Summiting Longs Peak via the Keyhole Route

Below is a pretty good video of what it's like to climb Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. The video takes viewers through the Boulder Field, the Keyhole, the Ledges, the Trough, the Narrows and the Homestretch. Although many hikers and backpackers reach the summit each year, this really isn't a hike:



As you can see, to reach the summit of Longs Peak is more than just a tough day hike. It's considered to be a Class 3 climb, and requires some basic mountaineering skills, especially if the weather goes south on you while on or near the summit. If you think this is something you would like to do someday, I highly recommend learning more about this climb on the 14ers.com website.

If you're like me and think that the summit is beyond your comfort level, you can still hike up to the Keyhole. Although it's an extremely tough hike, there's relatively little exposure to steep drop-offs. In fact, for experienced hikers, it's one of the most popular hikes in the park. The views along much of the hike, especially from the Keyhole itself are quite spectacular. For more information on this hike, please click here.

If you do plan to visit Rocky Mountain National Park this year, please note that our website offers a wide variety of accommodation listings for both Estes Park and Grand Lake.



Jeff
Hiking in Glacier National Park

Go west, young man

Take my advice, "go west, young man".

That famous quote is attributed to Horace Greeley, the influential 19th century author. Greeley, who was also the founder and editor of the New York Tribune, saw westward expansion as the ideal place for hard working people to find opportunities to succeed.

Today, the west symbolizes the place for adventurers and enthusiasts to enjoy and play in the great outdoors. One of the most iconic destinations in the west is Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Coincidentally, less than 50 miles away from the park is the small town of Greeley, which happens to be named after ole Horace.

So what does all this have to do with anything? Actually, it brings me to our newest hiking website, which we just launched in November of 2012. Just like HikinginGlacier.com, RockyMountainHikingTrails.com offers details on many of the trails throughout the park. In fact, you'll find quite a lot of information to help plan much of your trip.

First of all, trying to figure out where to hike can be challenging, especially if you're unfamiliar with the area. The park offers more than 350 miles of trails that lead to some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet. As a starting point you can check out our list of the Top 10 Hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park, as well as our list of the Best Easy Hikes in the park.

Our website also offers many lodging options on our Accommodations page. Here you'll find a wide variety of overnight accommodations that offer a wide variety of amenities in the Rocky Mountain National Park area.

If you're looking for additional activities during your stay, besides hiking, take a moment to check out our Things To Do page. Then, take a day to go horseback riding, rafting, birding, photography touring, or maybe even take a hot air balloon tour of the Rockies!

If you're currently planning, or just considering a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park this summer, now's the time to begin making reservations before accommodations begin filling-up during the peak travel season.

Please know that by supporting one of our advertisers you help to support RockyMountainHikingTrails.com.

Finally, if you know anyone else that's planning a trip to RMNP this year, we would really appreciate if you could forward this link onto them as well.

Thank you very much!


Jeff
Hiking in Glacier National Park

What would you see if you went hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park?

What would you see if you went hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park? Hopefully this video, which I recently published, will partially answer that question:



For more information please visit: RockyMountainHikingTrails.com




Jeff
Hiking Glacier National Park