Mt Massive (14,421) by Brian Schultz   Sunday  July 13, 1997

I camped in the National Forest to get a good start on the long Mt Massive trail and began at 6:25 under sunny and cloudless skies. I kept up a steady pace hiking with two different couples at times, one of them brought their two dogs with. A great view of Mt Elbert could be seen from the trail, framed through the trees under timberline. In the open area above timberline and below the saddle the wind picked up, the strongest I've ever encountered. Quite an effort was required to hike up with the wind pushing me back down. Once on the ridge, I considered going left up to South Massive but skipped it knowing there was still a long hike over to the main summit. About halfway there I ran into Brian Olson again, my fellow Minnesotan who on Harvard three days earlier said he was going for Columbia (he made it). I followed the ridge and after slogging over the false summits finally arrived on the true summit at 10:40, 4 hours and 15 minutes from the start.

It was cold and still windy on top but sunny, and I stayed until 11:30 visiting with Ted and Judy while their dogs scampered about. Many others were also on top. On my way down I took advantage of a snowfield and did a glissade, saving a bit of time. In the woods the temperature warmed up and I stopped to take off my outer coat. Many people were still on their way up at this point, a long ways yet from the summit. After a brief water break I hiked straight through the long haul to the trailhead and got back at 2:10.

Although Mt Massive is a long hike it isn't a hard one. I would be reluctant to start too late with its distance.

Total hike time- 7 hours 45 minutes (including 50 minutes on the summit)

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