Climbing Mt. Shavano…my first 14er!

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Wow am I tired. I wake Amy (my wife) up and we are on our way. It is 4:30AM? After some thinking about this I realize that my laptop (subbing as an alarm clock) time is still set for central time. We woke up at 5AM CST. Oh well, better early than late. We arrive at Mt. Shavano’s Blank Gulch Trailhead and start our hike at about 5:15AM in darkness.

This past week I bought a new Camelbak H.A.W.G backpack. So far I love it. Here is what I decided to pack for my first climb:

• Backpack holds 100oz. of water
• Extra short sleeve shirt
• Raincoat/Windbreaker (lightweight)
• Compass, Map, Knife, Flashlight, Cell Phone, First Aid Kit
• Ham Sandwich, Chips, 3 Granola Bars, Bumble Bar

Based on the information found in Colorado’s Fourteeners, we are taking route 18.1 which is rated as a Grade II, Type 2 route. However, this really means nothing to me as I have nothing to compare it too. The hike is 9.7 miles roundtrip with 4430 feet of elevation gain. After a short hike down the Colorado Trail, we arrive at the beginning of the trail leading up to Mt. Shavano and sign into the log book.

Right from the beginning, things are pretty difficult. It is dark, rocky and the elevation is steeper than any of the trails we have been walking in previous days. Eventually, things begin to level out a bit and the elevation isn’t nearly so bad. The sun rises and we are getting pretty close to being above the tree line.

Here is a picture of my wife…a little winded but in good spirits and having fun.

This picture is taken along the ridge shown below. I have turned to the left (South) to get a better picture of the basin below. Also, another route up Mt. Shavano (from the Angel of Shavano trailhead) is up the peak on the other side of the basin.

Here you can see the snow that makes up the body of the Angel of Shavano. A lot of the snow has melted off by this time of year (late July) so you can’t see the head and wings very well. Also, keep in mind that what you see here is not the peak of Mt. Shavano. You have to climb this ridge up to the saddle (still about a mile away) and then take a right, heading North for a little over .5 mile to the peak of Mt. Shavano.

This is just a bit further down the trail than the picture above. This ridge is long and tough. The elevation gain, especially at the end will get to you…take plenty of breaks. You still have about a 1/2 mile to go and 750 feet of elevantion gain from this point to the saddle.

Phew! We finally reached the saddle. Here is a peak back at where we just came from. Take a look at how long the trail along this ridge runs…about 1 1/2 miles total. The basin below is where the Angel of Shavano forms…you just can’t see any of the snow from this perspective.

We’re almost there! Just a “short” climb up this rock pile…to give you some perspective on this view, notice a fellow climber on the left hand side of the picture.

Here is a peak back to where we just came from. The long trail you see (hard to see) runs along the saddle. The blue arrow is where the trail leads back down the mountain past the Angel of Shavano basin that is pictured several times above. The red circle shows another hiker (not visible at this resolution) to give you some perspective on height and distance.

Mt. Shavano’s summit…we finally made it! It is about 10AM, so it took us about 4 hours and 45 minutes; not bad. We sign the log, have some lunch and hang out for about 30 minutes. We have decided against going over to Mt. Tabeguache, which is about a mile way…I had to do a lot of convincing to get my wife to come this far and she wants no part of it (and I am pretty tired too!).

This is a picture of me. We head down Mt. Shavano at 10:30AM and arrive back at the trailhead at 1:15PM, for a total roundtrip time of 8 hours. It feels good to be back at the car…I am wiped out and need to sit.

Click Some thoughts after climbing Mt. Shavano to read my next post.