Colorado 14'er bagging: June 30th 2007

Fully rested we decided on one last good climb for the trip. Mount Massive, the second highest peak in Colorado, would be our goal for the day. Since we had a hour long drive to reach the trailhead, we woke up at 4am and tried not to start our sleep walk in the car. We passed a large group from Colorado Springs right after leaving the trailhead, then after 20 minutes of hiking we left the trail and headed straight up through the woods.

Our feet were thanking us as we encountered soft forest floor with a carpet of pine needles and decayed wood. The woods were open and easy to navigate through. We perked up as Mt Elbert (Colorado's highest) showed through the trees.

After breaking out above treeline on still-soft grassy slopes we headed up to the first of 3 bumps on the ridge leading to the true summit. Suddenly, we had an unobstructed view to the west and the mountains there seemed close enough to reach out and touch. Now we were really happy we'd chosen this route over the regular trail which would have no views until nearly the summit.

Below us we heard a drawn-out bugling sound, then spotted a herd of nearly 12 elk running for cover. Amazing! Our route choice was looking even better: elk, stunning views and solitude on a popular mountain on a Saturday.

The next bump was the most strenuous, up to 13,400+ feet on a steep slope. The trekking poles were proving their worth again and we just went into low gear for the climb upwards. Once on top we started to appreciate the views even more as the Gore Range of rugged peaks came into view. Small alpine flowers also dotted the ground near our feet vying with the more expansive views for attention.

A few rock bands broken up with easy ledges made the ascent to Massive's south summit more interesting. We paused to appreciate the solitude as we watched the climbers on the regular trail come up from below and turn toward Massive's true top.

Down at the saddle we ran into a few of the Colorado Springs climbers, they were awed by the sudden view to the west and we tried not to laugh as we told them how we'd been hiking for the last few hours with that stunning backdrop. While ascending toward the true summit passing a couple snow patches we chatted with one climber on his way back down. Just before departing I asked where he was from and was shocked to find another Bloomington resident. After proselytizing about our hiking club, I let him go and we topped out on the summit with a small crowd.

Helen and I shocked the collected masses by breaking out cold beers each (14'er ESB for me) and telling stories of our 7 summits in 8 days. I was also appreciative of Helen's idea of bringing our left over homemade salad from Friday along with tortillas for a summit lunch. Best summit food I'd ever had.

Finally, we decided to descend and we followed the regular trail all the way back down. It was a bit more gentle on Helen's blistered toes (less steep) but definitely more crowded. Still, we appreciated another chance to see more of a mountain by climbing different routes up and down.

Once back at the trailhead we celebrated with a final cold soak of our tired feet in Halfmoon Creek.