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2005/08/20 - Mt Shavano, Tabeguache Pk, Point 13,712, Carbonate Mtn, Cyclone Mtn.
Participants: Forrest Thorniley & Chris Keefe
- Mt Shavano & 13,712: Ethan Foster
- Mt Shavano: Larissa Hageman, Beth Ketel, and a handful of newbies!
Distance: 12.75 miles
Elevation: 6,400'
Time: 9.5 hours
Friday, August 19th (skip ahead for the hike)
My friend and long time hiking partner Ethan Foster had mentioned his plan to climb Mt Shavano & Tabeguache Pk with some friends from work which I basically dismissed thinking I had higher priorities on "the list". But as the day approached, I took a gander at TOPO, and noticed I could climb 3 or 4 Bi's (part of the 200 highest peaks in Colorado) as well as add two 14ers to the 2nd ascent list (15 I think). I also found out that one of Ethan’s friends and fellow 14erworld member Beth Ketel would be joining. After getting some assistance on 14erworld.com with TH questions, my brother Chris and I decided that a Mt Shavano to Grizzly Mtn traverse would be a good workout. This would also be my girlfriend Larissa’s first 14er!
We drove up on Friday afternoon, arriving at the Blank Gulch TH around 6:00p. The Blank Gulch TH is in the process of "remodeling" and has moved south of the original TH a few hundred yards (but is still closed). Upon crossing the cattle guard, we were greeted by several dozen cattle, and decided it would be prudent to return across the guard to camp. There are several nice meadows with well defined spots along Rd 252. We selected a spot at the first meadow south of the guard, and set up camp, awaiting the rest of the group. The group consisted of a few regular hikers, and a handful of newbies, all coworkers from a company in Denver (with the exception of myself, Larissa and Chris). Beth Ketel was the first to arrive around 7:00p? Everyone else arrived between 7-11pm. I decided that staying up would not be in my best interest, so Chris, Larissa and I hit the sack around 10pm, with a 4:00 wake up planned. The sack proved rather difficult to “hit” however, and I didn’t fall “asleep” ‘till around 1:00p.
Saturday, August 20th
My cell phone rudely awakened us at 4:00am, about 1 hour after some people had gone to bed! I struggled to get up, but eventually rolled out at 4:30a. Breakfast consisted of an EAS coffee drink, and a banana. I was shocked to see Ethan up and at ‘em, as he had gone to bed around 2:30a, but he’s always been a little nuts. So, at 5:00am, myself, Larissa, Chris and Ethan set off from the old Blank Gulch TH. The rest of the group split up, some tailing us by half an hour(Beth?), others by much more.
The trail leaves Blank Gulch TH, near a stone memorial, and follows the Colorado Trail a short distance before a sign indicates a left turn towards Mt Shavano. Here you will find a register to sign in. The registration stand indicated at least one party was ahead of us, which had left 15 minutes earlier. We started our ascent up Shavano’s SE slopes under moonlit skies, nearly bright enough to forego the headlamp. (would have been without the tree cover) What started as a party of four, quickly split into two groups of two, as Ethan and Chris were setting a fast pace. Larissa and I went a bit slower, as her body is still getting accustomed to high altitudes. The trail was fairly easy to follow, as it meandered through the woods, along the creek for awhile, before making a large switchback to the right. We gradually made our way up towards timberline @ 12,300’, where we saw the sun just making its appearance. We also got a distant view of the Sangre de Cristo range with Crestone Peak & Needle.
Slow and steady was our pace towards the saddle between Espirit Point and Mt Shavano, which we reached around 8:30a. Here we ran into a man that had already summitted, leaving the TH at 11:00pm, for a moonlit hike. I was surprised he was still so high, after 9 hours spent on the hike thus far. We bid him farewell, and continued north towards our first summit. My goal was to summit with Larissa, as this was her first 14er. Otherwise I would have joined Ethan and Chris, who arrived on top at 8:30a. We weren’t far behind though, and we reached the summit at 9:00am, 4 hours and 5,500’ later. The summit consists of large granite boulders, which was a nice surprise, given my first summit here was over ten years ago (then my 4th 14er). Views were great, and the weather was a comfortable 55-60 degrees.
From the summit of Shavano, I decided that Larissa and I would go our separate ways, myself towards point 13,712, as she stayed on the summit and awaited the rest of the group, to descend with. I left the summit shortly after 9:00a, en route to Point 13,712, the first Bi of the day. This was a quick trip, and I met my brother at the saddle between the two. After a quick round trip to the point, we started up Tabeguache, which was little more than a jaunt. From here on out, I would be without my watch, which I accidentally left at home. The weather was still holding, and my brother and I committed to heading west towards Carbonate Mtn, Bi #2 for the day. Luckily we had convinced Larissa to pick us up on the road leading to the Shavano townsite, at the confluence of Cyclone Creek and the N fork of the Arkansas, which is a little ways past the now closed Jennings Creek TH.
Heading west down talus slopes off Tabeguache’s summit, we were soon greeted by what would be the crux of the day, loosing 1,500’ then gaining 1,000’ on the way towards Carbonate Mtn. This was a bit tedious on loose scree and small grass patches. By now the clouds were starting to build pretty quick, but we both knew escape would be easy at any point, with a quick drop down to Cyclone Creek. Fortunately, the clouds stayed west of our location, with only occasional rain fall. Before I knew it, I was standing on the summit of Carbonate Mtn, peak # 4 of the day. At this point my feet were getting pretty sore, and I had doubts that I would make it all the way to Grizzly Mtn. Chris joined me 15 minutes later, and he decided to call it quits at Carbonate. This sealed the deal on Grizzly, as I knew it would take me an extra hour to get there, leaving him waiting at our pickup point. However, Cyclone was still in the cards, and I bid my brother farewell. I knew he would regret this choice, as it took me about 15 minutes to summit Cyclone from Carbonate. At the summit of Cyclone, I briefly reconsidered going for Grizzly, after all it is “right there”. But I ended up bailing on it, due to tired feet and ominous clouds.
I made a fast descent of Cyclone, running down scree stashes for about 1,000’, until it turned to hard dirt. This was the least fun of the trip. Very hard dirt with ball bearing scree. I quickly caught my brother, and we descended Cyclone Creek, to the townsite of Shavano, which we arrived at 2:30p. (I remembered that my GPS had a clock on it). Our ride had yet to arrive, so after a quick break, we continued to trek down the road, eventually getting picked up shortly before McCoy Creek. Whats another mile at this point? Fun times.
Sorry this was probably way too much information, but thanks for reading.
Here are the pictures. |
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