Longs Peaks/Rocky Mtn National Park: An Unfitting Climax

Longs Peak (14,255')

The Keyhole route on Longs Peak is the single most popular route on any fourteener in Colorado. Despite the inevitable crowds Longs Peak draws as a result, it was one of our most-anticipated climbs of the summer.

We arrived at the base of Longs Peak after a two-day hiatus in downtown Denver (that included a night game at Coors Field where we watched the Colorado Rockies extend an eight-game losing streak) and found a good campsite just outside the borders of Rocky Mountain National Park. Rain overtook us before we were even able to finish setting up our tent, and we spent the better part of an hour in our car watching  our new campsite be transformed into a lake. The claustrophobic sanctuary of my Subaru grew quickly tiresome, so we decided to return to Estes Park for coffee and wi-fi Internet access to examine the weather outlook for the following day (which turned out to be grim).
Longs Peak and Mt. Meeker (13,911') as viewed from ghost hunting mecca The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park:

Making the long journey to Rocky Mountain National Park without even attempting Longs' summit was against our nature, so we set our alarm for 1:30 am despite the forecast (Longs being lengthy and somewhat technical requires a considerable time investment) and did our best to catch a few hours rest in what turned out to be a very raucous campsite. When 1:30 arrived (all too early) we awoke to find exactly the grim, overcast weather that had been predicted. Dejected, we made the sleepy, but not entirely unexpected, decision to forgo our climb on Longs Peak.

As we guessed given our recent luck with the weather, when we awoke the second time at 7:00 am, not a cloud graced the sky. As a result, we were both disgruntled and gloomy when we arrived in Estes for our morning coffee.
This failure was disappointing and frustrating, but the bottom line is that at some point on every climb you have to make a "go" or "no-go" judgment call. It is not always going to be right. I will always feel better making the conservative decision and missing a climb than pressing on with questionable conditions and getting stranded in a dangerous storm.

Longs Peak viewed from Rocky Mountain National Park (the weather started to build around 9:00 am):
So we concluded our third trip, the last to be car-based, with a beautiful drive over Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park. It was an impressive drive through a beautiful place.

Forest Canyon Overlook in Rocky Mountain National Park:

The Lava Cliffs Overlook in Rocky Mtn National Park (lone hiker [tiny] visible top center):

Despite dealing with a lingering weather system that fed moist, unstable Gulf air into Colorado for almost the entire two-week duration of our adventure, we managed to gather five of our seven planned summits. All that now remains is our grand climax: eight days in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area, one of Colorado's finest, and (hopefully) an ascent of beautiful Snowmass Mountain.