Hike Mount Massive to Mount Elbert Traverse San Isabel National Forest, CO

Sep 21, 2018 — I haven't challenged myself quite like this in a long time, and this epic Sawatch Mountains loop, traversing from Mt. Massive to Mt. Elbert, was exactly what I needed. In total, this traverse summits a bunch of Colorado high peaks, as well as quite a few unnamed bumps. The officially ranked peaks are: Mt. Massive, Mt. Oklahoma, Deer Mountain, Peak 13736, Mt. Champion, Casco Peak, Bull Hill, Mt. Elbert. The entire day is fairly slow-moving because it's not a clear, alpine ridgeline, but instead a rocky jumble of scrambles and rugged terrain. A few Class 3 moves obstruct your route along the way, but there's nothing crazy overall. You also have a couple of bail points, but these would require walking back on a dirt road for many miles, so just go for the gold (aka Mt. Elbert).

I know myself. I can't get up for an alpine start. 5:00: "It's too cold." 6:00: "I'll just hike back in the dark." 6:30: "Shit, why do I always do this?" I recommend you don't start this late - I lost light well before I finished, and it would have been nice to summit Mt. Elbert for sunset, but whatever, I was well-rested. Head up the standard route to Mt. Massive, and continue along the ridgeline over some Class 2+ stuff to Mt. Massive Northwest Peak, an unofficial bump along the ridge that has a few obstacles. From here, the route to Mt. Oklahoma takes some time, as there are a few short Class 2+ down climbs, and a steep and fun scramble to Mt. Oklahoma's summit. From Mt. Oklahoma, a long and easy walk to Deer Mountain is a nice break, but expect a single Class 3 move to gain Deer Mountain's summit. After this move, stick to the ridge or just to the right to avoid terribly quality rock on the east face. I was surprised how long all of this took me so far, and how much I still had ahead of me.

The going actually somehow got slower. There are two bumps before Peak 13736 that aren't particularly interesting, and expect a short, loose down climb coming down from the second bump. Peak 13736 ended up just being another Class 2 obstacle along the way, and Mt. Champion was the same, both really pretty.

It was already late afternoon as I was coming down from Mt. Champion and the ridgeline to French Mountain ahead looked intimidating. Initially, French Mountain was one of the peaks along my intended route, but somehow I forgot to research the beta on this ridgeline. I decided to go for it anyway (yellow mishap on the map). Initially, it seemed like it would go at Class 3, and then I had to route-find around some absolutely awful-quality rock pinnacles and got into not-so-fun Class 4 territory. I got to a point where the ridge became jagged, loose, and terrifying. It was already getting late. Obviously, I was getting a bit tired and prone to make a poor decision. Was there a route I wasn't seeing? Both sides of the ridge were loose and awful,  I couldn't see cairns or social trails, and overall it just looked like a mess. I took a moment and saw some Jeeps heading up the road from Champion Mills. I could bail and hitch a ride. I seriously considered it, but I had a stroke of excitement to think about finishing this loop and instead decided to bail off the ridge and head to the saddle between French Mountain and Casco Peak, skipping French entirely. This was my decision point - I would go for it. I left my failure on the map, showing my stopping point "X" and my subsequent bail.

The line I chose to get to the saddle of French Mountain and Casco Peak ended up being more awful, loose scree, but the ridgeline up to Casco Peak was pretty and friendly and I got a nice view of still how damn far I had to go. It was somehow actually not as disheartening as I thought it would be, despite the sun setting behind me.

The route from Casco Peak to Bull Hill is really pretty, and mostly just a walk on an alpine grasses ridge, with some Class 2 to gain Bull Hill's summit. More Class 2, now in the dark for me, takes you to a trail about halfway up from the saddle of Bull Hill and Mt. Elbert, and this leads to Mt. Elbert's summit. Follow the standard Mt. Elbert trail back to the trailhead.