The slopes of Mount Meeker (left) and Mount Lady Washington (right) glow warmly in the winter morning sun as the upper-most reaches of Longs Peak and The Diamond are just illuminated (center), Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

Longs Peak is the tallest mountain in the Colorado Front Range, and the closest mountain over 14,000 feet to the population of Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins. Being within the borders of Rocky Mountain National Park, Longs Peak is also the destination for many people flying into Colorado from parts elsewhere in order to have a go at summiting one of the most accessible and tallest mountains in the lower 48 states. The easiest route to the summit is a Class 3 scramble called The Keyhole route, and is steep, narrow, and exposed in parts. The views are spectacular no matter which way a person ascends, but the The Keyhole route can be very crowded, even on a late-summer Monday.

From this distance though, all human foibles are invisible and the massif simply appears imposing, glacier-carved, and magnificent.

Loading comments...

Loading contexts...

Make:	NIKON CORPORATION
Model:	NIKON D750
Exposure:	0.077 sec (1/13)
Aperture:	f/11.0
ISO Speed:	100
Focal Length:	400 mm
Lens:	80.0-400.0 mm f/4.5-5.6