SandBox Comments: Summit County Citizens Voice "Colorado: Exploring Mt. Massive"

"Mount Massive dominates the skyline west of Leadville in Lake County, Colorado. The 14-mile hike up Mount Massive is considered a fairly easy trail during the short summer season, with a well-traveled path to the ridgeline. The standard route begins at a trailhead near Halfmoon Campground in the valley between Mount Massive, 14,421 feet, and the highest peak in Colorado, 14,433-foot Mount Elbert.

The winter trek can be a couple of miles longer when access may be restricted on the Forest Service road leading to the base of the mountain. When the road to Halfmoon Campground is completely blocked by snow, the National Fish Hatchery at the northern base of Mount Massive provides a longer access route along the Colorado Trail..."
(Kim Fenske)

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SandBox Comments: Summit County Citizens Voice "Colorado: Hiking Mount Harvard"

"The  Collegiate Peaks west of Buena Vista provide many beautiful and challenging hikes within an hour of Summit County. The peaks are part of one of the ten largest wilderness areas in the U.S. Over the past several years, I have scrambled over the long boulder fields of Mount Harvard a few times. At 14,420 feet, the summit of Harvard is the third highest Fourteener in Colorado.

My first ascent of Harvard on a hot August day ended with me hunkered down in a blinding snowstorm with a covey of ptarmigan among the rocks at about 13,000 feet, then drenched in a heavy rain on my retreat down Frenchman Creek...."
(Kim Fenske)

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