6/11/2019 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 6/12/2019, By: 9patrickmurphy Info: Still a ton of snow on Oklahoma, but somehow too slushy to glissade. Bushwacking through the trees is incredibly annoying, especially as the Halfmoon Lakes trail is mostly covered. The creek crossings were managable, first one had enough snow to walk over, the other I had to use a log super carefully. Wouldn't highly recommend it, but I had a fun enough day. |
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10/26/2018 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 10/26/2018, By: WildWanderer Info: Trail pretty much dry from the 4WD parking lot until the second stream crossing. From there traction is needed most (but not all) of the way to the summit. I tried using spikes but kept sinking to my knees so I switched to snowshoes and kept them on for rest of the hike, including the brief periods where I was walking on dirt/scree (12,700'-12,900' slope). Snow above treeline ranges from non-existent to 3+ feet deep. |
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9/29/2018 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 9/29/2018, By: Shooter Info: Summer conditions. The hike through the forest isn't that bad outside of a few unintended zig zags. The ascent up the slope will get your heart pumping! Another beautiful day in the mountains! |
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8/23/2018 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 8/23/2018, By: LetsGoMets Info: Some mud. Water crossings are a little high from the recent rain, but pretty easily navigated. No real continuous discernible path through the woods once you move off from the main trail (marked with a cairn near a flat rock). Some cairns marking the best approach to the slope, from there it's obvious. Great views. |
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7/4/2018 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 7/5/2018, By: Grover Info: Look for the cairn at 11,600', marking the turnoff for the faint, "Whoa, this is like a Weminuche 13'er" path through the trees and across the two streams. Cairns in the trees are sparse, so route finding skills are a plus. Easy passage across the streams going up and coming down, despite not taking the same path. Thanks to others who posted TR's about this route, as I used some key images detailing the path between 11,600' and 12,700. The scree slope to reach the broad, talus covered ridge does indeed suck. |
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7/1/2018 Route: Oklahoma-Massive Traverse Posted On: 7/3/2018, By: HikerGuy Info: Went up the standard southeast slopes route on Mt. Oklahoma and traversed over to North Massive, Massive Green, Mt. Massive and down southwest slopes route on Massive. Took 3 hours from summit of Oklahoma to summit of Massive. This is an awesome ridge run! There are only two previous trip reports on this traverse, both going from Massive to Oklahoma. I think that going from Oklahoma to Massive is probably easier as coming down Oklahoma is steeper, but solid, and you up climb the crux move as you go over the last tower on the way to North Massive. The crux is an easy, 10-15ft, Class 4 climb up solid rock with plentiful hand and foot holds. The rest of the ridge is delightfully solid with occasional easy Class 3 moves. Really fun ridge! Image #1: looking back at ridge coming off Oklahoma Image #2: looking at remaining ridge over to North Massive (first tower in foreground is easy Class 3, crux tower is way off in the distance, dark point just below the highest point on ridge in photo) Image #3: approaching crux Image #4: closeup of crux Image #5: a look back at Oklahoma (closer to Oklahoma than Image #1) Image #6: overview of ridge from top of Oklahoma Image #7: overview of ridge on the way down Oklahoma Image #8: view of ridge from Massive Green |
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6/20/2018 Route: Oklahoma/Deer/K 49 Loop Posted On: 6/24/2018, By: JasonKline Info: Other than one brief snow crossing below the summit of Oklahoma, snow was avoidable the entire loop of Oklahoma/Deer Mountain A/K 49 (including the tougher parts on Deer Mountain A). Ice axe and microspikes are unnecessary. |
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6/8/2018 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 6/11/2018, By: Randy1983 Info: Summer conditions. Route is mostly snow free. Through the forest there are areas of minor snow fields that are fairly easy to avoid. Above tree line we had to cross a couple snow fields that involved some slight post holing. Scree slope was snow free. The rest of the snow to the summit can be avoided though there is a pretty solid amount of snow to the summit. I didn't sink in any up there though. Was pretty sure I saw some people on the summit of Massive. Ankle gaiters might be helpful descending the scree slope. Wished we could have glissaded it. |
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11/12/2017 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 11/13/2017, By: AnnaG22 Info: Road is subaruable to the SW slopes TH of Massive, barring further snow. The last hill took a little needle-threading, but manageable. Route is ~50% dry and 50% light sugar snow coverage. I would recommend staying on the North Halfmoon Creek trail about .2 to .3 miles further than the route description to avoid navigating deadfall and snowdrifts in the trees. once you reach the steep grass to ascend from N Halfmoon basin into the upper basin, there are cairns if you look for them. |
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8/6/2017 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 8/6/2017, By: Bombay2Boulder Info: Snow free. The trail description is fairly accurate. Just to add a couple of things, the sign that says "halfmoon lakes" is now gone. Instead there is just one board that is kept on the bottom of the cairn at the intersection that points towards the Mt.Massive trail. I had downloaded the GPX from the site and used my inreach to wander through the forest. There are cairns here and there, but if you know how to read a topo or navigate using a device, you should be set. |
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6/22/2017 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 6/22/2017, By: jasayrevt Info: 13er summits are an inspiring, invigorating hobby. This classic route is another recommended, straightforward path. It has incredible views of many quality neighboring Sawatch Range Peaks (i.e. Deer, Elbert, "K49", etc). Conditions up high were spring bluebird. So, perfect for navigating these slopes and ridge line extremely well. Several snow fields remain. Standard light pack plus trail runners approach was good. Bring extra shoes to best manage the stream crossings though. Climb safely out there mountaineers. Pictures have been included as beta |
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11/20/2016 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 11/21/2016, By: jjules4 Info: Patchy snow to the top. No snowshoes required. The route was difficult to find with the small amount of snow, so we ended up putting on our microspikes and climbing up the NE side. Coming down the SE slopes was dry. Drive to the trailhead with patchy snow, but doable in a Subaru outback. |
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11/9/2016 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 11/9/2016, By: tjf242424 Info: Still dry. There's 20 ft of shin-deep windslab crossing from the false summit to the true summit, but that's it. No problems to the trailhead in a 2011 Outback. |
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11/1/2016 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 11/2/2016, By: ahrendse Info: Summer conditions the entire way. No snow on the entire route. Note: southwest slopes of Massive also looked bone dry. |
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7/26/2016 Route: Southeast Slopes Posted On: 7/27/2016, By: screeman57 Info: Great conditions on the route. A note about the bushwhack - after the first stream-crossing, go up-valley towards the waterfall for the second crossing. Game trails abound in the trees, and it's easy to cross too early, sending you through a nasty combo of willows, deadfall, and huge boulders. Easier to find the correct way on descent by going straight to the waterfall (easy crossing just below). |
