In my 14ers journey, the majority of the summits I've done so far are the ones that I can do in one day from Castle Rock. I've gotten used to leaving the house at 3am, driving 2-3 hours to the trailhead, up and down by the early afternoon, and then drive back in time for dinner. However, I started to realize that more and more of these ascents would require an overnight stay. Whether it was because the distance to the trailhead was too far, or the distance to the summit necessitated a very early start, I knew I had to start doing overnight trips.

This summer I wanted to try and summit both Shavano and Tabeguache. Knowing the the length of the trip as well as the added vertical ascent of summitting two 14ers, I knew I needed to stay overnight, get a good nights rest, and get an early start. So I drove down to Salida the night before and stayed at a hotel so I could wake up early. I rolled into town around 7pm, got some dinner, set my alarm for 3am, and headed to bed.

For some reason I never sleep well before a 14er, no matter how tired I am and this night was no different. Around 1:30 am, I wake up and couldn't go back to sleep. As I laid there in bed, I realized that I wasn't going back to sleep. I figured there was no harm in an earlier than planned start, so I got up, had a quick breakfast, packed everything up and headed out the door. It took about 45 minutes to get to the trailhead from Salida, and I was the first car at the trailhead by 3:15am.

It's been a while since I've started before sunrise and it's been even longer since I've started before sunrise with no one else around. It's a surreal feeling to get on the trail in silence and darkness. The only thing I could hear was my own footsteps and the only thing I saw was the light of my headlamp. It was a short walk to the CT and then a few more moments until the junction for the Mt Shavano trail. Even in the darkness the junction was hard to miss as the trail widened and the sign for the Mt Shavano trail is right there. I turned left and began up the Mt. Shavano trail.

The first part of the Mt Shavano trail was rocky, but well-defined. Even in total darkness it was easy to follow the trail. There are a couple of switchback that I walked up in the dark. The CFI has done a lot of trail work here, and there are quite a few steps that make the ascent easier. The 14ers trail description also mentioned crossing a stream, which I completely missed. Not surprising with how hot and dry this summer has been. About 2.5 miles in (about 11,200ft), the trail takes a sharp turn to the right as you continue up towards timberline. At this point, I began to see some light to the east.

About 3.5 miles in, I hit timberline at about 12,300ft. At this point, I was about 2 hours in, which is really good time for me. I was feeling pretty good, and felt I could make it to the summit of Shavano in another 2 hours. In about another half a mile, I got to the intersection of the old and new trails. I followed the nice set of stone stairs to the right and started up the switchbacks.

The trail goes back and forth for about 700 feet of elevation. Although it was steep, the trail was easy to follow and climb, thanks to all the work done by the CFI. I was still feeling pretty good as I climbed up those switchbacks until it flattens out and you can see the summit.

This was a nice reprieve before the final push to the top. About a half a mile from the summit, I began the final push to the top. I was still making good time and was on track to get to the top by 7:30am. Or so I thought. For some reason, the last 600 feet took everything out of me. My feet were really hurting and I slowed down to a crawl. I don't know what happened, I just hit a wall. I went from feeling energized to feeling exhausted. I felt pain in every step I took. I had to stop after only taking a few steps. Even though it got a lot steeper and changed to class 2 climbing, I should not have been struggling so much. It took me about an hour to do that final pitch, a lot longer than it should have.

I got to the summit a little before 8am, about 30 minutes after I had planned on getting to the top. Realizing I was now behind schedule, I spent only 5 minutes at the top of Shavano for some obligatory summit photos. Then I and started down the other side of Shavano towards Tabeguache. Although it was hard to find the trail, it wasn't very steep. It should have been an easy hike down to the saddle, but it wasn't. Despite having gravity on my side, I was still shuffling down the mountain. I went only about a third of a mile, which was only about 200 feet of descent, to where I could see the saddle and the trail up to the top of Tab.

I stopped for a moment and decided that in the condition I was in, I wouldn't make it up Tab, at least not today. Even if I could somehow push through and hike up Tab, there was no way I would be able to come back down to the saddle, re-summit Shav, and then get all the way down. I didn't feel like calling SAR today, so I decided to turn around and head back. Even though it was a short hike to get back to the summit of Shavano, it took me almost an hour to shuffle and scramble back. I knew I had bonked and I made the right call to turn around.

I got back to the summit of Shav, where there were other hikers now getting to the top. I didn't stop at the summit, I just started back down the the class 2. I was having some problems with my boots and had acquired a significant blister on both heels. I found myself stopping several times on the descent to try to adjust my socks and boots to minimize the pain. Once I got back down to 13,600, I was able to move easier and started picking up the pace. I did notice some storm clouds rolling in, and I wanted to be below tree line if it did start to rain.

It took me a little over an hour to get back to the intersection of the old and new CFI trails. I felt at this point most of the difficult terrain was behind me, and so I was able to walk somewhat normally back towards tree line. The lower gradient helped with the pain in my toes and I was able to get get back towards tree line. However, I knew that once I got there, it would be about 3 miles of walking through the woods. On every 14er I've done, this is the hardest part for me mentally. Once I get below timberline, I just want to be done. I know that the hiking becomes easier and I start rushing to get back to the trailhead. I found myself looking at my watch and pulling out my GPS every five minutes. I tried not to, but in the condition I was in, I couldn't wait to get back to my car and take my boots off.

About 2 miles from the trailhead, I noticed a large canopy in a clearing off the trail. I wondered what it was, but I noticed a sign for CFI. It looked like a camp for the volunteers and workers, and I had completely missed it in the dark. Again, I can't thank these people enough for all their work on the trails.

As I got closer to the CT, the trail got a little rocky, and I had to slow down because I had to work around the rocks and my feet started to hurt again. I finally got back to the CT and then it was an easy half-mile walk back to the car. I got to the car and immediately took off my shoes. I had large blisters on both heels and blood blisters underneath the toenails of both big toes. It took me 9 hours and 20 minutes to do the round trip, a lot longer than I had planned.

Overall a good trip. I'll have to come back again and get over to Tab, maybe next summer. I also have to figure out what happened with my boots before my next trip, because they didn't help on this trip. I didn't accomplish my goal of getting both Shav and Tab, but at least I got to the top of one of them.

Start: 3:25am
Intersection of old and new trails: 6:10am
Shavano Summit: 7:55am
Turn around point at about 14,000 feet: 8:20am
Shavano Summit again: 9:10am
Intersection of old and new trails: 10:25am
End: 12:45pm