Mt. Sherman Trip Report 10/25/2023

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Mt. Sherman - 14,043 feet
Date Posted	10/25/2023
Date Climbed	10/23/2023
Author	cvillesweetljane

pneumonia...pneu problem
I left Denver are for a weekend trip with my son to Chicago, thinking the weather was going to be turning cold while I was out of town and my summer 14er season was done. However, after returning from Chicago, the weather was absolutely AMAZING, hitting record high of 86 deg late in the week. Unfortunately, I came home sick as a dog and could barely get out of bed for 6 days. I have not been this sick in years. Finally, on Saturday, I saw doctor…sinus infection and early pneumonia. Augmentin and prednisone are miracle drugs, and by Sunday night I was contemplating trying to hit just one more ''summer'' 14er hike. Mt. Sherman seemed logical from my location-I wouldn't have to leave too early-only couple hr drive, 5.5 miles and only 2100 ft elevation, trail reports with minimal snow. I REALLY wanted to do La Plata or Yale, but knew that attempting either, both 10+ miles and over 4K feet of elevation, 36 hrs after starting rx for infection (and with the days much shorter and not really wanting to hike down solo by headlamp), was a crazy, unwise idea. I did think about it enough to put Yale trailhead into Google maps. So…..next morning, off I set for Mt. Sherman, completely forgetting to check that I was going to the correct trailhead, and not realizing until I got to Mt. Yale trailhead that I had forgotten to update google maps to Mt. Sherman trailhead and I had driven an hr out of the way to the wrong trailhead. I had Mt. Sherman route downloaded on AllTrails, and AllTrails asked ''uh, do you want to get a little closer to the trailhead before you start this hike??" LOL. Again, briefly considered just doing Yale since I was there, but it was already 10:30 and I think I wisely decided to just head back on the road and I could still knock out Sherman with time to spare before sunset. Finally got to Mt. Sherman (THIS was the long, bumpy, unpaved road to the trailhead I read about!!) by noon. It is not as majestic as Mt. Elbert, but I found it a fun, fascinating trail. The entire trail is above tree line, and there are multiple abandoned mine structures, including short stretches of mine shaft car tracks, that the trail takes you right next to. It also literally felt like a hop, skip, and a jump to the top-definitely the easiest 14er I’ve done (can’t figure out the body math….was it easier because I was hopped up on prednisone, or should it have still been more challenging because I’d been so sick all the previous week? Anyway, it only took 2.5 hrs up and back). Minimal folks on trail. It was slightly unpleasantly windy at the top and I threw on another layer, then was fine. Met a solitary mountain goat shortly after heading down from summit-we surprised each other. She was enjoying the actual proper trail very much and seemed offended that I was in her way on the trail. She did ultimately step off the trail long enough for me to pass, before hopping right back on the trail after I passed her. Lovely light on the way down of local peaks that I’m still trying to figure what they are. Part of Pike National Forest, but I don’t think they’re peaks of any significance. So, now I'm an official crazy woman who hikes 14ers while recovering from pneumonia....it was definitely worth it! Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

pneumonia...pneu problem

I left Denver are for a weekend trip with my son to Chicago, thinking the weather was going to be turning cold while I was out of town and my summer 14er season was done. However, after returning from Chicago, the weather was absolutely AMAZING, hitting record high of 86 deg late in the week. Unfortunately, I came home sick as a dog and could barely get out of bed for 6 days. I have not been this sick in years. Finally, on Saturday, I saw doctor…sinus infection and early pneumonia. Augmentin and prednisone are miracle drugs, and by Sunday night I was contemplating trying to hit just one more ''summer'' 14er hike. Mt. Sherman seemed logical from my location-I wouldn't have to leave too early-only couple hr drive, 5.5 miles and only 2100 ft elevation, trail reports with minimal snow. I REALLY wanted to do La Plata or Yale, but knew that attempting either, both 10+ miles and over 4K feet of elevation, 36 hrs after starting rx for infection (and with the days much shorter and not really wanting to hike down solo by headlamp), was a crazy, unwise idea. I did think about it enough to put Yale trailhead into Google maps. So…..next morning, off I set for Mt. Sherman, completely forgetting to check that I was going to the correct trailhead, and not realizing until I got to Mt. Yale trailhead that I had forgotten to update google maps to Mt. Sherman trailhead and I had driven an hr out of the way to the wrong trailhead. I had Mt. Sherman route downloaded on AllTrails, and AllTrails asked ''uh, do you want to get a little closer to the trailhead before you start this hike??" LOL. Again, briefly considered just doing Yale since I was there, but it was already 10:30 and I think I wisely decided to just head back on the road and I could still knock out Sherman with time to spare before sunset. Finally got to Mt. Sherman (THIS was the long, bumpy, unpaved road to the trailhead I read about!!) by noon. It is not as majestic as Mt. Elbert, but I found it a fun, fascinating trail. The entire trail is above tree line, and there are multiple abandoned mine structures, including short stretches of mine shaft car tracks, that the trail takes you right next to. It also literally felt like a hop, skip, and a jump to the top-definitely the easiest 14er I’ve done (can’t figure out the body math….was it easier because I was hopped up on prednisone, or should it have still been more challenging because I’d been so sick all the previous week? Anyway, it only took 2.5 hrs up and back). Minimal folks on trail. It was slightly unpleasantly windy at the top and I threw on another layer, then was fine. Met a solitary mountain goat shortly after heading down from summit-we surprised each other. She was enjoying the actual proper trail very much and seemed offended that I was in her way on the trail. She did ultimately step off the trail long enough for me to pass, before hopping right back on the trail after I passed her. Lovely light on the way down of local peaks that I’m still trying to figure what they are. Part of Pike National Forest, but I don’t think they’re peaks of any significance. So, now I'm an official crazy woman who hikes 14ers while recovering from pneumonia....it was definitely worth it!

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Arndorfer	Billy 10/25/2023 3:51pm Beautiful goat, but I think it's a he, billy, not a she, nanny.
Chicago Transplant	Congrats! 10/25/2023 5:38pm I think the same goat was on Horseshoe and Sheridan on Sunday. On my way up Horseshoe a goat that looks like that one was also on the trail and not interested in moving as it was headed down while I was going up. A bit later (after Finnback and Peerless) there was a lone goat that looked the same just above the Peerless/Sheridan saddle when I was passing that started off across the face of Sheridan towards Sherman.
boudreaux	Pneumonia be damned 10/25/2023 8:25pm Nice recovery, I know the feeling. Been there myself in 2018. I struggled up Colorado Mines at Berthod Pass after a short recovery period. It felt so good to be up there after a bout of hacking and coughing as I warmed up. Once I got that out of the way, it was smooth sailing to the top. Nice shot of the goat. They are very photogenic and mostly cooperative when you need a picture.

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