Tabeguache Peak

Route: Via Mt. Shavano
Posted On: 10/2/2024, By: KeepRunning262
Info: Great hiking conditions, no notable snow anywhere. Very low traffic; only saw two people today. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 7/21/2024, By: ColoNativeGal
Info: Summer conditions. Saw no one until the summit (those people came over from Shavano), it was an awesome day. Started super early, 3:30am to beat the afternoon storms. The last part around the spires and to the summit block was super loose, so I stuck closer to the rock. Navigation in the dark around the tarn was interesting, I got off route hopping over the talus thinking there was no trail, but it was easy to find on the way down. Great and fun way to get this one. Plus, you get a bonus 13er out of it as well. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 7/13/2024, By: scottieconqueso
Info: Summer conditions, one itty bitty melting snow patch right before ascending the ridge. The 14ers.com gpx file is very good, if you follow that, you won't get lost. Coming up, you can very clearly see the cliffs of McCoy gulch, if you read the warnings and see those cliffs, I don't think there's anyway you make the mistake of trying to descend that way on accident. One thing I didn't remember coming up was that photo 13 of this hike is only the first of like four false summits and once you clear it, the true summit just looks so far away, see photo 20 and try to remember that if you hike this way. It took me 4 hours going up and 3 hours coming down. The ridge hiking was more time consuming than I expected. 

Route: Via Mt. Shavano
Posted On: 6/26/2024, By: chelsluckb2
Info: Hiked on 6/25. Went up the standard route of Shavano and then over to Tab. It is essentially summer conditions all the way up. About 2 miles in, the trail is full of runoff for about half a mile. Most of this can be avoided by walking on the side of the trail, but waterproof shoes probably wouldn't hurt. The only snowfield I encountered is at the top of Tab. I was able to bypass it entirely by going left and hugging the base of the snowfield to reach the summit. Beautiful day! 

Route: Via Mt. Shavano
Posted On: 6/24/2024, By: jpoyfair
Info: There are some lingering snow patches along the gpx route for the ascent to Tab. Snow is avoidable if you want. I got advice from someone to stay right and gain the ridge since the left was loose. It's counterintuitive because there is snow on the right route. I traversed the snow with no problem until my descent, when it was getting warm and a little slick. I'm glad I switched routes. It was much more direct and stable. In a few weeks it will be completely clear. 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 6/19/2024, By: edmdais1
Info: Almost summer conditions. Some lingering snow on the ridge between the false summit and summit. Easily bypassed. A few snow fields in the basin that are easy to cross. Fun way to get this 14er! 

Route: Via Mt. Shavano
Posted On: 6/17/2024, By: bethyhewes
Info: Summer conditions up Shavano and over to Tabeguache as well. No spikes needed and any small snow patches are totally avoidable. 

Route: Via Mt. Shavano
Posted On: 6/10/2024, By: Brandon0135
Info: If you left 2 things at the top of shavano that you ditched due to lightning let me know 806 679 8073. Ascended Shavano via east slopes, traction/floatation not needed. You can also traverse to Tabeguache without traction but I found the route easier with microspikes in the snow. Bring an axe if you want to glisade the Angel back down, but the tree fall at the base of the Angel kinda sucks. The Angel no longer goes all the way up but you can mostly gain the ridge on the left at least with only a few dry interruptions in the snow. 

Route: North Face via Browns Creek
Posted On: 5/17/2024, By: ejfahren
Info: Approached North face via Browns Creek. Dry trail to mile 3. Patchy snow and significant deadfall to Browns Lake. Continuous snow from there (~11k) to summit. North face couloirs are loaded. Lots of options for the descent, choose your own adventure. 3k of great corn at 1130 on a windless, full sun day. Was a bit of a slog in both directions. In a couple weeks, the trail below 11k will clean up making access much easier. 17 miles, 5.8k' for the day. 

Route: Via Mt. Shavano
Posted On: 2/1/2024, By: shapovalovm
Info: * TH to 12400' - used spikes (both ways). The trench is a highway, snow is rock solid, no flotation needed at all, zero postholing. Stashed my snowshoes at 12400'. No avalanche concerns as of today, but that might change with the upcoming storm (although the snow amounts in the forecast seem to be decreasing). * 12400' to both summits and back - very dry, just wore boots. A lot of rock-hopping. For Tab, I stayed lower of the snowfield both up and down. Weather: Strong very cold wind on Shavano and going down to Tab saddle. Rocks had a layer of frost on them. However, weirdly enough, saddle and Tab were almost completely calm. Otherwise, relatively warm day. Start 6:15am; 10:30am Shavano; 11:30am Tab; finish 3:25pm; 7:45 of moving time. With that super-trench in-place I was able to move almost at summer pace (minus heavier pack). Thanks everyone who contributed to it! My Garmin clocked 13.5 miles and 6485' gain. 

Route: Via Mt. Shavano
Posted On: 1/28/2024, By: sarahmariekirk
Info: Climbed Shavano and Tabeguache Peak today, we followed the beautiful super highway trench that Daway8 and his group put in last weekend. My group of 3 and two other groups on the mountain reinforced the trench today. We wore snowshoes from start to treeline, but with the current trench - snowshoes are not required. Microspikes helped a lot on the descent, the rocks are holding deep pockets of snow so rock hopping was easier than getting caught in trapdoors. Tab had a lot more snow on the summit proper than Shav - we followed boot prints up on the left side. 

Route: Via Mt. Shavano
Posted On: 1/28/2024, By: daway8
Info: Significant change of the look and feel is this peak group over the last week - only a few more inches of snow but between that and the bitter cold winds it felt much more like an actual winter climb this time. Went back to pick up Tab which I missed last week with the group. Thought going solo with my own pacing, breaks, etc would make it easier. Not so much. Still a huge day for me. Didn't help that although the trench was good enough down low that I didn't bother with snowshoes until about 4mi in at 11,650ft but after about 12k the wind pretty much obliterated it and I had to retrench solo. Heard a couple guys coming up behind me and thought the calvary had arrived but unfortunately they didn't catch up until I was already stashing my snowshoes at treeline, go figure. The boulder/talus fields about treeline are a lot more annoying with a few more inches of snow, especially on the descent, and especially after dark. Like I said, it was a big day. Tab had a small but wicked snowfield on the top that could have been mostly avoided by dropping down to the left but it looked very sunbaked and windblown so I risked a direct ascent on the less steep side being wary of possible cornices on the other side. Probably not recommended but I got away with it. For Shav, the steepest red shaded slope below treeline, which starts at about 3.78mi 11,250ft and goes until about 3.88mi 11,500ft still has relatively light coverage so wasn't too concerning. The next steep section starts at about 3.98mi 11,650ft and runs pretty much to treeline at 4.28mi 12,444ft. It's on the low end of danger based on slope angle and has plenty of relatively mature trees, though not very dense, however it's heavily loaded so stay alert here. Forecast is showing next weekend will be a totally different picture so if you want these while they're comparatively easy-ish then you'd better hurry! 

Route: Via Mt. Shavano
Posted On: 1/20/2024, By: kyrawhitworth
Info: Took a modified route starting at Angel of Shav TH, to the summer TH, then winding up to a very long ridge to Shav then over to Tab and back down. For much better detail, see the Shav report from daway8: https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/peakstatus_peak.php?peakparm=10017 Snowshoes were necessary from the summer TH until we were out of the trees and then it was pretty dry. Antero looked bare while other Sawatch peaks look pretty snowy such variability! We had a very experienced group which I was thankful for as this route required mindfulness and cautious evaluation on the few steeper snow sections we encountered. Our total mileage was 14.5ish and vert was 6300ishbig day! 

Route: West Ridge
Posted On: 10/23/2023, By: GreatGlissader
Info: There is a confusing sign at the trailhead that says the trail is closed, but maybe not to hikers? I called the ranger district and they said this is no longer an official trail, which is why it is no longer on the maps. They stopped maintaining this trail because too many people would take it up to Tabeguache but descend the wrong gully and get stuck and need a rescue. They said there is nothing illegal with hiking this trail, but if you do, make sure you know where you are going, and take THE SAME TRAIL DOWN, as mentioned in the description. 

Route: Via Mt. Shavano
Posted On: 10/17/2023, By: GladeWolf
Info: Near summer conditions. Wore trail runners. Brought traction but never used it.