James and get our backcountry camping permit. The backcountry ranger said that a coyote had been reported near our campsite and thanked us for bringing in our bear canisters (required for backcountry camping). I had rented one big one and one small one ($10/day from Estes Park Mountain Sports). James and I discussed what items we needed to take that might attract bears (i.e., food, lip balm, toothpaste, and soap) and decided we could get by with the small canister. We drove past our trailhead (Storm Pass), but it was already 8 a.m. or so and all 4 parking spots were taken, so we drove out to Park and Ride, boarded a bus, and got dropped off. It took a while to get on the bus because there were many people ahead of us by the time I got all my camping gear sorted out and stuffed into my big backpack. I specify big backpack because I recently purchased an Osprey day pack that I planned to use the next day for our attempt on Longs Peak.
The hike up to Boulder Brook Camp was fairly steep, but also mostly shady and the temperatures were nice and cool. It took us roughly 2.5 hours. We set up camp and had some dinner. I had some freeze-dried chana masala and James had some kind of pasta. My chana was kind of spicy and a little hard and I belatedly read the rest of the instructions on the pack that stated one must increase the soaking time for every 5,000 feet you are above 5,000 feet above mean sea level (amsl). Then we sorted through our food and other smelly items. It became apparent that the small bear canister was not big enough for all the food we had. Yes, we had succumbed to the common rookie/memory-challenged backpackers’ error of overpacking. Fortunately, I had poured more than half of my $11 plastic jar of pre-mixed trail mix into the only zipper-lock bag I had brought along for this trip: an approximately gallon-sized Opsak Loksak, which claims to be odor-proof and waterproof to 60 meters. In case its claims were exaggerated, we also dumped the remaining smelly items in our Loksak and, since I had brought some cord, contrived a rudimentary bear hang.
We awoke at 1:45 a.m. for our alpine start, although my sleep had been fitful at best due primarily to excitement. After retrieving my new day pack, which had been used for the bear hang, and discussing our supplies I told James I didn’t have room for the wag bag I intended to carry. He stated that he had 2 wag bags and TP. We left camp at 2:15. We were above tree line and had a nice view of the horizon before sunrise. We rested for a while and witnessed four Perseids interacting with our atmosphere! It was just a day before the new moon and this was a great place for stargazing! We reached Granite Pass, where our trail (Boulder Brook Trail) meets the more popular East Longs Peak Trail and the Keyhole Route begins.
We checked the signs and agreed upon the direction towards Long Peak via the Keyhole route (the easiest and most common route to the top of the mountain). We meandered through an occasionally soggy alpine meadow and I snacked on some mushroom jerky until we reached the Boulder Field.
There is a backcountry camping area here and there were maybe 10 tents or so and a privy. There also seemed to be some flowing water under some of the flat rock paths leading towards the Keyhole, which was visible at the top of the Boulder Field where the route crossed over onto the west side of the mountain (and the shade). The slope of the massive boulders (many couch- to car-sized) wasn’t too bad and, after I stashed my trekking poles to allow the use of my hands for clambering, we ascended to the ridge fairly smoothly. At the ridge presided the Agnes Vaille Shelter, which I had heard about on The Old Timey podcast. I am intrigued by Agnes Vaille and I was a little surprised I couldn’t easily find a good biography.
On the other side of the ridge, we negotiated The Ledges section of the route. As you may have suspected from the name, this section consists of relatively small ledges (typically one to three feet wide) with a lot of exposure. I didn’t spend much time looking down! It was around The Ledges that the mix of undercooked chana masala, teriyaki mushroom jerky, and melon electrolyte mix started to cause some digestive issues. I felt slightly to moderately nauseous. Altitude sickness? Maybe, but my head felt alright and I had been hydrating regularly, requiring around four discrete restroom breaks, and eating plenty of carbs and Tums. It seems kind of obvious in hindsight that I had made some unwise food choices. My family teases me about my iron stomach, but even iron can reach its breaking/melting point. The Ledges don’t require much increase in elevation, but after that you reach the Trough.
The Trough is a steep clamber over a talus slope with 550 feet of elevation gain that was very tiring. At some points I would haul myself up and over a few boulders and then catch my breath. It was slow going. The boulders in this area were sharper and smaller than those in the Boulder Field (many English horn- to trumpet-sized) and were mixed in with a sizable contingent of loose gravel. Eventually, we reached the upper part of this section at around 9:30 or so - James had been waiting for me for about 20 minutes. He was not prepared to attack the crux - a chockstone that you can climb around on either side. It’s considered Class 3 (I.e., scrambling / a situation where the use of your hands is necessary to proceed), but with the high altitude and exposure, it’s definitely not a time where one should try to test one’s limits - something I should have thought of when I was blithely snacking on teriyaki (emphasis on the “yak”) mushroom jerky. I was still feeling queasy, my legs were tired, and I did not think it prudent to take James up on his offer to let me attempt the summit while he waited at his perch by the chockstone. Additionally, we only had one helmet between the two of us and it is common knowledge that there is occasionally rockfall in the Narrows from overhead climbers. I had already observed some minor rockfall during our navigation of the Trough. So we headed back.
I wouldn’t have minded puking, but I’m not sure I would have been able to, there were a lot of people around, and I didn’t really want to foul up the alpine environment. I searched in vain for some Pepto in my first aid kit. I asked James for a wag bag. Neither of those items were to be found. Apparently I hadn’t thought of the pit toilet at the Boulder Field (I didn’t need to go then, Mom! Actually I did, but I must have temporarily blocked it out of my mind). Each fart felt perilous. I couldn’t drink any more of my atrocious melon-flavoured electrolyte mix because it just intensified the gastric tumult. I am very glad I didn’t attempt the summit because shortly after we descended below tree line I had to find a place to hastily dig a rudimentary cat hole to relieve myself. Fortunately we had taken the path less-traveled and no one was around to witness/share my suffering (and I’m not sure that adage about people suffering together would have fostered any kind of connection in this specific situation). I was back at camp by around 2 p.m.
I took a short nap, around 1/2 hour, and awoke feeling a little better. I ate some freeze-dried Cuban rice and beans (with banana) and I was feeling human again (albeit a tired one). James and I tossed the frisbee around a bit, including a game of land-the-frisbee-on-the-camping-marker-post (I assume there’s a similar game with a shorter name, but hellifIknow). I was in bed by around 8, slept pretty well, and awoke around 6:30 a.m.to start breaking camp.
One fun thing we got to do was retrieve the bear hang cord from the branch I had looped an end around: I looped it around a single branch whereas it should have gone over a branch and down to an anchor on the ground so it could be more easily dismantled. Part of the problem was I didn’t realize I had some extra cord in my “secret / in-plain-sight pocket” on the outside middle flap of my big backpack, so I was operating with a “scarcity mindset” instead of using “blue sky thinking.” Feeling nauseous with my shaky use of catchy buzzphrases? Haha! We’re suffering and getting closer as I type! James and I took turns trying to undo the loop, which consisted of an overhand knot on the end of the cord through which the rest of the line extended. To attempt the disengagement, one could stand on a nearby tree’s branch and poke ineffectually at the loop, which provided approximately 0.5 hours of entertainment. We tried a trekking pole. We tried a trekking pole with a tent stake lashed to it. Then James came up with a winning combination: trekking pole with a multi-utensil / Swiss-army fork lashed to it! This was definitely key. However, it was still kind of slow going. Then, I realized that if a person turned around on the branch stance, one could easily stem one’s leg over to the tree to which the loop was affixed. This allowed vastly improved stability and made it possible to use the right hand to leisurely push the loop away from the branch around which it had clung so tenaciously! Huzzah! We had used teamwork to solve a problem! Very satisfying.
To get back to our vehicles, James staunchly recommended taking the North Long Peak Trail (just 0.3 miles north of our campsite or so) over to the Glacier Gorge Trail that goes past Alberta Falls. I wasn’t too excited about going uphill and the trail was a bit longer than the trail we’d taken in, but I had preemptively popped a couple Ibuprofen prior to breakfast and I actually felt pretty good. Plus who doesn’t appreciate a little variety. James offered me a chocolate-covered espresso bean and we jauntily hiked our way along a scenic route that became increasingly busy as we neared the trailhead. Here was the scene at Alberta Falls, which James mentioned was much lower than usual.
Brief Synopsis
- Got a little more active than my usual moderate level (see training montage video)
- Went to Colorado to acclimate to higher elevations
- Set up camp with James at Boulder Brook campsite (10,200 feet amsl)
- Got alpine start
- Reached the upper part of The Trough (13,800 feet amsl)
- Turned back prior to the crux (transition from The Trough to The Notch)
- Took scenic route back out of backcountry, past Alberta Falls
We made it back to our vehicles, but not before James air dropped his photos onto my phone for me. We expressed our mutual appreciation of the excursion. I said maybe we should do a similar one in the future. He responded that perhaps the Maroon Bells or kayaking the Johnstown Strait might be fun. !Simpatico! Longs peek. I may be back someday, but if I am it will be with a little extra fitness and a lot more concern for my dietary choices!
Your humble,
BSO
