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It had been a while since I had been out in the hills, and I thought this would be a good peak
to get back into the routine with, and make it back in time for the Broncos game. Unfortunately,
I set my alarm at home for 4:00 pm instead of am. I started the drive at 6:45 am, making it to
the North Halfmoon Trailhead at 9:00am. In the interest of saving time, I ran to the cairned
turnoff for the Southwest Slopes Route, taking a little over 20 minutes. I knew that the ascent
would be ardous, with 3,200' straight up the grassy slopes and eventually talus. The first part
of the ascent was steep, skirting cliffbands. There was a surprisingly good trail here however,
which I did not expect. On the right is a view of the route up the southwest slopes from above the
cliffbands.
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The route continued steeply straight into a basin at 12,600', where the trail takes a turn to the
North. A section of loose scree lead up to a small ridge, which was not as fun to ascend as descend
later. A long stretch of off-trail (for now: there were plastic trailbuilding markers in place) slope
hiking ensued. This wasn't unpleasant, however, as the grade was fairly moderate. Looking at South Massive,
I had a pretty good idea of how much farther I needed to go. At last the grasst slopes gave way to talus
characterisitc of the altitude, and I arrived at the final stretch of the Southwest Slopes. On the left is a
view of the gully-like formation leading up to the ridge. Dawson's guide suggests an approach at the low point
in the saddle between South Massive and Massive. I found the route I took to be easier than the alternative
looked. At the top of the ridge, I was expecting a long haul to Massive's summit, but somewhat taken aback by the
ridge separation.
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On the left is a view of the remainder of the route to Mount Massive. It looks a lot more dicey than it really is,
since the route skirts the ridge on the East (right) side. Initially, there was a very defined trail, but later snow
on the talus portions of the route made for more disciminate route finding. This was still quite simple, and remained
Class 2 even with some variances in the route on the ridge. From the apex on the ridge from the Southwest Slopes, it
took the better part of half an hour to reach the point where Massive's summit was the only objective left. I had asceneded
and descended several points along the way to the summit. At most, the snow was 8" deep, so the fact that I was in one layer
of clothing wasn't too much of an issue. There was some fairly undesireable wind the entire time I was on the ridge, and it was
unexpectedly cold.
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Reaching the summit at 12:15, I was a little upset about the fact I would be missing the Broncos vs. Bills. I did get to catch it
on the radio as it started in Georgetown. I did experience one of the *Classic* traffic jams that routinely
occur in Georgetown on Weekends when the aspen are changing. Descending was fairly quick, though tough on the knees. If I had
a chance to do it over again, I would have worn running shoes, as the vicissitudes of my feet took their toll in the form of
blisters. I was pleased to see an American Flag on the summit; similar to my experience on Mount Elbert, where I proposed to my
wife in June. I returned to the trailhead at 1:30, and headed out, feeling good physically for the elevation gain (then again, I
had eight hours of sleep ~ not common for me on peak bagging days). |