Longs Peak, The Loft to Clark’s Arrow (moderate snow, spring conditions)

Longs Peak

Route:

The Loft + Clark's Arrow

3rd (summer), moderate snow (spring)

Similar difficulty to the popular Keyhole Route, but less crowded and a bit more entertaining.

The trip reports on this page represents the 23rd and 35th times I have visited the summit of Longs Peak.

Region: Colorado
Elev: 14,259 ft
Rock type: Granite
Type: 
Trip Report 1:
Ascent & Descent via Clark's Arrow to Loft, Spring
Date(s): May 25, 2024 (Sat)
Partner(s): solo
Trip Report 2:
Descent via Clark's Arrow to Loft, Summer
Date(s): September 19, 2024 (Thu)
Partner(s): solo

Route Overlays

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Map

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Trip Reports for The Loft + Clark's Arrow

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Intro

Previous to 2024, I had only summited Longs in the summer months (June, July, August, September). But in February 2024, I had done my first winter ascent of Longs, when Lisa Foster invited me along on an ascent of the Cables Route. It was of an ah-ha moment for me: I love my new life in Colorado, but I had been missing the snow mountaineering—crampons, ice axes, steep snow, mixed conditions, glacier travel, crevasses, bergshrunds—I had done so much of in the North Cascades; climbing Longs in non-summer conditions was a great way to put these skills—except for the glacier-related stuff—to good use. Following the February ascent, I had summited Longs once in March (with Lisa) and twice in April (once with Lisa, once solo). It was now nearing the end of May and conditions on Longs were perfect for another Spring ascent. Why not keep my streak going? I'd already done the Keyhole Route, Cables Route, and The Trough over the preceeding few months, so I decided to reach the summit via The Loft + Clark's Arrow.

Clark's Arrow is an excellent 3rd class route to the summit of Longs Peak. It is far less travelled than The Keyhole Route. I had been on sections of the route a couple of times in the summer (on the "Estes Skyline High Route" in July 2020 we used it as a descent route and when ascending Longs via The Beaver in August 2022, I had scoped out Gorrell's Traverse via Clark's Arrow). But this was the first time I did The Loft + Clark's Arrow as my main ascent route. The route was still quite snowy, but the snow was in excellent condition for cramponning. I had brought snowshoes, but never needed them (I left them along with a victory Pepsi at the base of the snowslope up to the Loft and collected them on my way out).

Just like all of my ascents so far in 2024, I arrived on a sunny and calm summit and had the entire summit to myself.

The following page gives a route overlay and photos from my first May ascent of Longs Peak.

Time Stats

Longs Peak Trailhead: 3:09 am
The Loft: 6:55 am
Summit: 8:33-8:47 am
The Loft: 10:20 am
Longs Peak Trailhead: 12:32 pm
TOTALS: 5:24 up, 3:45 down (car-to-car: 9:23)

Photos

Clark's Arrow 

3rd
Clark's Arrow is an excellent 3rd class route to the summit of Longs Peak. It is far less travelled than The Keyhole Route. From the lowest point of The Loft, hike west towards Chiefs Head Peak, sighting along two cairns of white rock, and arrive at another cairn as the slope begins to drop off into Wild Basin. Do not descend this slope. Instead, contour northwest, pass beneath a small buttress, and angle up to another cairn on the skyline. Go a short ways further for about 100 feet. There used to be a big block with a white arrow in a circle painted on the west face. This is Clark's Arrow (there was a rumor that the block with the arrow had slid off during a wet season, but in September 2024 I confirmed it is still there, see next trip report on this page). Hike north along a vague path that passes beneath the towers of the Palisades and gain the scree-filed basin below the Notch.

The Homestretch

3rd
The Homestretch is a steep ramp on the south face of Longs. It is the last stretch of the Keyhole Route. It leads to the summit. In the summer, it can be a bit slick or icy. In the spring ascent in this trip report, I booted up through deep but stable snow. 

Top!

Enjoy the view. No crowds in the spring!

Descent 

Reverse the route
There are a few viable options for descent: for a loop over Longs, descend the Keyhole Route or Cables Route on the North Face and regain the trail in the Boulderfield; or just reverse the Clark's Arrow to The Loft. Given the spring conditions and wanting to make use of my tracks, I decided to reverse the ascent route.

Intro

RMNP had been enjoying a pleasant Indian Summer for most of September, but now that it was just a few days away from the official end to summer, the weather was about to change as well. I decided to take advantage of one of the last warmish and dry days on Longs, and solo the Keyhole Ridge (5.5-5.6) to the summit. I planned to take Clark's Arrow to the Loft (3rd) down, in hopes of finally locating Clark's Arrow carved into the rock.

(Clark's Arrow is a painted arrow on a rock and points climbers to the saddle (The Loft) between Longs Peak and Mt. Meeker. Ranger John Clark painted the arrow in the early days of the park (1923 according to ChatGTP) to help other climbers. The Rossiter guide book and a few other sources note that the arrow was likely swept away in some rockfall circa 2012. Some people have agreeed they cannot find it. But some have claimed it is still there. So I had to find out myself. And yes, it is still there! See the photos in this trip report.)

The following just contains the Clark's Arrow + The Loft descent section of the day. Click here to see the full trip report for the day including the Keyhole Ridge ascent.

Time Stats

Longs Peak Trailhead: 5:30 am
The Keyhole (start of route): 8:08 am
Summit: 9:25-9:30 am
Trailhead (decent via Keyhole Route): 12:48 pm
TOTALS: 3:55 up, 3:18 down (7:13 total)

Photos

Descent via Clark's Arrow to The Loft 

3rd
There are several options for decent. One option is the Keyhole Route (3rd) (this is what I did on my July 2022 ascent of Keyhole Ridge). Another option is the Cables Route, which entails downclimbing 5.4 (I've done this several times). A third option—which I decided on this time—is Clark's Arrow to The Loft (3rd). I wanted to locate Clark's Arrow painted on the rock (I did!).

Comments Pertaining to this Page / Trip Report

Useful beta. Updated route information. Corrections. Historical notes. Interesting facts. No fluff please.
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