One of many
trip reports under the
SilGro home page for Alan Silverstein and Cathie
Grow.
Email me at
ajs@frii.com.
Last update: July 26, 2024
(Previous trip report: 1987_0815-17_MountWhitney.htm)
(A
Fourteener
trip report.)
Nine years previously I climbed Mount Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado at 14433', on a Saturday, and Mount Massive, the second highest, the next day. That sure was a tiring two days!
Well one weekend in 1987 I returned to Massive to do something "a little different". Being a ridge-runner at heart, I yearned to traverse the entire, long summit ridge of the well-named monolith, at least the part above 14000'.
There were 15 high points (closed circles) above 14000' shown on the 7.5-minute USGS topo map of Mount Massive at 40' resolution. Four were south of the main peak, including the prominent one informally known as "South Massive". Ten were north on the ridge, the most independent of which was unofficially "North Massive". I visited all of these points, and a number of smaller ones too just to be sure! They varied from rounded humps to sheer-sided boulders perched on the generally broad ridgeline.
The weekend before, I hoped to join Dave Grindeland and friend for Massive after they climbed Elbert on Saturday. Well they had enough of monsoon rains and snows, and I elected not to leave home with the crummy weather. The next weekend was as marvelous as the previous one was miserable. I had great fall conditions; cool, clear, a little breezy, with only rounded cumulus scud casting living shadows on the landscape.
Saturday, August 29: I left Fort Collins in the afternoon and ate dinner in Leadville. The road up Halfmoon Valley between Elbert and Massive was slow and painful in the dark -- or light! It was 7.7 miles west from CO 91 to the trailheads where the Colorado Trail (previously called the Main Range Trail) crossed the road, most of it unpaved and rutted, 20 MPH optimal. It was another 2.3 miles up and down on even worse gravel to the South and North Halfmoon Creek road forks, marked 103 and 110. There were several campgrounds and numerous places to pull off to camp in the national forest.
I attempted the north fork road in my Datsun. But I didn't get far before hitting a stretch too steep to take slowly and too rumpled to take quickly. Here I found a wide spot by the creek at 10280' and called it a night. (Actually I foolishly listened to the end of a Broncos pre-season game on the radio for an hour first!)
Sunday, August 30: In the morning at 0500 my sleeping bag was covered with dew ice, but it didn't feel that cold. I started up the road by flashlight at 0525, an hour before sunrise. Having 4WD wouldn't have saved me much walking, for I found the Mount Massive Wilderness boundary about 3/4 mile up the road. Here there was a register, and soon after the road became a narrow trail.
I lost the trail in the dark, but wasn't too worried about it. Eager to get climbing, I turned right up the hillside to the north, and started bushwhacking in slowly fading darkness. Before long I didn't need the flashlight -- just as well because I used both hands to brachiate through aspen trees up a steep, loose hillside. (This sounds like a lot of work, and it was, but it sure was pretty in virgin forest early in the morning.)
After watching first sun strike Mount Elbert through gnarled pine branches I continued up to timberline and beyond. I was on the southwest ridge of the 13630' south subpeak. It was a good, rocky climb with some scrambling. A couple hundred feet below this double summit I cut left and traversed northwest on a rugged-looking but fairly solid hillside around to the 13360+' saddle. Here I started the long ridge-run.
I trudged up and claimed "South Massive", 14132', at 0940 (4:15 enroute). It was a rounded, grassy summit from which I could see the main peak. Of course here and all along the rest of the ridge I had a great view east to the upper Arkansas Valley, Leadville, and the Mosquito Range. Mount of the Holy Cross north, Elbert south, the rest of the Sawatch Range, and the Elk Range to the west, completed quite a marvelous panorama.
After a break I dropped down to the next saddle and up to the next subpeak. I'll spare you the list of points and saddles... [2024: Well not entirely, I'll append it at the bottom of this report.] From the saddle onwards I encountered occasional traces of a trail, but mainly followed the ridgetop when possible.
The ridge turned north (right) and was pretty rough for a ways. I couldn't do the last 10' to the bouldery top of one of the points... No biggie. Before long at 1052 I collapsed on the main summit of Mount Massive, 14421'.
I had the peak all to myself. It wasn't very big, but sloped to the east quite gently. For a time I just sat quietly, stared at the scenery, and downed half a lunch. I'd already done about 4600' of total gain, quite a day's work.
I considered aborting the rest of the ridge-run. Meanwhile I relaxed, waited, watched the weather, recovered, and chatted with others who arrived on top. After two hours(!), with the clouds still benign and feeling well-rested, I continued north at 1254!
I was headed away from my car, and still had to gain about 760' more, but after the long break it went surprisingly quickly and easily. It was more downhill than up, dropping a net of about 460' on the way to the last subpeak. Of course the vertical gain was broken into 10 short chunks, the longest only 200', and each summit was a little different. Again they ranged from very rounded hillocks to steep, exposed boulders. On one of them I again declined to surmount the last 10'. "Going up is easy, getting down is not..."
I reached "North Massive", 14320+', at 1401, just 1:07 from the main summit. It was a fairly large, flat, sandy summit in virgin condition littered with colorful rocks. The east subpeak nearby, almost as high, had small red garnets scattered about.
After a 25 minute break here I dropped and then strolled about another half mile to a 14169' hillock, the northernmost point of the journey. Then I turned hard SSW (back toward my car) to the high end of a tundra meadow that just cleared 14000', the last of the 15 Massive peaks, at 1454. As I went north and west the view of the ridge changed continuously. I got to see the mountain from a number of unusual perspectives.
Five hours and 20 minutes after reaching "South Massive" I left the last subpeak. The trip back was surprisingly easy and enjoyable! I encountered a lot of untracked, steep, soft scree, dirt, and gravel that was easy to descend to grassy meadows, and even crossed one old snow patch. By 1602 I reached a rocky outcrop overlooking North Halfmoon Lakes and the lovely valley surrounding them west of Massive.
A couple of hundred feet below the outcrop I spotted an unexpected and welcome trail and downclimbed to it. This unimproved but good and direct track led me down the valley under trees, past meadows, and across creeks back to the main road and my car at 1740.
Statistics: Vertical gain at least 5300', but hard to be sure with all the ups and downs. At least eight miles round-trip, maybe 10. 5:27 to reach the main peak due to bushwhacking, traversing, and staying on top of the ridge. 2:02 on top, 4:46 on the long-around return, a total outing lasting 12:15. 24 [film] photos, 1/8" of boot sole, one deer, three quarts of water, and 35 minutes driving out that awful road...
I printed this and filled in the times along the way [before the advent of cellphones for taking notes!]
ROUTE PLAN: MOUNT MASSIVE RIDGE HIGH POINTS AND SADDLES, S TO N
PEAK SADDLE RISE DROP TIME COMMENTS
14132 . 0 . ______ * S2
. 13880+ . 252 ______
14280+ . 400 . ______ S1, west
. 14240+ . 40 ______
14280+ . 40 . ______ S1, east
. 14240+ . 40 ______
14400+ . 160 . ______ between
. 14360+ . 40 ______
14421 . 61 . ______ * Mount Massive
. 14360+ . 61 ______
14400+ . 40 . ______ between
. 14280+ . 120 ______
14320+ . 40 . ______ between
. 14160+ . 160 ______
14280+ . 120 . ______ N1
. 14040+ . 240 ______
14160+ . 120 . ______ between
. 14080+ . 80 ______
14120+ . 40 . ______ between
. 14080+ . 40 ______
14160+ . 80 . ______ between
. 14120+ . 40 ______
14320+ . 200 . ______ between
. 14280 . 40 ______
14320+ . 40 . ______ N2
. 14120+ . 200 ______
14169 . 49 . ______ * N3
. 13960+ . 209 ______
14000+ . 40 . ______ N4
==== ====
1430 1562
Approximate distances:
Campground to junction 4.0" 1.52 miles
Junction to S2 6.2" 2.35 miles
S2 to N4 6.3" 2.39 miles
N4 to junction 9.7" 3.67 miles
====
8.41
(Next trip report: 1987_0905-07_SnowmassMtn.htm)