rwpontius
07-13-2007, 02:33 PM
The trailhead to Mt. Massive is just a little west of the trailhead for Mt. Elbert on the same road. The road to the trailhead is basically a good dirt road. The trail is generally easier than the trail up Mt. Elbert. More gradual and once above timberline through alpine meadows. Generally, it works north and west to the saddle between South Massive and the main peak. Up to the saddle the trail looks like walking through a park-granted uphill-but still park like. At the saddle the nature of the trail changes. While there is still a trail it is more of a scramble in places than an actual hike. None of the scrambling is difficult by Wasatch standards and in fact I would rate it as quite a bit easier than the Pfeifferhorn. Still, if one is unused to mountain scrambling it could be a formidable section. Like Mt. Elbert the view from the top is impressive. The day we summited Mt. Massive there was a lot of haze in the air, presumably forest fire smoke. There appears to be quite a bit more wildlife on Mt. Massive than on Mt. Elbert. That is based on one trip up each so I might be very wrong. On Mt. Massive I saw dusky grouse, ptarmigan and marmots as well as various ground squirrels. They were also present in greater numbers than on Mt. Elbert.