The Fullmoon Overnight Hike On Mount Massive

Trip Report

The Fullmoon Overnight Hike On Mount Massive

Page Type: Trip Report

Location: Colorado, United States, North America

Lat/Lon: 39.20512°N / 106.49666°W

Date Climbed/Hiked: Jun 30, 2007

Activities: Mountaineering

Season: Summer

Page By: noahs213

Created/Edited: Jul 2, 2007 / Jul 8, 2007

Object ID: 307155

Hits: 473

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Table of Contents

Introduction

I have always wanted to climb a 14'er when the full moon is out. So I decided to climb Mount Massive with my Dad and my uncle and my brother in law, the second tallest mountain in Colorado, on a full moon. So I had a firm objective. And what do you got to loose on a perfect night?

I chose the Colorado Trail to the saddle and then up the ridge to get to the top. There was still some snow that was hard during the night of June 30. But I was prepared and I brought my Ice Axe just in case I found these conditions.

I had a bad cold but that was not stopping me from the top. The scenery on top of Mount Massive is the best I have scene so far.

"The Beginning"

We traveled from Denver and got there and a good road to the overflow parking. We then hiked to the start of the Colorado Trail. We were all feeling pretty good. This trail was easy. Or so I thought. We turned a hard left at about 3.5 miles into it and we still needed to set up our campsite. I love setting a campsite above treeline or close to the summit but it's hard to carry a 40-50 pound pack up that high and especially when it's inclined alot.

We set up the campsite right below treeline. It was about noon and we were out of water and the closest stream was far below. So we climbed up until we found some runoff of water from the snow. We lined up some rocks and filtered the water into our camelpacks and water bottles. We got back and rested till dinner. I had some Mac & Cheese. While my Uncle had had Mountain House Chile with beef which did not make him happy in the long run.

Our Campsite

"The Climb"

We slept till 1 in the morning to start our climb. I did not sleep well as long as the others. We got all our gear on and I lead up the trail with the Moon showing it's brightness. I was coughing very bad and was not feeling good. My ribs hurt a bit but I continued with some cough drops. I worried though that it would get worse as I go up. But I kept going. In the dark you have no sense of time. You think oh thats 15 minutes away, then two hours later you get there.

We finally stopped below the saddle to have a break. I ate my Cliff bar and drank some water which was almost frozen. It was a little cold that night and I did not bring enough clothing. We got to the ridge above the sattle at about 3:30 a.m. My Uncle was not feeling good at all. That chile that he had did not settle well. So he went down a little to maybe feel better. I was for some reason feeling better but not real good.

At a end of a climb I always get a addrenaline rush and I get to the top in a hurry. We got about halfway up the ridge and there was snow we had to cross. The snow was very hard and slippery and there was some ice. Good thing I brought my Ice Axe! We got to the South summit and then we kept climbing till we got to the top at about 4:30 a.m. We got to the summit and I asked where is the summit log?

We saw the North Massif and climbed there because we thought it might be the summit. But no summit log there so we figuered out we were on the sub peak Of Mount Massive. We climbed back to the Main summit and I ate my hard doughnuts along with some cold water. We stayed there and saw the most beautiful sunrise. I turned aroung and saw blue, and then white, and then the full moon. I took many pictures with my disposable camera.

We headed down in a hury to get some sleep. In the middle of that return I heard my dad say and scream with pain. My dad has had a problem with his knee ever since his "Touching The Void" story on El Diente. So he got done in pain to the tent and we slept.

The most beautiful scenery was on top

The End

Everyone was very tired after this with only 6 hours of sleep for me all together. But it was a great experience for me and another peak in my bag. We had a pedometer and we took about 50,000 steps on the whole trip. It's always fun to keep track.

I strongly reccomend anyone doing this. It is really fun and beautiful.