I am just curious if anyone hiked that trail and shot Longs from it? If so do you have any photos from that perspective? How far do you have to go to get a decent view? Snow shoes would seem to be needed from now until next spring. There was a lot of snow on the ground just walking around Lily Lake this past weekend.
Posted by Scott Bacon on October 23, 2006 at 3:28 PM
Brent M and I were going to do that yesterday, but colds got the better of the both of us (kids in daycare syndrome, I suspect).
Jack B did the winter hike last year and gave us some beta. He said the first views start to open up as you head up the first big set of switchbacks, around mile 2. I'd certainly plan on having snowshoes in winter conditions. Although the trail may get enough traffic to be well packed. Also you'll probably want at least a medium range telephoto for a closer view of Longs.
HTH.
Posted by Paul Beiser on October 23, 2006 at 3:29 PM
Hi Derek,
I have done that hike many times and done some shooting from the trail. There are 1-2 places below treeline that offer good views, but IMHO, you need to get above treeline (2,000+ vertical feet, 3+ miles?) to have really good foreground material to also include.
Posted by Tony Bouchard on October 23, 2006 at 3:55 PM
Glenn Randall hs some photos in his book on Long's from Twin Sister's with changing Aspens and a limber pine in the foreground. I'd geuss you'd want about an 85mm lens in 35mm terms to be tight on Long's.
Scott - you wouldn't have been able to see anythin yesterday anyways, at least at sunrise. Low-hanging clouds and new snow made for very low visibility.
Posted by Tom Mangan on October 23, 2006 at 3:57 PM
I would agree with what Scott and Paul said. Best views are from the top of the Twin Sisters but there are some nice tele views about 1.5-2 miles up the trail. Best if you can get some nice clouds around the Diamond and Longs at sunrise.
Posted by Paul Beiser on October 23, 2006 at 4:03 PM
And..part of the trail weaves into National Forest land, which allows one to bivy, and hit sunrise without an 'o-dark-thirty' start
Posted by Derek Sedillo on October 23, 2006 at 4:05 PM
Scott - I know what you mean about kids in daycare. We have three young children and that is quite a challenge! It usually produces the domino effect and everyone ends up getting it. We really try and limit daycare now when at all possible. When you guys give it a go please post some shots of your adventure.
Paul - Thanks for the input and tips. What is your general opinion about the photo opportunities of Longs eastern face? Do you have any shots that you could share with us of the perspective(s)? Also have you ever done the hike with snow on the ground? Currently my longest lens is the Canon 70-200L on my DSLR which equates to about 300mm. I may be getting a 1.4 teleconverter for it as well.
Thanks
Posted by Derek Sedillo on October 23, 2006 at 4:22 PM
So I would imagine it would be tougher in the snow with snow shoes. I am glad to hear that there are some decent compositional ops part of the way up the trail as well.
The hike to Chasm Lake itself is rated as strenuous and only a little bit further in terms of distance. I wonder if anyone attempts Chasm Lake in the winter?
Posted by Scott Bacon on October 23, 2006 at 4:45 PM
You can do Chasm Lake in winter, but there are a couple of sections in the trail that can require some sorta technical climbing (ie. crampons and axe), depending on conditions. You can also get a nice perspective of the east face diamond from the flanks of Mt. Lady Washington which rises above Chasm Lake to the North. I've also done that in winter and it rarely requires anything technical.
Derek, I haven't hiked the trail up to the top of Twin Sisters for at least 12 hours so I can't tell you current conditions, but yesterday the wind sure was blowing. Yikes! Yesterday, Longs Peak was so covered in clouds that you could barely see her. Today it is a different story. It takes about 2hrs to get to the top of Twin Sisters, but the view from up there of Longs and the rest of the area is pretty spectacular. I'd especially like to spend some time up there at sunrise. I didn't need snowshoes, but in some areas above tree line the snow was knee deep.
Posted by Derek Sedillo on October 23, 2006 at 6:46 PM
Thanks Eric,
Two hours doesn't sound bad. Knee deep snow can get you pretty wet unless prepared for it. I guess I would need to either bring snow shoes or make sure and wear some waterproof boots and pants.
That much snow might also make it difficult to see, follow and stay on the trail. Hmm... It does sound like a good adventure
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on October 23, 2006 at 7:08 PM
Two hours doesn't sound bad. .....
That's two Stenslandian hours. YMMV
Posted by Steve Wachtel on October 23, 2006 at 7:33 PM
Pay heed to Bill's assessment if you live a normal life of working in the office, etc... remember that Eric lives, breathes, and goes hiking more than the normal mortal. His two hours (with camera pack) is likely to result in vapor-lock for some others.
After being at sea level as long as I've been, it would probably KILL me to try to keep up!!!
O, to have a job in Colorado and be able to live at home for more than a week at a time...
Posted by Derek Sedillo on October 23, 2006 at 9:07 PM
LOL...
Yeah, I need a *Stenslandian* multiplying factor for the middle aged family guy in not the greatest of shape LOL.
I think Erik mentioned in another thread that he did Chasm Lake in under 3 hours (closer to 2.5). Or how about a mountaineering boot camp!!! This gives me a good excuse to off my butt and back into the gym!
Posted by Jack Brauer on October 23, 2006 at 9:08 PM
Hey Derek,
I hiked up there a few times last March. Not much of a snowpack at all when I was there last year. Just some icy trail. Here's a sunrise shot from the summit: http://widerange.org/images/large/twinLongs.jpg
This was with a large format 300mm, so about a 100mm lens for 35mm camera. Bring your telephoto!
~Jack
Posted by Derek Sedillo on October 23, 2006 at 9:27 PM
Jack,
That is one *sweet* alpen glow dawn shot of Longs! It also gives me more incentive to get into shape to head up that way.
Thanks for posting a really great photo! I assume you started pretty early to get this from the summit.
Discussion
15 repliesAccording to the author Tom Mangan, a very nice view of Longs eastern face can be photographed from there.
I did find one photo of the perspective here after doing a google search:
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/novak/rmnp/reports/twins.html
I am just curious if anyone hiked that trail and shot Longs from it? If so do you have any photos from that perspective? How far do you have to go to get a decent view? Snow shoes would seem to be needed from now until next spring. There was a lot of snow on the ground just walking around Lily Lake this past weekend.
Jack B did the winter hike last year and gave us some beta. He said the first views start to open up as you head up the first big set of switchbacks, around mile 2. I'd certainly plan on having snowshoes in winter conditions. Although the trail may get enough traffic to be well packed. Also you'll probably want at least a medium range telephoto for a closer view of Longs.
HTH.
I have done that hike many times and done some shooting from the trail. There are 1-2 places below treeline that offer good views, but IMHO, you need to get above treeline (2,000+ vertical feet, 3+ miles?) to have really good foreground material to also include.
Scott - you wouldn't have been able to see anythin yesterday anyways, at least at sunrise. Low-hanging clouds and new snow made for very low visibility.
Paul - Thanks for the input and tips. What is your general opinion about the photo opportunities of Longs eastern face? Do you have any shots that you could share with us of the perspective(s)? Also have you ever done the hike with snow on the ground? Currently my longest lens is the Canon 70-200L on my DSLR which equates to about 300mm. I may be getting a 1.4 teleconverter for it as well.
Thanks
Thanks for the article on RMNP in the winter. The hike is rated as strenuous by protrails in its description here:
http://protrails.com/trail.php?trailID=64
So I would imagine it would be tougher in the snow with snow shoes. I am glad to hear that there are some decent compositional ops part of the way up the trail as well.
The hike to Chasm Lake itself is rated as strenuous and only a little bit further in terms of distance. I wonder if anyone attempts Chasm Lake in the winter?
Two hours doesn't sound bad. Knee deep snow can get you pretty wet unless prepared for it. I guess I would need to either bring snow shoes or make sure and wear some waterproof boots and pants.
That much snow might also make it difficult to see, follow and stay on the trail. Hmm... It does sound like a good adventure
That's two Stenslandian hours.
After being at sea level as long as I've been, it would probably KILL me to try to keep up!!!
O, to have a job in Colorado and be able to live at home for more than a week at a time...
Yeah, I need a *Stenslandian* multiplying factor for the middle aged family guy in not the greatest of shape
I think Erik mentioned in another thread that he did Chasm Lake in under 3 hours (closer to 2.5). Or how about a mountaineering boot camp!!! This gives me a good excuse to off my butt and back into the gym!
I hiked up there a few times last March. Not much of a snowpack at all when I was there last year. Just some icy trail. Here's a sunrise shot from the summit: http://widerange.org/images/large/twinLongs.jpg
This was with a large format 300mm, so about a 100mm lens for 35mm camera. Bring your telephoto!
~Jack
That is one *sweet* alpen glow dawn shot of Longs! It also gives me more incentive to get into shape to head up that way.
Thanks for posting a really great photo! I assume you started pretty early to get this from the summit.