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We had mostly dry trails until after we turned off of the Main Range/Colorado Trail. Except for the parking lot, water in the streams and creeks was running high but not out of the banks.

After turning onto the Mount Massive Trail, we started to encounter a few left-over snow drifts and the trail became muddy (11,400'). As usual, if you are not willing to walk in the mud and snow to stay on the trail, please do not come here until it has dried out.

As the trees thinned out near timberline, snowfields were encountered. We put on our gaiters as the edges of the fields were soft and we broke through. After about ten feet from the edge, the snow was consolidated enough to walk on. This was just below 12,000 feet.

The snowfields were spotty up till about 13,000 feet. Then the snow was continuous except for rock out-crops. We stayed on the visible portions of the trail and then kick-stepped up the col to the south of the summit. This would be were the trail is if there had been no snow. Most people were heading for the south ridge of South Massive and climbing over the summit of South Massive in hopes of finding a less steep climb.

Since we drove up from Denver, we were running a little late. By the time we approached the summit around 1 PM, we were sinking in about six inches. Upon reaching the summit, we could hear the sound of avalanches in the valley west of the mountain. A couple who climbed the West slope route to North Massive confirmed that they had heard and seen avalanches in the valley. A large cornice could be seen below the North summit, the same place that I had seen one in July two years ago. Looking around from the summit, it appeared that the snow cover was a bit less on the west facing slopes.

We spent almost an hour on the summit before glissading back down our route. The snow conditions made for a quick but controlled descent. By the time we were below the snow line, we were glad we had not carried our snowshoes with us.