Second Time Around on Mt. Massive
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Mount Massive (14,421 feet) viewed from its east slope
Google Earth view of our route based on data from my GPS
When my friend, Vaune, invited me to hike Mt. Massive back in August of 2008, I jumped at the opportunity. I hadn’t had a lot of hiking partners up until then, so I figured that I would welcome the company. We hiked Massive from its southwest slope at that time; the route, while steeper, is a lot shorter than the standard route which is over 13 miles. The reason I suggested that route was because it was shorter. Nowadays, I’m not so concerned about distance because I’m in much better shape. It was unfortunate that Vaune and I experienced less-than-favorable weather conditions and I wasn’t able to get any good summit shots. I was hoping to get some this year.
My friend, Brian, has been a solid and dependable hiking partner through two trips so far — Snowmass Mountain and Mt. Sherman. A few weeks ago, he contacted me and said that he was interested in hiking Mt. Yale over the Memorial Day weekend. A little over a week ago, it changed to Mt. Antero because he, his brother, and some friends wanted to make it an overnight trip. I wasn’t interested in hiking Antero again since I had hiked it last September, so I asked if they might be interested in hiking a few other peaks in the area. We decided that Massive would be a good choice. Brian and his group were planning to hike in on Saturday and camp. I was only interested in making it a day trip, so I planned on hiking in early on Sunday morning and meeting them at their campsite.
I left Colorado Springs at 2:00 AM on Sunday morning and arrived at the Mt. Massive trailhead at 4:30. After gearing-up, and signing-in at the register, I hit the trail at 4:45. I had never hiked this trail before, but it’s well-traveled and east-facing, so I didn’t anticipate any difficulties staying on it (but I had my GPS on, nonetheless). I had received a text message from Brian overnight that told me they were camped just below treeline on the right side of the trail. I had no idea how many miles into the trail that was, but hoped that it was only going to be a couple. I only had my headlamp on for about half an hour before I was able to turn it off as the lightening of the eastern sky was sufficient enough to navigate by. I crossed over two pretty significant streams that proved to be a bit treacherous. Because water splashed over the rocks conveniently placed as stepping stones and were exposed to the nighttime air, they were icy. I made my way over them just fine though.
I think it was about two-and-a-half miles in or so when I crossed over the second stream. Immediately afterward, I came to a sign marking a fork in the trail. If I continued forward, I would follow the Colorado Trail north. I turned left and headed up. I wasn’t too close to treeline yet, but I was getting close. Along the trail, I smelled a campfire. I thought that I must be getting close. Eventually, I spotted some tents through the trees on my right and someone sitting outside with a dog. He waved at me and I made my way through the trees. I didn’t recognize him at first (he wasn’t wearing his glasses) and introduced myself, but I already knew Nick from our climb up the S-Ridge of Snowmass last year. It was 6:20 AM and I had hiked in 3.78 miles. I expected everyone to be awake, but the night was cold and stirring them into action was going to take a bit. I was briefly introduced to Greg (Moon to his friends) again. We met briefly last June when he, Nick, and Brian were heading up Mt. Columbia and I was on my way down. Brian also informed me that there was an additional person with the group as his brother, Brad, invited his girlfriend, Loring, to come along. I hadn’t had the opportunity to hike in a large group like that before, so it would hopefully be a new, enjoyable experience for me. They also had three dogs — Dakota, Lola, and Fritz.
After standing around camp for about half an hour or so and enjoying a warm cup of Starbucks instant coffee, I started getting cold. I found myself a warm spot in the sunlight and warmed up almost instantly. Nick and I were geared-up and ready to go, so I let Brian know that we were going to head up the trail aways. We walked through a stand of trees and were instantly treated to a beautiful view of the mountain. I stopped to take a panorama of the view.
Panorama of Mt. Massive from near the campsite. Of the three visible “humps” on the Massive massif, the actual summit is along the far-right hump. Mt. Elbert, Colorado’s highest peak, can be seen off to the left.
Nick and I quickly discovered that we were off-trail. I used my GPS to guide us to it. As soon as we hit treeline, we were on snow and the trail was mostly obscured. There were areas of bare soil up ahead where I was able to spot the trail, so I just aimed for it where I could. Nick was worried about not be able to find a water source up higher, so he turned back around to filter some water from where we saw it flowing last while I continued on. I expected to be a little slower on this hike; my hike up Atlantic Peak on Friday took a lot out of me. Surprisingly, though, I was out-pacing everyone. I think this had a lot to do with the fact that my backpack weighed about 10-15 lbs lighter than it did all winter and spring. I didn’t want to get too far ahead because the rest of the group needed to be able to see where I was going. Another hiker by the name of Paul caught up to me while I waited and we talked for a few minutes before he went on ahead. As soon as I saw that the group was closing ranks, I continued on as well.
Mt. Massive viewed from its east slope
As I waited again a little further on the trail, Brian strolled up. He informed me that Nick slipped on some ice while he was going back down to get water, but he wasn’t hurt badly. We waited for a few minutes while I pointed out Mts. Sherman, Sheridan, and Gemini Peak to the east of us (left photo). Mt. of the Holy Cross (right photo), the Sawatch Range’s northernmost 14er, was off to our right. It wasn’t long before Loring, Brad’s girlfriend, caught up to us. We introduced ourselves; Brian told me that Massive was going to be her first 14er! If she could summit Massive this time of year, she should be able to hike plenty throughout the summer months if she wanted to. Hiking 14ers is a great way to get and stay in shape, but as I discovered over the past few years, hiking them alone won’t keep you fit. It’s important to stay active during the week and maintain a healthy diet as well.
The trail took a more westerly direction as it curved around a mountainside. I caught up to Paul, who was resting against a rock. He asked which direction the trail headed and I pointed him toward the saddle between Massive and South Massive. He headed off again a few minutes later. Not long after, Brian caught up and we decided that we were going to wait for the rest of the group there. Lola, one of the dogs, seemed very hyper, but stayed still long enough for me to snap a couple of photos of her with Massive in the background.
Lola stopped just long enough for me to take a couple of great photos of her
Once the group was all together and rested, we moved forward — every step bringing us closer to our destination. I was able to put enough distance between me and the rest of the group. Doing so gave me time to reflect on how much stronger of a hiker I’ve become in the past few years. If the truth be told, my first couple of years hiking was done in solitude because I was embarrassed about always being out-paced by others. It happened all the time, even on local trails. I remember the first time I hiked up to Barr Camp, this woman blew right past me. She must’ve been between 50-60 years-old. After keeping active all winter and hiking to Barr Camp every weekend, now I’m the one who frequently passes others. I’m very conscientious, though, of my hiking partners. I won’t let anyone go out of eyesight or earshot.
When I was far-enough ahead of everyone, I stopped to take a 360° view of our surroundings.
360° panorama of the Mt. Massive trail
Brian, Loring, and I eventually continued on. We were getting close to the saddle and saw Paul making is way up it. We saw him choose to bypass the ridge and head up on the snow at an angle. The three of us stopped to rest again. While there, we watched two hikers who had already summited from the SW slope descend off on skis and/or snowboards. When the rest of our group caught up, it gave me my first opportunity to talk with Brad and I formerly introduced myself to him and to Moon as well. It was kind of nice being able to hike as part of a group. We didn’t have any worries about the weather as the forecast was outstanding. There was a lot of camaraderie between the five of them, but I never felt like I was being left out, but it definitely helped that I had hiked with Brian and Nick before. I feel a little socially inept when it comes to large groups of people that I don’t know. Brian actually wanted to bring along more people on our climb of Snowmass last year, but I asked him to keep the group small because of that reason. I realize this is no one’s issue but my own. I am grateful, though, that he understood. I’m a lot more sociable now than I ever was in the past. A lot of that has to do with the confidence that I’ve gained in myself as I’ve gradually become stronger in body, mind, and spirit.
From L to R: Moon, Nick, Loring, Brad, and Brian
Brian and I were the first to approach the saddle. Because I had my ice axe on me, I wanted to yet again practice ascending on snow. I gave my trekking poles to Brian to use (he accidentally left his brand new poles back at camp) and he took off toward the saddle. I spotted a line I wanted to take up the ridge and immediately began to ascend it. At one point, I stopped to look at my GPS. We were officially at 14,000 feet! I gave a shout-out to my companions to my left. I was getting some great views of the slope down from the ridge, too. I already knew there was a safe run-out and glissades were going to abound. I crested the ridge only a minute before Brian met me there. Loring caught-up and we all rested together. The wind, while not unbearably strong, was getting cold now that we were exposed on the ridge, so we all opted to throw our shells on before continuing.
Brian, Loring, and I followed the ridge toward the summit. Mt. Massive has like three or four false summits which can be tedious and confusing. Fortunately, my GPS indicated exactly where the summit was. Brian scrambled ahead of me and was the first to summit. As I approached, I told him, “My proximity alarm should be going off any second,” and it did. Whenever I am navigating and am within 20 feet of the next navigation point, it will beep at me. Loring was next to summit, followed by Brad, Moon, and Nick. We reached our destination! There were three other hikers that summited about the same time, so we shared the summit with them while we snacked and drank. I had been carrying a small bottle of Captain Morgan in my backpack for months for just an occasion. We all took turns striking the “Captain” pose on Massive’s summit rock.
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Clockwise from top-left: Me, Brian, Loring, Nick, Moon, Brad
La Plata Peak (14,339 feet) as seen from Mt. Massive’s summit
I figure this is a good opportunity for then and now photos. The left photo is of me on Massive’s summit in 2008; the right photo is of me on May 30, 2010. There’s a big difference (and I’m not only talking about the weather).
Obligatory group summit shot!
Panorama from Massive’s summit. North-Northwest it the general direction of the center of the photo
360° panorama from the summit of Mt. Massive
Circa: July 4th weekend, 2008. I stayed a couple nights in Gunnison and was driving back and forth to Lake City to hike the 14ers in that area. Not only did I meet my friends Vaune and Dave on hikes up Redcloud and Sunshine Peaks and the following day on Handies, but I also met someone else — Beth. When Vaune and I were descending off of Massive that same summer, we just happened to run into Beth again on her way up! Since then, I’ve become acquainted with her brother, Bill, on 14ers.com. I got to meet Bill for the first time during the Spring Gathering and I knew that he was going to be attempting Massive from the southwest slope the same day, so I hoped to run into him again. Brian met Bill on the summit of Mt. Sheridan during the Gathering and they shared a swig of scotch whiskey. Sure enough, after being on the summit for a bit, Bill strolled-up. It felt kind of full-circle meeting him up there. We all talked and visited for a little while longer while I put on my shell pants (I was determined to glissade down). It was already after noon and we were ready to head back to camp, so we bade our summit companions a fond farewell and began our descent of the ridge.
Brian, Loring, and I only descended about half of the ridge before we spotted a nice area to start our glissades. I eyed the slope and made certain there was a safe run-out with no large, visible rocks in our path. Loring had never glissaded before, so this was going to be a treat. I was first to go, sliding down a few hundred feet on my first attempt. It was a lot of fun! Loring was next, followed by Brian, Nick, Moon, and Brad. I snapped photos of them with my compact camera on their descents.
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Clockwise from top-left: Loring, Brian, Nick, Brad, Moon
I was able to glissade down another couple hundred of feet before I called it quits. Brian donned his snowshoes and quickly made his way across the snow. It was still pretty firm at above 13,000 feet, but softening quickly. A couple of times on our way down, I turned around to take photos of our glissade tracks. That has to be one of the most enjoyable ways to descend a peak — as long as you do it safely. I’ve heard horror stories of people who didn’t have safe run-outs and ended up having rocks tear into clothing, flesh, or worse. Once we were below 13,000 feet, we all stopped to rest and shed layers. This also gave Nick and Moon, and Brian (who had fallen back to check on them) to catch up on us. Nick seemed to be suffering from a mild case of AMS. It may have been a result of dehydration and altitude (Massive was his first 14er of the season). At any rate, he gradually felt better as we descended, which typically happens in most cases. Once we were all together as a group, we continued down, but had gotten off-trail again. I motioned everyone to the north and we eventually found it.
Brian and I led the way down. Below 12,000 feet, we started postholing pretty badly. It took extra effort to cross the last snowfield to reach camp. It wasn’t long before the rest of our group started trickling in. The sky was completely cloudless and the temperature was amazingly warm, so we decided to hang around camp for a couple of hours. It was 3:00, so we had a few hours of daylight left. I was going to be leaving for the day and Brad and Loring needed to be back in Denver that night, but it wasn’t clear if Brian, Nick, and Moon were going to be staying another night in the camp. Ultimately, they all decided to head back down that night instead of having to wake up to another cold morning. I helped pack-up and pack-out their camp a bit and we were back on the trail after 5:00.
On our way to the trailhead, something peculiar occurred. A helicopter flew overhead for a long while. We began to wonder if S&R were conducting some training operations or something. At one point on the trail, the helicopter hovered right above us — almost like they were looking for us. This made me a little bit paranoid; I had been carrying my SPOT II in my pocket and began to wonder if the SOS button was somehow pressed. The helicopter continued to buzz us and I decided to turn off the SPOT. It wasn’t long after that when I saw two men on horseback heading up the trail. We stepped aside and they were about to pass without saying a word, but I asked them if they were looking for someone. One of the men said that they were going up to find a father and three kids. It struck us all as odd that they were not the ones who initialized a conversation with us. I mean, we just came from the direction that they were headed, so wouldn’t it make sense to ask if we saw anything? I dunno. It was mighty peculiar.
We made short work of the trail after that and arrived at the trailhead before 8:00. I was invited to Leadville for a bite to eat, but I had already been up for 19 straight hours by then and wanted to get home. We packed-up our vehicles and bade each other farewell — until next time!
GPS statistics taken from my hike up Mt. Massive
Google Earth .KML file of my route (right-click and “save target as” to save the file). NOTE: For some reason, if you’re using Internet Explorer, when you “save target as”, it changes the file extension to .XML. This is incorrect. To be able to view this in Google Earth, change the file extension to .KML before saving the file. It downloads correctly in Firefox.
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