Charlie’s Angels on the Summit of Mt. Massive! It was so amazing to be on the summit with these accomplished ladies. What a fantastic day in the Sawatch Mountain Range!
On Saturday, Jane, Sanja, and I climbed to the summit of Mt. Massive via the East Ridge. It was my 2nd attempt on the mountain, having failed back in January due to high winds. With a stable, relatively calm forecast and a known trench, which was previously established to the East Ridge, the chances for success were excellent.
Group Shot (From L-R: Sanja, Clare, Jane, Kevin, and Sarah). We met Kevin and Sarah on the way up to the summit and they were fun to hang out with once we caught up with them. Kevin and Sarah are both excellent mountaineers, in their own right, so there was a great camaraderie on the summit.
Our Route. Rather than going up a steep grade, on the north side of Pt 11,827, we followed a trench which wound it’s way gently around the south side. The route was much less strenuous, but it was 0.5 miles further distance wise, turning a 13 mile day into a 14 mile day. An additional benefit of going around the south side, was the presence of the sun which lightened our mood and made the hike that much more enjoyable.
Timing:
05:45 am Leave Fish Hatchery
07:15 am Intersection of CO Trail and Highline Trail
09:00 am South of Pt. 11,827 at Treeline
09:30 am On the East Ridge Proper!
10:20 am At 12,500 ft on the ridge
11:00 am Passing through the notch at 13,200 ft
12:00 pm At 14,000 ft and done with scrambling.
12:30 pm Summit!
6:00 pm Back at the Fish Hatchery.
At the end of the day, Jane and Sanja got back to the car 30 minutes before me. A new pair of mountaineering boots were giving me agonizing pain, so the last 3 miles back were excruciating. Probably not a good idea on my part, to try breaking in a new pair of boots on a 14 mile hike, with 4,760 ft of elevation gain!
Sanja staying warm on our traverse to the south side of Pt 11,827. It was a very cold morning, with temps well below freezing.
I can’t tell you how happy we were to be in the sun. Here’s Sanja celebrating the warmth!
Here’s Jane scouting ahead. Thank goodness Jane is so level headed and so helpful in the back country! I know I can count on her whenever we need to problem solve. I’m anal retentive when it comes to staying on course and at first I was uncomfortable when the trench led us to the south side of the ridge.
It felt like an awful long excursion, but it was only an additional 0.5 miles. In any event, Jane scouted out the way, just to make sure it was headed towards the East Ridge and I was thankful for her assistance while I futzed with putting new batteries in my Garmin.
I’m happy we figured it out and can now see the East Ridge!
The East Ridge of Mt. Massive (Taken from ~12,000 ft)
At this point, we spent the next several hours chasing Jane up to the summit.
Jane waited for us at a few key spots, to keep the group together and I was always happy to see her smiling face peaking out above us!
Another advantage of having Jane out in front, is that she takes amazing pictures of me…!!!
Scrambling on the East Ridge was fun. Jane got this nice shot of me climbing up the ridge.
The Notch on the East Ridge. Getting to the notch was fun, since the rocks were all covered with snow and a bit slippery. I was happy to have micro-spikes on, to help my feet stick in those spots.
On the East Ridge, there were a couple of class 3 spots, but for the most part it was class 2. I’m glad we had such beautiful weather as the scrambling was really enjoyable.
It was just after the notch, when I caught sight of “Papperson” which is the name folks call Kevin and Sarah, as a couple. Here they are above me on the East Ridge.
Looking back at the Notch and Sanja climbing up towards me.
I really like this picture of Jane on the ridge.
Here’s the picture Jane took of me…
After the notch, at 13,400 ft, this is what the rest of the ridge looks like…a few more scrambly bits and then a straightforward climb to the final summit.
Sanja scrambling on the East Ridge. This was one spot, where there was a bit of climbing involved. About 8 feet of bouldery moves, nothing too hard!
Here I am kicking steps for Sanja. Jane had gone up before me, so I just made the steps a bit deeper. Papperson decided to go around to the left and traverse this snow bank, rather than climb up and over.
Looking back at the East Ridge from 14,200 ft.
On the summit, finally, after 6.5 hours of hiking.
After the summit, we made our way back to the car. It was pretty uneventful, except my feet started hurting with about 3 miles left to go. Jane gave me a shot of something which was delicious and I took some painkiller, but my feet were still in agony. I decided to take those boots back to REI the next day and go back to the LaSportiva brand. All in all, we had a great day on the mountain with fantastic weather and fun times.
Tags: 14er, East Ridge, Mountaineering, Mt. Massive, Sawatch Mountains, Winter