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Longs Peak Four Seasons
At 14,255 feet, Longs Peak is the highest point in Rocky Mountain National Park and the only Fourteener north of I-70.
This storied peak, considered impregnable by early explorers, was first climbed by Colorado River pioneer John Wesley
Powell in 1868. Today climbing the peak is a rite of passage for summit-starved residents of the Front
Range. Some 27,000 people attempt the mountain every year, mostly in July and August. About
60 or 70 percent succeed. Few attempt Longs in winter, when the average wind speed is 65 mph and the strongest
gust recorded (before the wind destroyed the anemometer) was 220 mph. For the last 15 years, I’ve
been photographing Longs Peak from every direction in every season. To create “Longs Peak Four Seasons,”
I selected four favorite images that reveal the peak from the most spectacular vantage points. For the
spring view, I chose an image from Chasm Lake, below Longs’ stupendous east face. For summer, I selected
a photo taken from the Rock Cut along Trail Ridge Road. For fall and winter, I chose images taken from
Bear Lake that include the magnificent peaks of Glacier Gorge.
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| Longs Peak from Chasm Lake in spring, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado |
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| Longs Peak from the Rock Cut in summer, Colorado |
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| Longs Peak from Bear Lake in fall, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado |
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| Longs Peak from Bear Lake in winter, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado |
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