This past weekend we decided to tackle another 14er, Mt. Massive. It lies just north of Mt. Elbert and is the 2nd highest peak in Colorado. What we thought was going to be a challenging and long hike turned out to be the most difficult and scariest hike we have ever done...

Colorado has brought us two (new) loves; hiking and snowboarding. During the shoulder season of winter (for snowboarding) and summer (for hiking), we discovered a way to combine the two! Hiking a 14er and snowboarding it down. Although more challenging than summer hiking (it brings unpredictable weather, terrain and unexpected mishaps), we always enjoy the planning, the preparation and the rewards of both summiting a 14er and snowboarding it down. The problem with this kind of undertaking is you never know the snow conditions, the kind of terrain you'll need to hike and the exact path of descent.

We started a little later than anticipated. Ideally, you want to start before sunrise. Particularly in the winter or shoulder season when the snow gets warmer and slushy, you start post-holing in the snow (terminology we have learned since living here). We had a hard time rallying in the morning and we had a start time of 6:30 am for a 14+ mile hike, not ideal! But we were excited and felt we could still make the hike in decent time. I realized 3 miles into the hike with all my gear in tow, I was not going to make another 4 miles.

So we dropped off our gear to finish the rest of the way with our crampons on and with plans of glisading down (more on this later).

We spend over three hours in the forest just trying to get above the tree line. We literally hike in snow, zigzagging our way through the forest without any trail signs. Some trails are really good about marking the trail (e.g. Longs Peak), but this one was the absolute worst. At least for the winter, instructions tell you to leave the trail and hike along the forest in a South and Southwest direction. WTF?

Once you get above the tree line, you can see the summit and the path becomes more clear (basically along a rocky ridge to avoid all the snow on the face of the mountain).

We won't lie, there were many times we should have turned around.

When we run into a guy who had to turn around because of post-holing.
When I realized I couldn't make it with all my gear for another 4+ miles.
When we started post-holing on a steep incline.
When my hip started hurting because my snowboarding backpack is not the best ergonomically designed pack.

But each time one of us would ask to turn around the other would try to press on. We both hate to quit and we always try to acquiesce to each other's requests. After all, isn't that what a good marriage is all about? So onward we go. After about 8.5 hours of hiking, we reach the summit. And what a summit it was!

We had the most perfect weather when we summited. There was hardly any wind and after a few minutes rest, we were able to do our traditional 14er burpees.

Without our gear, the next best option was to glisade (another terminology we have learned here in Colorado) down the mountain. It's basically getting on your butt and sliding down. Channeling your inner child is always so much fun!

After all the highs and lows of the hike, we reenter the forrest (i.e. the hike back from hell). We don't know how we veered off from our original path as much as we did. In retracing our steps, we did think about a couple of mistakes that probably stemmed from feeling too fatigued. Of course, having an unmarked trail didn't make it any easier. We basically zigzagged our way back, getting on a trail that wasn't the original trail we used. We spend 5+ hours, remaining daylight, our phone batteries for spotty GPS, the rest of the water hiking through the forest only to find that we had veered off course for 3 miles! We called 911 and the operator was able to find us via GPS. The information they had was not that great, but they could at least tell us if we were heading in the right direction. They had informed me they would be activating Search and Rescue. John was determined to find the trail. So after hiking for miles, we found a river that we thought flowed towards town. We were on some real panic (me) and Survivor (John) mode. Somehow, we found the trail and 911 dispatcher was able to confirm we were heading in the right direction. Search and Rescue was cancelled and ultimately didn't need to come out.

After 15 hours of hiking, we were so happy to have found our way back. But, what happened to our gear? Because we couldn't find our original trail back, we had to leave our gear behind. (Un)fortunately, the story doesn't end there...

The following day, we realized there would be no one to retrieve our stuff but us. After work, we drove back 1:45 hours back to the mountains and as crazy as it sounds, started to hike back on the original trail at 7:30 pm. We drove up as far as we could on the trail (illegally!) and after two miles of hiking near dusk, we made it to our gear!

Trying to photographically mark the trail.

During our hike back, it became pitch black pretty quickly. With trail markers and flashlights, we made it back to the car the same time the night before!

Lessons we have learned from this adventure:

Invest in a really good GPS!
Only attempt to ski/snowboard down 14ers no later than Memorial Day weekend.
Tell someone which mountain you'll be hiking and what time you expect to be done.
Be cognizant of the length of the hike. Hauling snowboards and gear for 7+ miles in snow will make for a longer and more difficult hike. Stick with shorter hikes.
911 works even with little to no indicated cell phone coverage.

Will we ever hike a 14er and snowboard down? I think so. We just need to be more smart, realistic and logistical about it.