Mt. Massive Trip Report 09/20/2015

Peak(s):	Mt. Massive - 14,427 feet
Date Posted:	09/20/2015
Date Climbed:	09/18/2015
Author:	BigMuddyPaddler

Mt. Massive - Southwest Slopes Fri. 9-18-15
I got an unexpected day of on Friday but I needed to stay in cell and data range in case anything came up. What better way to spend a surprise day off than climbing a 14er. I started searching the cell reception reports (Verizon) and decided that Mt. Massive - East Slope would have enough coverage. I would just need to receive calls and check email maybe every 2-3 hours. You'll note that the title says I did the Southwest Slopes... I'll explain. With my mountain and route picked I headed west from Denver at 7am. The weather report called for a chance of morning rain and for it to clear so I wasn't too concerned with starting super early. I got to Leadville at 8:30 and shortly after, arrived at the dirt road that leads to the trailhead. It starts off great with just a bit of washboard and some pot holes. There are no clearance issues all the way to the Mt. Massive trailhead. Here is where I messed up. I pulled up directions on the 14ers app but clicked the wrong route so instead of stopping at the Mt. Massive trailhead where I would have accessed the east slope I read to continue on the road for 2 miles. There were big dips but I actually found this drive easier and more enjoyable than the road up the Grays and Torreys. I was in a Subaru WRX so my clearance is rather poor but I didn't have any issues. After 2 miles you will be 0.5 miles from the southwest slopes trailhead and there is plenty of parking where the road branches to the left. If you have anything with less clearance than a standard SUV just stop here. The last half mile is very rough with big rocks and dips. It is worse in person than the pics show. If I had the right vehicle it looked quite fun. I likely could have made it but not without more risk than I was willing to take. The lowest car at the tailhead was a Subaru Outback but I bet they bottomed out a couple times. I drove 0.1 miles of that last 0.5 miles before finding a car sized pulloff in the trees that obviously had been used many times when faced with the road ahead. This dirt road driving takes some time so I wasn't walking away from the car until 9:45am. There is some seriously great camping for most of the way along the dirt road. When it comes time to do Elbert I will spend the night before here because it has some beautiful forest camping. There were maybe only 5 campsites set up but room for 100. At this point I was still oblivious to the fact that I was about to embark on the wrong trail. After about a mile I realized my preloaded photos on the 14ers app weren't matching up with what I was seeing. I felt pretty dumb and also knew there would be no cell signal until close to the summit but I decided to just press on instead of backtracking and hoped nothing came up at work. The southwest slope route is 5 miles shorter which was totally fine with me. And from what I saw at the summit I'd bet it is much more scenic. Most of the route looks down at a beautiful valley where the aspens have changed a bright yellow. One good option would be to park at the trailhead for the east route and hike up the east route and down the southwest route and follow the dirt road back to your car. This should be about 13.5-14 miles and offer greater variety. This was my 3rd 14er (Evans then Grays being the first two) and it was by far the worst I've felt on the way up. I think it was mostly due to just having an off day but the last couple miles cover a lot of vertical. I was pretty happy to be on the shorter of the two routes. There is a long boulder field but it looks like people have almost paved it in rocks. It's hard to explain and I didn't take a picture but it is really well done without having the effect of an altered looking landscape so thank you to whoever had a part in that. I didn't get signal and until about 14,000 but there was great 4G from there and I got to check my messages and email and luckily there wasn't anything that couldn't wait. The summit ridge is much more straight forward than it looks at first view. Here is a pic looking back It was a Friday and I only saw 7 people the whole day on the mountain which was a fresh change of pace to Evans and Grays. The wind was probably gusting at 30 mph above 13,500 but was blowing parallel with the summit ridge and was blocked on the east side of the mountain. After I summited and returned back toward the false summit I sat under the cover of rocks that totally blocked the wind and somehow even the noise from the wind. The sun warmed my back and I hadn't experienced silence like that in a few years. Nothing. Total stillness. I felt pretty miserable on the way up but I truly enjoyed my 20 minutes looking down into the Leadville Valley. I felt much more energized on the decent and was trudging along when I looked up and saw three goats not more than 30 feet in front of me on the trail. They didn't seem to have the slightest concern but I backed off to give them more space. Shortly after, two other hikers coming down caught up and then went by me and got closer. The goats slowly walked down the trail and after they left the trail we were preparing to continue on when they came up from the other side after totally switching their direction. They kept making their way toward us and we remained. Once they made eye contact and motioned that they seemed to want to go where we were I told the other guys I was gonna leave them be and get out of their way. They stayed which I thought was pushing it with wild animals that had young with them. I've seen far too many picture online of people way to close to wildlife for safety and just general respect of the animal. The pics in this report are very zoomed in and cropped. Anyways, by the time I got back to my car I felt about average for completing a 14er and had a very enjoyable drive back to Denver. I'm hoping to get another one in before winter. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Mt. Massive - Southwest Slopes Fri. 9-18-15

I got an unexpected day of on Friday but I needed to stay in cell and data range in case anything came up. What better way to spend a surprise day off than climbing a 14er. I started searching the cell reception reports (Verizon) and decided that Mt. Massive - East Slope would have enough coverage. I would just need to receive calls and check email maybe every 2-3 hours. You'll note that the title says I did the Southwest Slopes... I'll explain.

With my mountain and route picked I headed west from Denver at 7am. The weather report called for a chance of morning rain and for it to clear so I wasn't too concerned with starting super early. I got to Leadville at 8:30 and shortly after, arrived at the dirt road that leads to the trailhead. It starts off great with just a bit of washboard and some pot holes. There are no clearance issues all the way to the Mt. Massive trailhead. Here is where I messed up. I pulled up directions on the 14ers app but clicked the wrong route so instead of stopping at the Mt. Massive trailhead where I would have accessed the east slope I read to continue on the road for 2 miles. There were big dips but I actually found this drive easier and more enjoyable than the road up the Grays and Torreys. I was in a Subaru WRX so my clearance is rather poor but I didn't have any issues. After 2 miles you will be 0.5 miles from the southwest slopes trailhead and there is plenty of parking where the road branches to the left. If you have anything with less clearance than a standard SUV just stop here. The last half mile is very rough with big rocks and dips.

It is worse in person than the pics show. If I had the right vehicle it looked quite fun. I likely could have made it but not without more risk than I was willing to take. The lowest car at the tailhead was a Subaru Outback but I bet they bottomed out a couple times. I drove 0.1 miles of that last 0.5 miles before finding a car sized pulloff in the trees that obviously had been used many times when faced with the road ahead. This dirt road driving takes some time so I wasn't walking away from the car until 9:45am. There is some seriously great camping for most of the way along the dirt road. When it comes time to do Elbert I will spend the night before here because it has some beautiful forest camping. There were maybe only 5 campsites set up but room for 100.

At this point I was still oblivious to the fact that I was about to embark on the wrong trail. After about a mile I realized my preloaded photos on the 14ers app weren't matching up with what I was seeing. I felt pretty dumb and also knew there would be no cell signal until close to the summit but I decided to just press on instead of backtracking and hoped nothing came up at work. The southwest slope route is 5 miles shorter which was totally fine with me. And from what I saw at the summit I'd bet it is much more scenic. Most of the route looks down at a beautiful valley where the aspens have changed a bright yellow.

One good option would be to park at the trailhead for the east route and hike up the east route and down the southwest route and follow the dirt road back to your car. This should be about 13.5-14 miles and offer greater variety.

This was my 3rd 14er (Evans then Grays being the first two) and it was by far the worst I've felt on the way up. I think it was mostly due to just having an off day but the last couple miles cover a lot of vertical. I was pretty happy to be on the shorter of the two routes. There is a long boulder field but it looks like people have almost paved it in rocks. It's hard to explain and I didn't take a picture but it is really well done without having the effect of an altered looking landscape so thank you to whoever had a part in that.

I didn't get signal and until about 14,000 but there was great 4G from there and I got to check my messages and email and luckily there wasn't anything that couldn't wait. The summit ridge is much more straight forward than it looks at first view. Here is a pic looking back

It was a Friday and I only saw 7 people the whole day on the mountain which was a fresh change of pace to Evans and Grays. The wind was probably gusting at 30 mph above 13,500 but was blowing parallel with the summit ridge and was blocked on the east side of the mountain. After I summited and returned back toward the false summit I sat under the cover of rocks that totally blocked the wind and somehow even the noise from the wind. The sun warmed my back and I hadn't experienced silence like that in a few years. Nothing. Total stillness. I felt pretty miserable on the way up but I truly enjoyed my 20 minutes looking down into the Leadville Valley.

I felt much more energized on the decent and was trudging along when I looked up and saw three goats not more than 30 feet in front of me on the trail. They didn't seem to have the slightest concern but I backed off to give them more space. Shortly after, two other hikers coming down caught up and then went by me and got closer. The goats slowly walked down the trail and after they left the trail we were preparing to continue on when they came up from the other side after totally switching their direction. They kept making their way toward us and we remained. Once they made eye contact and motioned that they seemed to want to go where we were I told the other guys I was gonna leave them be and get out of their way. They stayed which I thought was pushing it with wild animals that had young with them. I've seen far too many picture online of people way to close to wildlife for safety and just general respect of the animal. The pics in this report are very zoomed in and cropped.

Anyways, by the time I got back to my car I felt about average for completing a 14er and had a very enjoyable drive back to Denver. I'm hoping to get another one in before winter.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

luccala

Great Hike
9/28/2015 2:19pm

My roommate and I made the summit the same day, but we missed the goats =( btw if anyone finds some black framed prescription glasses up there please let me know @ 505–249–8399. Thanks!

Caution: The information contained in this report may not be accurate and should not be the only resource used in preparation for your climb. Failure to have the necessary experience, physical conditioning, supplies or equipment can result in injury or death. 14ers.com and the author(s) of this report provide no warranties, either express or implied, that the information provided is accurate or reliable. By using the information provided, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless 14ers.com and the report author(s) with respect to any claims and demands against them, including any attorney fees and expenses. Please read the 14ers.com Safety and Disclaimer pages for more information.

Please respect private property: 14ers.com supports the rights of private landowners to determine how and by whom their land will be used. In Colorado, it is your responsibility to determine if land is private and to obtain the appropriate permission before entering the property.

14ers.com

Social

Mobile App