Another long overdue blog post!
Last week, my friend, Sam, and I set out to climb the world famous Diamond on Longs Peak. These two days were my only scheduled days off this summer, so I figured I would make the most out of them.
The Diamond is the east face of Longs Peak; it starts at 13,000 feet and ens just over 14,000 feet. Seeing as this was our first Diamond trip, we chose to do the "Casual Route." Rated 5.10a, this is the easiest and most popular route on the Diamond.
Our trip went a little something like this:
Last week, my friend, Sam, and I set out to climb the world famous Diamond on Longs Peak. These two days were my only scheduled days off this summer, so I figured I would make the most out of them.
The Diamond is the east face of Longs Peak; it starts at 13,000 feet and ens just over 14,000 feet. Seeing as this was our first Diamond trip, we chose to do the "Casual Route." Rated 5.10a, this is the easiest and most popular route on the Diamond.
Our trip went a little something like this:
Day 1:
The Approach:
We arrived at the Longs Peak trail head around 10 AM. We spent about a half hour picking up bivy permits, arranging back packs, and waiting for a parking spot.
We started hiking at 10:30 and took our time hiking up. As we passed some returning climbers, we stopped briefly to chat and to ask about current conditions. When we mentioned our plans to bivy on Broadway Ledge, they responded with, "Oh, that's a nightmare." We were only a half hour in, and our trip was off to an optimistic start. Despite our slow pace, we seemed to pass countless hiking parties on the way up and reached Chasm Lake in good time.
The Approach:
We arrived at the Longs Peak trail head around 10 AM. We spent about a half hour picking up bivy permits, arranging back packs, and waiting for a parking spot.
We started hiking at 10:30 and took our time hiking up. As we passed some returning climbers, we stopped briefly to chat and to ask about current conditions. When we mentioned our plans to bivy on Broadway Ledge, they responded with, "Oh, that's a nightmare." We were only a half hour in, and our trip was off to an optimistic start. Despite our slow pace, we seemed to pass countless hiking parties on the way up and reached Chasm Lake in good time.
ABOVE: My first glimpse of the Diamond. BELOW: Surprisingly stunning scenery on the hike up.
As we crossed the boulder field, we stopped to fill up water at Chasm Lake. When we tried to sterilize our water, we found out that the battery had died in Sam's SteriPEN. When we tried to replace the battery, the spring loaded battery cap went flying into the lake. Long story short, we were able to track down the cap thanks to the crystal clear high alpine water, and Sam went on a successful (and cold) recovery swim. After our 30 minute water/swim stop, we were back on our way and headed towards the North Chimney.
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