Roundtrip Mileage/Elevation Gain -- 9.7 miles/4,430 ft.

Ian and I agreed on an ascent of Mt. Shavano on this particular Saturday.  We were leaving open the option of the ridge traverse to Tabegauche Peak, but did not feel that it would be a necessity for us to deem the day a success.  Neither Ian nor I are too keen to the "peak-bagging" aspect of climbing, although it would have been nice to have gotten the longer trip out of the way, since one must traverse over Shavano to get to Tabegauche.  If we didn't get to Tabegauche today, we'd have to go back and get it at some point in the future.

Ian and I met at the Albertson's parking lot at Arapahoe Road at the ungodly hour of 3:00 and then jumped on the highway toward Colorado Springs and then Highway 24 to Antero Junction.  Taking this route was a mistake I'll never make again as it took at least 30 minutes longer than just heading down 285.  Other than my miscalculation, the drive was uneventful, and we arrived at the Blank Gulch Trailhead at 6:15.  After taking a few minutes to gear up and stretch, we hit the trail at 6:35.  The weather was very mild, and I decided against a jacket.  As it turned out, I never had to get my jacket out all day.

The trail meandered through a meadow before heading up.  The first half mile wasn't too steep and I even remarked to Ian that it was a good warm-up as opposed to many of the other Sawatch Range peaks which bust your quads right out of the parking lot.  The trail began to steepen a bit as we worked our way toward tree-line.  Just before reaching tree-line, we stopped for sunblock and a snack and then headed back up the trail and for the saddle.  We could see the very scant remains of the Angel of Shavano to our left as we climbed toward the saddle.  Once reaching the saddle, we were very surprised as how close we appeared to be to the summit.  However, it took us a bit longer than we expected to wind our way up the somewhat loose and spotty trail and Class 2 talus at the very top. 

We reached the summit at 10:05, after a 3.5 hour trudge up the 4.7 miles and over 4,400 feet of elevation gain.  There were a few other hikers on the summit, and we overheard one of them remark that he had already been over to Tabegauche and the round-trip had taken him two hours.  Ian and I decided that we didn't want to commit to two more hours above tree-line, especially since that would not put us back on Shavano until after noon.  We decided that we'd enjoy the Shavano summit, eat some food, and then head back down and save Tabegauche for another ambitious Saturday.

The hike down was a little tough on me for some reason.  My back was bothering me from my pack, my water tasted poorly (see if I EVER clean my Camelback with Listerine again), and I was craving a Coke.  Ian and I coaxed ourselves down the trail in 2.5 hours, and then headed back to Buena Vista for some late lunch at Casa Del Sol.  There's NOTHING that will motivate me like the thought of some chips and salsa and cheese enchiladas at Buena Vista's finest Mexican restaurant!!

We wisely came back on 285, and got back to Denver at about 5:00.  Another successful day of Colorado hiking! 

Ian holds his breath to avoid the rather ripe scent of the upwind outhouse at the trailhead. I'm just grateful to be out of the car after the three hour drive from Denver. Ian stops for a snack before we break out of tree-line. The trail breaks out of tree-line and up towards the saddle in the distance. View of the summit block from the saddle. Me at the saddle with the summit block behind me. Climber congregate on the summit. Me on the summit. Ian begins heading down. Ian nears the trailhead on the return trip.