Sac absolutely killed it. What a fantastic Q performance. To caution overfilled parking he had us wake up at 0030 depart the house around 0100, arrive around 0200 and depart just before 0230. The alpine start is exactly what we needed as the lot was about 70-75% full when we arrived and filling up fast. Temps were in the 40s if I had to guess. Sac was committed to summit Longs peak, Popcorn didn’t want to let him do it alone, and about 2 miles in I HC’d to joining them. Around 4.5 miles the group separated into a high road and low road. Summit group totaling 15.5 miles with 5,100ft ascent and the Lake group crossing over 19 miles of I recall correctly. This was a true beatdown. I struggled to keep pace through the boulder field, Sac began to show early symptoms of altitude on the early decent and Popcorn ran out of water and articulated his fatigue in the late descent. By the time we reached the end we were so happy to get in the car and head down in elevation. It didn’t take long for our headaches to clear and moods to bounce back. We were eager to regroup with Lake group to share our experiences.
In case you’re wondering this AO is Rocky Mountain national park outside of boulder colorado.
-Cubicle