Mount Massive
Mountain in Colorado, United States
Mount Massive (Arapaho: Hiwoxuu hookuhu'ee) is the second-highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Mount Massive Wilderness of San Isabel National Forest, 10.6 mi (17.1 km) west-southwest (bearing 247°) of the City of Leadville in Lake County, Colorado, United States. It ranks as the third-highest peak in the contiguous United States after Mount Whitney and Mount Elbert.
01Mountain
Mount Massive was first surveyed and climbed in 1873 during the Hayden Survey of the American West. Survey member Henry Gannett is credited with the first ascent. Its name comes from its elongated shape: it has five summits, all above 14,000 ft (4,300 m), and a summit ridge over 3 mi (4.8 km) long, resulting in more area above 14,000 ft (4,300 m) than any other mountain in the 48 contiguous states, narrowly edging Mount Rainier in that category. Mount Elbert (14,440 ft (4,400 m)) is Mount Massive's nearest neighbor among the fourteeners; it lies about 5 mi (8.0 km) south-southeast of the peak.
A matter of some contention after the Great Depression arose over the heights of Massive and its neighbor, Mount Elbert, which have a height difference of only 12 ft (3.7 m). This led to an ongoing dispute which came to a head with the Mount Massive supporters taking it upon themselves to build large piles of stones on the summit to boost its height, only to have the Mount Elbert proponents demolish them.
A class 2 hiking path leads to the peak from the eastern face. The path is 13.6 mi (21.9 km) round trip, with a 4,500 ft (1,400 m) elevation gain. There is also a class 2 route along the southwest slopes.
There are several glacial lakes in the wilderness area. The lower slopes of the mountain are covered in lodgepole pine forests, which gradually yield to Engelmann Spruce and Fir. Treeline is just below 12,000 ft (3,700 m). Among the mountain's fauna are the American pika, the mountain goat, elk, mule deer, moose, Canada jay, martin, and the yellow-bellied marmot.
In the Arapaho Language the Collegiate Range and Mount Massive are called Hiwoxuu hookuhu'ee or Elk's Head.
02Climate
| Climate data for Mount Massive (CO) 39.1836 N, 106.4761 W, Elevation: 13,934 ft (4,247 m) (1991-2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 19.7 (−6.8) |
18.8 (−7.3) |
24.0 (−4.4) |
30.3 (−0.9) |
39.1 (3.9) |
50.2 (10.1) |
56.5 (13.6) |
54.4 (12.4) |
47.9 (8.8) |
37.0 (2.8) |
26.0 (−3.3) |
19.8 (−6.8) |
35.3 (1.8) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 8.2 (−13.2) |
7.0 (−13.9) |
11.7 (−11.3) |
17.1 (−8.3) |
25.9 (−3.4) |
36.2 (2.3) |
42.4 (5.8) |
40.9 (4.9) |
34.6 (1.4) |
24.6 (−4.1) |
15.0 (−9.4) |
8.7 (−12.9) |
22.7 (−5.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | −3.3 (−19.6) |
−4.8 (−20.4) |
−0.6 (−18.1) |
3.9 (−15.6) |
12.7 (−10.7) |
22.2 (−5.4) |
28.3 (−2.1) |
27.4 (−2.6) |
21.3 (−5.9) |
12.1 (−11.1) |
4.1 (−15.5) |
−2.4 (−19.1) |
10.1 (−12.2) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 4.76 (121) |
4.48 (114) |
4.73 (120) |
5.80 (147) |
4.46 (113) |
1.78 (45) |
2.05 (52) |
2.21 (56) |
3.00 (76) |
3.80 (97) |
4.71 (120) |
4.08 (104) |
45.86 (1,165) |
| Source: PRISM Climate Group | |||||||||||||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Mount Massive”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Mount Massive.jpg by Rick Kimpel, Jr., Public domain
- Mountain Goat Mount Massive.JPG by Darklich14, CC BY 3.0
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