Highest Point: Mount Shavano 14,236 feet

Trailhead Elevation: 9,750 feet (Mt. Shavano Trailhead)

Elevation Gain: 5,550 feet

Round-trip Length: 11 miles

Difficulty: Class 2 (Click here for discussion of Class System)

The Climb: My friend Brian & I climbed up from the east side where the Mount Shavano Trail begins. The climb is very short (approx 4 miles to Shavano) but very steep, a constant climb where you average over 1,000 ft/mile.

There is one small stream on this side that was running but most of the east side is pretty dry and after going in late August, Shavano was virtually absent of snow. Timberline is approximately 12,000 feet or so, very close to the saddle between "espirit point" and Shavano.

When we got to the saddle, it was incredibly cold. The wind was blowing very hard, so hard that were laying back and the wind could hold you up (I got a picture of Brian doing this). I was wearing 4 layers of clothes: 3 sweatshirts and a windbreaker and I was still dying up there (gloves would have been nice). We decided to continue the accent (interestingly everyone else we encountered on the trail ended up turning back when reaching the freezing cold saddle).

The peak is only like 700 feet above the saddle, a short scramble. When we reached the summit, the wind was surprisingly more gentle. Since no lightning clouds were in sight, Brian & I decided to go ahead and bag Tabeguache as well, a short distance further. First you have to drop down to "tabe-shav" saddle and climb back up to Tabeguache and of course come back up Shavano. We reached Tabeguache approximately like 45 minutes later or so.

After a few pics, we returned to Shavano where we decided to just hang out and chill before heading back down, since the weather was perfectly fine by that point. Even took a short nap. Then we made the descent down which was pleasantly short being only 4 miles.

Shavano & Tabeguache Thumbnails:

About the Author

I am currently a student at University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), where I intend to get a degree in Political Science and Geography/Environmental Studies. When I'm not studying, you will find me in the mountains. I have been climbing since I was pretty little and have done climbs throughout California, Colorado and Arizona, including the highpoints of those states. I have done Mount Whitney and Mount Elbert, but I plan on doing some even higher mountains, maybe Aconcagua, Mount Mckinley or Kilimanjaro, Check back with me in about 10 years. Meanwhile you can check out some of the other trips reports:

Trip Reports

Mount Whitney August, 1997 Music Pass July, 2001 Mount Elbert July, 2002 Rito Alto Peak July, 2002 Humphreys Peak June, 2003 Lakes of the Clouds June, 2003 Gibbs & De Anza July, 2003

Mount Antero July, 2003 Comanche & Venable Aug, 2003 Horn Peak Aug, 2003 Santiago Peak Feb, 2004 Agua Tibia Mountain Mar, 2004 Mount Adams July, 2004 Shavano/Tabeguache Aug, 2004

Mt Princeton July, 2006 Engineer Pass Aug, 2006 Schofield Pass Aug, 2006 Trail Ridge Road RMNP Sep, 2006 Torrey Pines SR Dec, 2006 Mt San Jacinto May, 2007

Fill free to email me at [email protected] for questions, comments, suggestions or whatever else you can think of.

Homepage Trip Reports Summit List