![]() |
Mt. Massive
Colorado 14er 14,421 feet, 4396 meter |
|||||||
|
||||||||
Patrick had suggested we take the southeast slopes to the summit and the "tourist" trial back. He had keyed the GPS coordinates into his Garmin and declared we were in good hands. Robert and I nodded politely as he searched for his topo map. We left the camp and walked the road to the true trail head about half a mile away. The early morning clouds were burning away and we felt good about the weather in spite of the 40% chance of afternoon thunderstorms. The trail was well marked and well-worn as we climbed from the 10,000' start. The aspens had a few yellow leaves signaling that Fall was just around the corner. Just as we were making good time on the Colorado Trail, Patrick announced that we need to turn left. I glanced to my left and saw a gentle slope covered with pines. "No trial?" I asked our leader. "Just go up until you break out of treeline", Mr. GPS answered. Trusting my good friend, Robert and I lead the way. Note to self: Why did our leader: never lead from the front?
Breaking through the treeline, we were rewarded with a scene only found on the Colorado Rockies. The alpine meadows were fresh with flowers on a backdrop of soft clouds that gave the Arkansas Valley a 3 Dimension look. We gained altitude steadily and followed the ridge towards Point 12,381. The terrain was mostly smooth and the weather was holding but we continued to keep an eye on the sky given the forecast.
Just as fast as the squall hit us, it moved on. Acting like the Chippendales, the shells went off. We conquered the steep face of Point 13,360 albeit with some interesting moves in the scree field below her summit. I continued to look for the escape route as we observed boiling cumulous clouds to the east. About this time we spotted maybe 20 climbers on the normal route heading towards the summit Mt. Massive. We agreed to go to the saddle under South Massive and evaluate the weather knowing that we could escape on the main trial if it turned bad. In reality, that was our only option so the real decision was whether to go for the true summit or not.
The downclimb was uneventful on the main trail and we made it in about 3 hours after taking 5 to reach the summit. This climb was in my top five for Colorado 14ers. The southeast ridge was an exceptional route. The alpine meadows are what I climb 14ers for. The weather toyed with us but allowed us to reach the top and get back down safely. And I felt good. It was good to climb again. Yes, even the GPS was good. But as always, it is who you climb with rather than what you climb that makes a good day.
|
|