colorado hiking

This is the third part in my series of posts on climbing Mt. Shavano. Click the following links to read Part 1 or Part 2 if you have not read these yet.

Climbing Mt. Shavano was a great experience. Overall, things worked out pretty well but there are a few things that I learned for next time:

More Water - I brought 100 oz. of water in my Camelbak Backpack. To my surprise, I sucked my water dry when we were about 90% through our hike and I didn’t really feel like I was drinking that much water. I also had a headache and didn’t feel all that great for several hours after the climb. I have come to the conclusion that I didn’t drink enough water during the climb. I have read elsewhere that you need to regularly drink water throughout the climb, even when you don’t feel thirsty. If you are not peeing at regular intervals, you are not drinking enough water.

More/Warmer Clothing - Keep in mind that we were hiking in the middle of summer. It was a beautiful, sunny day. I wore lightweight pants and a short-sleeve, moisture-wicking shirt. I brought one more short-sleeve shirt and a lightweight windbreaker/raincoat. By the time we got to the summit, my shirt was soaked with sweat under my backpack and I was freezing. The wind was very strong on top of the mountain and it was much cooler than I anticipated. My fingers were actually getting numb. I changed to my one dry shirt and put my lightweight jacket back on. I was fine the rest of the day, especially as it got warmer during the descent. This opened my eyes though…what if it rained all day and my clothes were soaked? What if I slipped and fell in a creek? On my next trip I definitely need to bring more/warmer clothing.

Trekking Poles - Do I need these? A couple of other hikers had them (and a couple did not). I think they might be real helpful on the way down. On the other hand, it seems like they might be a pain in the butt to deal with if I need to use my hands for any climbing. I will do a little research and post on these in the future.

Click Salida and Estes Park Review to read my last post related to the Mt. Shavano climb.

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.

I am actually writing this entry AFTER I climbed Mt. Shavano. You see, I came up with the idea for this website while I was about half way up the mountain. My wife was dead tired and I started rambling on about this website and all of the great information that I could provide…she had no interest of course. The rest of this post will be in the present tense; we all no better of course.

We have been in Salida, Colorado for about 10 days now and I haven’t done a lick of work. This was supposed to have been a “working vacation” but there are way to many distractions and I am having too much fun. We have been hiking assorted trails just about every day (sometimes twice a day if we can talk the kids into it) including parts of the Colorado Trail, Waterdog Lakes and Agnes Vaille Falls (a great short hike for kids) close to Mt. Princeton.

Agnes Vaille Falls (much cooler in person) and family

Since we arrived in Colorado, I have been fascinated with all of the 14ers around us and there are a ton in the area, including Mt. Antero, Mt. Princeton, Mt. Yale, Mt. Columbia, Mt. Harvard, Mt. Tabeguache and of course Mt. Shavano. Within a couple of hours drive there are over 20 different 14ers. Very cool! I have been doing a lot of reading, including Gerry Roach’s fabulous book Colorado’s Fourteeners and have decided to try climbing Mt. Shavano and possibly Mt. Tabeguache if time and energy permit. Tomorrow is the big day and I am very excited. Although our rental home is only about 5 minutes from the Angel of Shavano trailhead I have decided to not climb from this point, as the climb seems to be more difficult and possibly through snow. We will instead start from the Blank Gulch Trailhead, which will take us about 30 minutes to get to. The plan is to get up at 5AM and try to start our hike by 6AM. It is about Midnight by the time I finish reading and it is time to go to bed.

Click Mt. Shavano - My first 14er! to read about my climb and see pictures.