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Located 40 minutes from Rocky Mountain National Park in Longmont, CO. The Longs Peak Lantern glamping site is built with natural timber, is off-grid, and is designed to merge a minimalist interior with the outdoors. Intended as an overnight digital detox spot for city dwellers, this glamping site was built by Alexandra and Craig on their 10-acre sheep farm overlooking Long's Peak, rolling prairie land, and their neighbors' horses.
We did the 2AM start at Longs on an absolutely perfect day for weather last week! The sunrise was amazing and we got to the keyhole just in time for it! It was a very long and hard day but it was very rewarding. I personally have never gotten afraid of heights until we were on the back end of the keyhole and it was pretty surreal. It is definitely climbing back there which I was not accustomed to, but it’s fine as long as you’re smart, take your time, and don’t try to go up in sketchy weather. I’m glad we were able to summit and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but personally I may never go past the keyhole again. My knees were shots coming back down due to all the bracing that was needed to slow down. I would definitely do a sunrise hike to the keyhole again though as that was one of the best I have seen in the mountains! Be smart, know when to pull back, bring plenty of water and food, and have a blast! This one is special!
It is a very hard hike, even for experienced hikers. 16 miles, 5000’+ elevation gain, ledges that you have to get across(these areas are called the narrows), lots of rockfall when hikers are up above you in the steep sections. Some people break the hike up into 2 days and camp at boulder field, just below the keyhole. We started at 2:30am to see the sunrise at the keyhole and to avoid the summer storms!
Started hiking around 2-2:15 in the morning in time to see the sunrise at the boulder field. Hiking in the dark is absolutely surreal and definitely a bonus. The stars were absolutely insane and you’re able to clearly see the Milky Way arm. When we reached tree line, it was extremely windy and cold so be prepared with gloves and a face covering. The first 5.5 miles are pretty moderate but once you get to the keyhole it gets much, much harder. Definitely bring plenty of water because this is a very intense hike! Also keep in mind there is no defined trail past the boulder field and you must follow the spray painted arrows. That being said the view at the top is definitely worth the work
Started at 0230 and wrapped up around noon. I was making great time until I got lost after the Keyhole. After figuring out I wasted an hour climbing up only to realize the trail was below me (those bullseyes can be hard to spot in the dark!) I got back on track and was moving along nicely… until the Trough and Homestretch. It was slow going in those two sections for me, both on the way up and coming down.
I’ve never had altitude issues on any trip until this hike. Spending only a half day acclimating from sea level, hiking 6 miles the afternoon before, and getting 3 hours of shoddy sleep isn’t the brightest set of moves to prep for a tough hike. Cramping, headaches, sucking wind.. but I have experience with long hikes that gain a lot of elevation and am in decent shape so I pushed through. The Keyhole route isn’t a technical climb and I didn’t feel that any parts were too sketchy, but on the way back down I saw a lot of folks who clearly weren’t in shape for this or vastly underestimated their fear of heights in the narrows areas. Just prepare smarter than I did and you’ll have a better experience.
