Shavano Critical Update

[drewski]

Jones is easier and more solid to climb from the east and not from the lake.

[mike_kadow]

FOR THE CONDITIONS I'VE LISTED ABOVE, I HIGHLY DISCOURAGE ANYONE FROM BEGINNING THIS ROUTE PRE-DAWN. Be safe.

Good suggestion Hunter.

Mid-afternoon last Thursday, Chicago Lakes to Echo Lake TH we saw only one hiker, not yet to the access road, asked us if he was on the right trail. (Many trees to negotiate.)

Then added that everyone he ran into turned back because they kept losing the trail until they eventually could no longer find it. (This was in the bouldery area closer to the TH).

Granted, this trail isn't particularly tricky, but having more people in our party was helpful in staying on trail.

[hotrod]

Are there any other 14er trails to summits that are in the same condition as Shavano and not likely to be cleared by mid-summer? Or is it too early to determine?

[Papillon]

An alternate route exists from the Angel of Shavano CG/TH which is 2WD accessible year-round. You basically ascend the ridge on the left side of The Angel all the way up to UN 13,630 aka "Esprit Point" and then drop down to the saddle where the standard route comes up. The route is short (around 8-9 miles) but the vert is stiff (mid 6000s) for Shav-Tab.

Basically start hiking up the trail (it is the Colorado trail here) for about five minutes. When the Colorado trail turns right and begins an ascending traverse, leave it and look for a social game trail on your left. Follow this up up and up to treeline, staying out of the gully on your left.

There is no down timber and there is no snow. Bring a topo and know how to read it is my only advice.

I was up there for UN 13,712 about a month ago and it was good to go back then.

[rhinos00]

"A WORD OF CAUTION- WITHOUT A GPS, YOU MUST HAVE A STRONG KNOWLEDGE OF THE ROUTE AND POSSESS STRONG ROUTE FINDING SKILLS."

I climbed the Shav/Tab combo yesterday with my wife and it was brutal, even with a GPS! Including ourselves, there was a total of 4 groups on the mountain. I know for a fact that 3 of us lost the trail and experienced several hours of delays having to bushwhack through fallen trees. One group of guys left the top of Shavano on Saturday around 1:30pm and ended up stumbling into our campground at 9:30pm. They were bushwhacking for nearly 8 hours! I ended driving them back to the trailhead where their car was parked. We left the trailhead on Sunday at 5:50 am and didn't get back until 5:45 pm.

IF you decide to tackle this trail anytime soon, I highly recommend using the east slopes approach. On the way up, my wife and I had no major problems with the exceptions of losing an hour due to downed trees. With the GPS and keeping an eye on where the trail should be, we were able to stay on the trail the whole way up (for the most part). Our mistake was going down the Angel of Shavano. The weather was not looking the greatest, so we decided to use Angel as a shortcut to save time. The downed trees are 100x worse on this route. We tried to get back on the trail several times, since we had the GPS, but at every turn and bend was a massive group of downed trees. It was never ending! We were off-trail bushwhacking for nearly 4 hours. If it wasn't for the GPS, we may have been hiking until 9:30 like the group we encountered the night before.

[peter303]

Is there beetle damage in this area yet?

In some areas further north the forest service is afraid of damaged trees falling across backroads. So they are closing them or stronly advising users carry chainsaws.

[SolarAlex]

i like the idea of getting a group together to try to do what we can to clear some of the downed trees off the trail. id definitely be up for spending a day or 2 at it.

if anyone puts a group together, count me in.

[mikemalick]

Jones is easier and more solid to climb from the east and not from the lake.

Where do you park/which TH do you use for this route? I want to avoid any potential private property and getting my car towed if I head there in a couple weeks.

[djkest]

So, if you wanted to clear out these trees, all you would need to do is cut a 2' wide chunk out of the tree trunk to allow passage, right? 2 cuts with a chainsaw?

Also, are there any legal rammifications / considerations? I'm not sure if that would be considered logging or not, and I believe removal of firewood (not saying you would remove it) is restricted to certain areas?

[RJansen77]

An alternate route exists from the Angel of Shavano CG/TH which is 2WD accessible year-round. You basically ascend the ridge on the left side of The Angel all the way up to UN 13,630 aka "Esprit Point" and then drop down to the saddle where the standard route comes up. The route is short (around 8-9 miles) but the vert is stiff (mid 6000s) for Shav-Tab.

Basically start hiking up the trail (it is the Colorado trail here) for about five minutes. When the Colorado trail turns right and begins an ascending traverse, leave it and look for a social game trail on your left. Follow this up up and up to treeline, staying out of the gully on your left.

There is no down timber and there is no snow. Bring a topo and know how to read it is my only advice.

I was up there for UN 13,712 about a month ago and it was good to go back then.

Do you know how long the social game trail extends for, or what the terrain is like above it? Just don't want it to be a two steps up one step back scree horror show.

I might consider this route in the next few weeks unless I hear some more positive reports of people finding a way to navigate the trees.


Thanks!

[MrFrumpylane]

So, if you wanted to clear out these trees, all you would need to do is cut a 2' wide chunk out of the tree trunk to allow passage, right? 2 cuts with a chainsaw?

Also, are there any legal rammifications / considerations? I'm not sure if that would be considered logging or not, and I believe removal of firewood (not saying you would remove it) is restricted to certain areas?

I do not recommend anyone taking this task upon themselves unless they are under experienced supervision. I was on trail crew for several seasons for the Forest Service and bucking trees are no joke. It can often be dangerous and require technical analysis. Lots of folks have gotten hurt (and even killed) and equipment damaged for doing poor assessments in these situations. For example, one needs to identify compression points, degree angle of cut, potential spring poles, etc. And if we're talking about a huge mess of intertwined tangled trees down, that is a whole nightmare on another level- cut one tree, odds are good another tree will roll/fall/crush the forestry technician in a game of dominoes.

Also, I'm not sure if Mt. Shavano is within Collegiate Peaks Wilderness, but as a reminder to folks, chainsaws are not allowed within any wilderness.

[Papillon]

Do you know how long the social game trail extends for, or what the terrain is like above it? Just don't want it to be a two steps up one step back scree horror show.

I might consider this route in the next few weeks unless I hear some more positive reports of people finding a way to navigate the trees.


Thanks!

No worries about scree. I'll look through my photos today and see if I have anything that depicts the terrain in the trees. There seemed to be several "trails" in the area. Wooderson sets a good steady pace and she got us to treeline in two hours (about 2900 feet). And I wouldn't consider us speedy. You just gotta stay on the ridge and out of the drainage on your left. If you look at a topo, it should be pretty obvious.

http://listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/QMap.php?Q=11263&P=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Zoom in on the second marker from the top (Esprit Point) and then pan the map down. You'll be able to see the campground, the hard right the Colorado trail makes, etc. You'll want to hug the right side of the drainage marked "8" on the map. You'll pass that road 254 A on your way too.

Once you get to treeline it is tundra and some talus hopping the rest of the way.

I'd consider this a good winter route as well because of year-round access.

I would've done a TR on my trip but kept saying to myself "man, it is shavano in the spring, not The Angel, a mundane ridge grunt, etc..."