How to get there:
The nearby city of Leadville, highest in the US, is a natural
starting point. From there one drives to the trailhead in the
valley between Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive. We hiked the
direct route, one should then drive the road as far as
the vehicle or the driver/owner's nerves can tolerate. Route description:
The trail starts up to the right from the little campground
(North Halfmoon) where the road crosses the river. Actually, the
bridge was closed to all traffic when we were there, so in this case
one just starts hiking when the road ends. As the trail crosses an
open field, there is a very easily noticed cairn that signals
the turn-off for the trail that goes right and heads straight up
the mountain. The trail is steep, but easy to walk. At first,
easy to follow, the trail heads up, then slightly to the left
until it heads up on what looks like a (horizon) ridge off to the left
side. Once there, the trail becomes less distinct, however the
hike should continue upwards in good terrain until the next
horizon ridge is reached. One then pretty much follow this ridge
at an easy angle until the main south-north ridge of Mount Massive
is reached. At this point one is significantly higher than
the saddle (low point) between Mount Massive and the lower
south peak. An easy, but entertaining walk along the ridge with
very good views both left and right leads to the proper
summit point.
Comments:
Pål Jørgen, age 11 hiked from the car to the summit in 2 hours,
15 minutes. We had light rain, but fortunately several periods
of sunshine and a wide view from the summit. We subsequently
traversed to the North Massive summit, 4371 m (45 minutes, light
scrambling).
North Massive seems to be about
70 meter above the lowest col between the two summits
(measured by my GPS)
and therfore
disqualified as a separate peak if a 91 meter minimum primary factor is
used for this purpose (that is 300 feet). The map indicates a "Soft Rank",
that is, a primary factor of 280 feet (85 m) based on interpolation between
contour lines at the col, that is, a maximal uncertainty of about 6 m which
would just make the 91 m criterium.
We subsequently returned to the col and
descended a not so good scree area (only later noticed that the
"trail" indicated in a guide book clearly was a ski descending
route). The trail from the upper lakes in the valley and back down
to the car park was very nice and is highly recommended. Total
round trip time 6 hours.
Resources:
Images
Mount Massive
seen from US 24, just south of Malta (near Leadville) on May 6th,
2001. Of the three distict "humps", the middle one is South Massive,
the rightmost is Mount Massive, while North massive is hidden from
view (behind Mount massive).
Mount Massive, as seen from the summit of La Plata. From left
to right: point 4319 m (flat area behind the snow), North Massive
(two rocky summits) (4371 m), a minor rock tower, Massive Green (4359 m),
Mount Massive (4396 m), South Massive (4307 m).