10/7/2023 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 10/7/2023, By: wanderlust073 Info: Nature is quickly reclaiming the trail through the forest, but it was easy enough to follow. There is very little trail once on the ridge. Patches of snow along the way, most of which can be avoided. Some ice. I brought but did not wear spikes. The snow and ice on the false summit forced me to drop a good ways off the ridge to the south to be able to reach the summit. There was no class 2 option to get up and over that I could see, though I was solo and highly risk averse. This is probably the worst descent I have endured of the 14 peaks I've hiked. Slow, careful testing of every footstep in the endless talus. Slippin' Jimmy ride and slide numerous times in all the scree. Saw a moose and her calf at the pond near the TH. |
|
8/30/2023 Route: Via Mt. Shavano Posted On: 9/2/2023, By: Ariella6 Info: I did not personally love this one. Trail (if you can call it that) dry and in summer conditions. Expect to do considerable route finding from shavano to tabegauche. They say it is a mile over but its pretty slow going. Was taking most people an hour to get from one peak to the other and then another hour back. |
|
8/21/2023 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 8/21/2023, By: JROSKA Info: Interesting trail, easy to follow. As the previous report stated, the stream is running high and there are plenty of places to filter water if needed. Some downed trees on the trail in the forest that require stepping over. One of the downed trees, about 1/4 the way up the basin towards the ridge, near a small boulder field had a bees nest inside of it. Best way to avoid getting stung was to bypass it on the rocks. |
|
8/13/2023 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 8/13/2023, By: My-Therapy Info: Trail was mostly dry and in good condition. Several sections of the trail after the first 1/2 mile or so can be difficult to find at times (especially in the dark), however with some careful observance and looking ahead one can figure out the route fairly easily. Jennings Creek is running nicely and there are several spots to refill water bottles or for a pooch to grab a drink. Only saw 2 other people on the trail today. |
|
8/6/2023 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 8/7/2023, By: zootloopz Info: Road to the Jennings Creek TH doesn't have major obstacles, just slow going overall. Jennings Creek basin is beautiful. Lovely in early morning light. Be sure to stay climbers right of the creek on the way up. West Ridge is straight forward, although saw some folks trying to sidehill around UN 13,936 --- don't do this, just go up and over. Last bit of ridge to Tab can go class 3 on ridge proper. Dropping to the south looked loose and not fun. 1.5 hours round trip out to Un 13,712 and back. |
|
8/2/2023 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 8/3/2023, By: Benito_Esposti Info: Summer conditions. The route seemed more travelled than one might expect. Below treeline the route is obvious and only a little steep in sections. Once you reach the willow area the trail veers left (west). I'd recommend staying on it rather than staying right on the talus. The lake that is shown in Gerry Roach's 14ers book and on the 14ers series paper maps is overgrown with willows. Just farther up you cross the stream. Its narrow and slow flowing, but is a nice (and final) place to fill up water. Continuing a little farther through the fields (which are very lovely), you reach the base of the saddle between Point 13,924 and Carbonite Mountain. It's not terribly difficult, but expect loose skree (yay!). Once on the saddle the trail thins out a little and more route finding may be necessary. Going up to Point 13,924 is again skree (double yay!). After Point 13,924 the trail seems to split in 100 different directions. All of them lead to the same place, so pick one and you should be okay. We stuck a bit farther right (south) away from the ridge and felt just fine on the talus there. It is very windy from the saddle up to this section, could be helpful to have warm layers. Final Ascent to the top of Tabeguache isn't too bad. There is one large wind cover at the top. Can't comment on the connection between Tabeguach and Shavano because we did each peak separately on different days, however, it looked in decent condition and one person we were talking to at the summit said it took him just under and hour and a half one way; if you want to bag both peaks plan accordingly with the weather. Descent back to the saddle isn't too bad, but it can be easy to lose the trail so be cautious. The gully/field is wonderful late morning and in the shade still. I really enjoyed this route and personally prefer it over the standard route up Shavano. Have fun! |
|
7/23/2023 Route: Via Mt. Shavano Posted On: 7/24/2023, By: bluepic Info: The trail is in good summer shape; dry with tons of wildflowers blooming. There were a lot of flies; but they weren't much of a problem even without bug spray. As derekpetrie mentioned, there is a new trail section not far after you branch off from the Colorado Trail. You won't miss it, but it's different than the posted GPS track and adds some distance. Further up, there were some folks from Colorado Fourteeners Initiative putting in some new log steps. |
|
7/16/2023 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 7/17/2023, By: coloradoman Info: This trail is much better and much worse than expected. It started out as a less worn trail, with a few trees down on the way up but nothing too bad. I heard that the glades area was like a swamp, this is not the case. It is very easily passable and in better shape than bierstadt. It is really a push over to get through this area and not as bad as people say. There is a bit of scree by the saddle but nothing too bad... You can skip some of the false summits by going to the south of them and around them. Its really a fine trail until the last 500 ft. This portion of the trail appears to have been washed out or avalanched out or something. It is similar to Mt Lindsey on its steepness and amount of scree. It has less exposure, and only has this portion for about 500 ft while Lindsey has it for a much longer period of time. I wish they had a picture of the portion and route of this area to help Just take it slow and careful and even slower and carefuler going down. Its still just class 2 |
|
7/9/2023 Route: Via Mt. Shavano Posted On: 7/9/2023, By: glenhanderson Info: The road into the Shavano TH is the crux of this climb. It's about 10 miles of gravel and there are sections with lots of large rocks, potholes, and washouts to navigate. High clearance and some driving skills advised. We made it to the TH around 6:15am on a Sunday. It was not full, but lots of activity. Colorado trip is coming to a close, so we wanted to tag 2 14ers at once and since we were staying close by, chose Shavano and then over to Tabeguache (pronounced TAB-uh-wash). This hike is no joke. It's about 11 miles and 5400' gain, with significant rocky portions and some boulder hopping. The entire route to both mountains is snow free. There are a few patches but they are easily avoided. There is one river water source (since you'll need to carry lots of liquid on a hot sunny day) about 1.5 miles in from the TH. With proper motivation, we made short order of the hike to Shavano in just over 3 hours. After eating, drinking, and resting for 15 mins, we embarked on the traverse to Tabeguache. This is where things get tough, after you've hiked up almost 5 miles and 4500'! The climb down Shavano to the saddle is long and bouldery. On the other have, the 400' gain climb up to top of Tabeguache goes fast. We made it in around 15 mins. The climb back up the bouldery route on Shavano was the toughest part of the climb. We rested again and then embarked on the long 5 mile descent. It seemed to last forever. The trail was steeper and rockier than I remember on the way up, of course. We got lucky with the weather, no clouds or thunderstorms forecast and none showed up. So didn't have to rush off the summits before noon. |
|
7/8/2023 Route: Via Mt. Shavano Posted On: 7/9/2023, By: zsullivan Info: Dry summer conditions. Clear skies but very strong winds on final ridge. Several decent locations on both peaks to stop for rest/food if you want. Camped in overflow trailhead lot. Approximately 5 other groups in the field. |
|
7/4/2023 Route: Via Mt. Shavano Posted On: 7/5/2023, By: caesarsalad Info: No snow up Shavano. Some snow still on Tab's ridge, but you can easily walk around it. The trail isn't super clear through here, so I wasn't sure if the snow was even on the route. |
|
6/29/2023 Route: Via Mt. Shavano Posted On: 6/29/2023, By: apfox500 Info: No snow up shavano , but upper half of tabs ridge was covered in snow. I didnt have yak tracks but probably wouldn't have used them, its possible to avoid the snow by going around but the route is less established. |
|
6/28/2023 Route: Via Mt. Shavano Posted On: 6/28/2023, By: mcosby Info: Route in very good condition. Didnt really even touch snow on Shavano. There is some snow on top of Tabeguache, but can be easily avoided or walked on (when firm) without spikes since it is very well traveled. |
|
6/24/2023 Route: West Ridge Posted On: 6/24/2023, By: edmdais1 Info: Any snow on the ridge is easily avoided. Some snow fields to cross near the willow s. Windy as heck today. |
|
6/24/2023 Route: Via Mt. Shavano Posted On: 6/25/2023, By: AndrewJCraigie Info: Like edmdais1 stated, very little snow. Super windy day so not many folks went for the second peak. |
