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This was to be the fourth, and last day, of our four day "Fourteener's in September" journey. Although we were tired, everyone hated to see the fun end and we looked forward to the attempt on Shavano and Tabegauche.
There were 6 of us today including Stu (NY), Greg (KS), Mike (TX), John (KS), Evan (TX) and myself (Rockchalker, TX). Evan was out for a walk in the woods today having already summitted Shavano several years ago.
We departed the Hostel in Leadville around 5:30 AM and arrived at an already crowded Shavano/Tabegauche trailhead parking lot around 7:15 AM and were on the trail by 7:30 AM. At some point we will learn our lesson about getting an even earlier start.
At the trailhead we were joined by two ladies (Ann Marie and Iron Kate), one from Albuquerque and one from Santa Fe, for most of the hike up. Very much enjoyed their stories of Fourteeners, Mt. Rainer and an upcoming trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro.
We arrived on top of Shavano around 10:45 AM. Mike decided to head back down while Stu, Greg, John and I pushed on for the summit of Tabegauche. After about 30 minutes, with the 3 others pulling away, dark clouds rolling in and a strong hint of electricity in the air, I turned around and headed back to the Shavano summit and back down the mountain. Some wind, snow and thunder but no lightening. Along the way down I met up with "SWadmin" and "Mel_McKinney" and very much enjoyed their company for about 2 hours
Stu, Greg and John did summit Tabegauche and quickly turned around and headed back. By 4:00 PM we were in the car and headed back to Leadville.
We celebrated that evening with Mexican food at the Grill in Leadville - a neat place with great food and very large servings! Over dinner and back at the Hostel, we began our planning for 2010. Maybe Lake City for attempts on Wetterhorn, Sunshine, Redcloud and Handies (several of us already have Uncompahgre?
For more, see this:
At the trailhead, Greg, Rockchalker, Mike, John, Stu and Stranger
We pause as we exit treeline
Our companions along the way
Mike and John on Shavano
Rockchalker and Fourteener summit #18!
Stu, Rockchalker, Mike, John and Greg on Shavano
Elevation documentation
Greg, John and Stu trek on to Tabegauche and eventually make the summit.
Storms in making
Friends I met on the way down, Mel_McKinney and SWadmin.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
For many of the trails the lowcut trail running type shoes work fine. For some of the rocky trails such as Princeton an actual hiking boot might provide a bit more ankle support. The two guys on our trip with the hiking boots seemed to like them. That said, I really like my Montrail Streaks. Montrail also makes a lighter weight hiking boot that looks good as well. Be sure to use poles as well as they will help the knees.
I noticed several low-cut/ non- hiking boots in the pics. Have you had any troubles with lack of ankle support? I've wondered if I could hike lighter with that type of footwear instead of my heavier Lowas. Less foot fatigue? Appreciate any info..I'm a 50+ female with bad knees and fourteen 14ers behind me but hopefully more to do in the future.
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