Mt. Shavano Trip Report 05/30/2015

Peak(s):	Mt. Shavano - 14,230 feet
Date Posted:	05/30/2015
Modified:	05/31/2015
Date Climbed:	05/29/2015
Author:	Liquid Shadow

Angel of Shavano - more like Devil of Shavano
DISCLAIMER: I still think that Angel of Shavano is a lovely route. TL;DR: I was extremely sleep-deprived and barely made it. It's been 3 months since my last 14er, Mt. Yale. So I was extremely excited to get 14er #23 and #24 in (Shav/Tab). I planned on driving to the Blank Gulch TH by Thursday evening (5/28), sleep in the car, and then start the climb early Friday morning. I was so pumped about the climb that I barely slept on Wednesday night, which I'm sure contributed to my poor performance. I left Boulder around 2PM on Thursday and arrived at the trailhead around 7PM (took a more scenic route). Waiting for nightfall at the trailhead. Unofficial provider of nutrition for the climb: King Soopers soup. Tasty, cooks fast and goes down quick. Jeremy from Gunnison pulled up to the TH with his buddy, we exchanged pleasantries and I proceeded to go to bed. This was when my troubles started. I kept tossing and turning, melatonin and a shot of bourbon didn't help either. After dozing off briefly, I was woken up by the cold: I had overestimated the temperature at the TH, I didn't bring enough covers and had to put on my down jacket. By 2AM, I had given up on sleep and tried to get ready by making some breakfast. I started on the trail by 4:30AM, with full winter loadout: poles, ice axe, crampons, and snowshoes. After about 10 minutes of hiking, I was already feeling the effect of sleep-deprivation, my body could not wake up partially due to the darkness of the night. I had to stop and rest every 15 minutes. I knew this was very unlike me, I have done Capitol and Longs pretty comfortably and quickly. I broke treeline around 6:30AM. The view of the Angel was breathtaking and snow condition was pristine. This was when my next mishap occurred. After applying sunscreen and setting the items down, they started to slide downhill on the frozen snow crust. I was able to retrieve the moisturizer and chapstick. But even after running after it, and searching for a few minutes, I could not locate the sunscreen bottle. I honestly care less about my skin than to leave trash behind. Jeremy and his buddy caught up to me and asked if they can borrow my sunscreen, which made the whole ordeal seemed like a cosmic joke, since I just lost mine less than 5 minutes ago. Jeremy, if you are reading this, I hope your skin is ok. My face is burnt even after one application of sunscreen. Jeremy and his buddy. Cool guys. Don't drop your beer and shades next time though At the base of the Angel, I decided to stash the snowshoes and put on my crampons, as the snow was firm enough. As I headed up the snowfield, my legs started to feel the grind, and I had to take very frequent breaks. Esprit Point at 13,630 ft, seemed impossibly tall to the left of the snowfield. Knowing Shavano is another 800 ft taller, I wasn't sure if I was going to summit today. Physically I felt like I was doing my first 14er years ago (Quandary Peak). Looking back down in the middle of the Angel. The summit is getting close. Shortly after the above picture was taken, I began to feel pain in my quadriceps with each step I take/kick, which made balancing myself on the slope more difficult. Also the snow was getting softer from the sun. I knew if I don't have much time left if I want to summit. It was also at this point that I've decided that Tabeguache wasn't going to happen. I started to follow the rocks that are exposed, as they offered a more secure footing than the snow and were easier on my legs. The final 100 ft felt like an eternity. I pushed through and collapsed on the summit of Shavano at 11:30AM. Well not really collapsed, I laid in the snow and called my dad to let him know that I had summitted. A hard-earned summit. Looking north along the Sawatch Range. Looking south down the Sangre de Cristo range. Mt. Ouray, south of Mt. Shavano Pikes Peak from the summit of Mt. Shavano. I lugged my Panasonic 45-200mm (90-400mm equivalent) lens with me on this climb and this was shot at 200mm. The extra weight sucks but I think I will bring this lens with me on every climb now along with wide angle lens. The descent did not disappoint. Glissading off of the Angel was exhilarating, and the snow was soft enough that speed was easy to control. I had to put on my snowshoes after reaching them because of postholing. I reached my car at 3:30PM. To sum up, this was another experience that I will never forget, and mostly for the better, because after a full night of sleep, I'm ready to do another 14er already. I was certain it was not altitude sickness that slowed me down, since I did not feel dizzy or nauseated, just tired. In the future I must figure out a way to ensure good sleep before a climb. Finally, since I wasn't able to see Shavano in its full glory on the drive-in since it was covered in cloud, I had to snap this picture on the way out on CR 250: Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Angel of Shavano - more like Devil of Shavano

DISCLAIMER: I still think that Angel of Shavano is a lovely route.

TL;DR: I was extremely sleep-deprived and barely made it.

It's been 3 months since my last 14er, Mt. Yale. So I was extremely excited to get 14er #23 and #24 in (Shav/Tab). I planned on driving to the Blank Gulch TH by Thursday evening (5/28), sleep in the car, and then start the climb early Friday morning. I was so pumped about the climb that I barely slept on Wednesday night, which I'm sure contributed to my poor performance. I left Boulder around 2PM on Thursday and arrived at the trailhead around 7PM (took a more scenic route).

Waiting for nightfall at the trailhead.

Unofficial provider of nutrition for the climb: King Soopers soup. Tasty, cooks fast and goes down quick.

Jeremy from Gunnison pulled up to the TH with his buddy, we exchanged pleasantries and I proceeded to go to bed. This was when my troubles started. I kept tossing and turning, melatonin and a shot of bourbon didn't help either. After dozing off briefly, I was woken up by the cold: I had overestimated the temperature at the TH, I didn't bring enough covers and had to put on my down jacket. By 2AM, I had given up on sleep and tried to get ready by making some breakfast.

I started on the trail by 4:30AM, with full winter loadout: poles, ice axe, crampons, and snowshoes. After about 10 minutes of hiking, I was already feeling the effect of sleep-deprivation, my body could not wake up partially due to the darkness of the night. I had to stop and rest every 15 minutes. I knew this was very unlike me, I have done Capitol and Longs pretty comfortably and quickly.

I broke treeline around 6:30AM. The view of the Angel was breathtaking and snow condition was pristine.

This was when my next mishap occurred. After applying sunscreen and setting the items down, they started to slide downhill on the frozen snow crust. I was able to retrieve the moisturizer and chapstick. But even after running after it, and searching for a few minutes, I could not locate the sunscreen bottle. I honestly care less about my skin than to leave trash behind.

Jeremy and his buddy caught up to me and asked if they can borrow my sunscreen, which made the whole ordeal seemed like a cosmic joke, since I just lost mine less than 5 minutes ago. Jeremy, if you are reading this, I hope your skin is ok. My face is burnt even after one application of sunscreen.

Jeremy and his buddy. Cool guys. Don't drop your beer and shades next time though

At the base of the Angel, I decided to stash the snowshoes and put on my crampons, as the snow was firm enough. As I headed up the snowfield, my legs started to feel the grind, and I had to take very frequent breaks. Esprit Point at 13,630 ft, seemed impossibly tall to the left of the snowfield. Knowing Shavano is another 800 ft taller, I wasn't sure if I was going to summit today. Physically I felt like I was doing my first 14er years ago (Quandary Peak).

Looking back down in the middle of the Angel.

The summit is getting close.

Shortly after the above picture was taken, I began to feel pain in my quadriceps with each step I take/kick, which made balancing myself on the slope more difficult. Also the snow was getting softer from the sun. I knew if I don't have much time left if I want to summit. It was also at this point that I've decided that Tabeguache wasn't going to happen. I started to follow the rocks that are exposed, as they offered a more secure footing than the snow and were easier on my legs.

The final 100 ft felt like an eternity. I pushed through and collapsed on the summit of Shavano at 11:30AM. Well not really collapsed, I laid in the snow and called my dad to let him know that I had summitted.

A hard-earned summit.

Looking north along the Sawatch Range.

Looking south down the Sangre de Cristo range.

Mt. Ouray, south of Mt. Shavano

Pikes Peak from the summit of Mt. Shavano. I lugged my Panasonic 45-200mm (90-400mm equivalent) lens with me on this climb and this was shot at 200mm. The extra weight sucks but I think I will bring this lens with me on every climb now along with wide angle lens.

The descent did not disappoint. Glissading off of the Angel was exhilarating, and the snow was soft enough that speed was easy to control. I had to put on my snowshoes after reaching them because of postholing. I reached my car at 3:30PM.

To sum up, this was another experience that I will never forget, and mostly for the better, because after a full night of sleep, I'm ready to do another 14er already. I was certain it was not altitude sickness that slowed me down, since I did not feel dizzy or nauseated, just tired. In the future I must figure out a way to ensure good sleep before a climb.

Finally, since I wasn't able to see Shavano in its full glory on the drive-in since it was covered in cloud, I had to snap this picture on the way out on CR 250:

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Yikes	congrats on the summit 5/31/2015 7:25am I think I found your problem... Con Queso and Clams?? I probably wouldn’t have made it further than the outhouse.
Liquid Shadow	Lol 5/31/2015 8:33am Lol nice one. But the food definitely wasn’t the problem. My stomach was fine, I can pretty much handle any food any time. I also had proper trail food with me.
mrmethane	No soup for you 5/31/2015 7:12pm So, I have always wondered, what’s the difference between Hearty and Chunky? And, what the hell is nugat?
kevinsoawesome	Nice job 5/31/2015 8:26pm Nice shot of Ouray 8)
Liquid Shadow	Thanks! 5/31/2015 10:32pm Yeah that’s all I did on the summit, set up my tripod and went to town with the pictures.
lucmacarthur	Beautiful photos 6/1/2015 11:54am Excellent report! You forgot to mention the TP situation I’m curious what kind of photo gear you haul with you on these climbs.
Liquid Shadow	Photo Gear 6/1/2015 12:02pm Yes I forgot to mention the TP situation lol. The Forest Service/Chaffee County people need to restock the bathroom with TP. I’m a Micro Four Thirds guy when it comes to cameras. I have 5 MFT bodies and the one I take with me on the mountains is the Panasonic G6. The kit zoom lens is fantastic (28-84mm equivalent), and now I also carry my bigger telephoto lens. Ouray and Pikes Peak in this report were shot with the telephoto lens. I carry the camera in a Mountainsmith Zoom bag, strapped to my chest with carabiners, for easy access. Also in the bag is an extra battery, cleaning cloth, a circular polarizing filter and a ND filter. I also carry a cheap, small tripod from Amazon ($15 I think), it’s a terrible tripod, but it’s very light in my pack and gets the job done on the mountains. I wouldn’t want to carry a bigger tripod.
lucmacarthur	Size matters? 6/1/2015 12:24pm I was carrying an ultrapod for a while, but it’s just not stable enough for my 7D with anything but a pancake lens on it. I’ve drooled over some of the ultra–light tripods, but they’re a bit out of my budget. I may need to investigate the frugal solution, though I’m sure your MFT gear may weigh a lot less than my gear.
Liquid Shadow	Nice camera! 6/1/2015 12:31pm Yeah a Canon 7D is hefty for sure. My Panasonic body is pretty light, but even then sometimes I don’t like carrying it. I have a Panasonic LX7 compact as a backup if I want a light camera on certain trips. Here is the tripod I have: http://www.amazon.com/Ravelli-APLT2-Weight-Aluminum-Tripod/dp/B004ZGN6MY/ref=sr_1_2?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1433183419&sr=1-2&keywords=tripod It’s just over 1 pound, pretty easy to carry.

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