MT. SHAVANO
(14,229')PT. 13,712
June 30, 2008
By Tim Briese
10 1/2 miles, 4900' elevation gain, 8:10 roundtrip time
I pondered several ways to climb the Bicentennial thirteener Pt. 13,712. One option was to go up the Browns Creek Trail to Browns Lake and then climb steeply off-trail up to the Point but that route seemed quite long for a dayhike. Another was to bushwhack up the Squaw Creek drainage past Shavano Lake, but I hadn=t heard about that being done and wasn=t sure what terrain I might run into, especially in the upper part of the drainage. In the end I decided to take advantage of the excellent Mt. Shavano Trail and go over the 14er to reach the Point, with a possible descent past Shavano Lake.
Thunderstorms were in the forecast today so I knew an early start was essential. I left home at 3:15 a.m. with my lab Allie and drove to the Blank Gulch Trailhead for Mt. Shavano. At 6:10 I headed up the Colorado Trail just as the rising sun began to cast its early rays on a grove of aspens that I strode through. After about a half mile I turned left on the Mt. Shavano Trail and rapidly advanced up the trail. At about 11,800 feet I left the trail at a switchback and walked north about 50 yards through scattered trees to a spot where I had a view up the Squaw Creek drainage to the Point. I considered bushwhacking directly up the drainage to the Point from here but after studying the rocky terrain and snow slopes I would have to navigate I decided the original plan of going over Shavano was still a good one. I got back on the excellent trail and briskly hiked up across tundra slopes to a saddle south of the peak. From the 13,400 foot saddle I hiked up the slopes to the summit, where I arrived at 9:35.
This was my third time on Shavano, and my first visit to this splendid summit when the wind was not howling! I did not see anyone else on the trail today nor was anyone on the summit. I was pleased that the 4.5 mile, 4400' climb from the truck had taken less than three and a half hours, for time was of the essence. I looked down from Shavano at Pt. 13,712, which appeared rather diminutive from this lofty vantage point. Clouds were already starting to puff up in the sky so I left after only ten minutes and headed down Shavano=s north ridge. The going was a little slower on the rough talus than I recalled from my climb of Tabeguache and Shavano many years before. After dropping a few hundred feet I left the ridge and angled down a talus slope toward the saddle below the Point. As I descended I studied a possible escape route down from the Point into the Squaw Creek drainage, should threatening weather make a return over Shavano unwise. Clouds rapidly filled the sky above me during the 45 minutes it took to descend from Shavano to the 13,400 foot saddle, so I made haste and rapidly climbed the 350 feet up to the Point in 15 minutes, arriving there at 10:45.
I stayed on the summit only five minutes but paused long enough to enjoy the views down into the Browns Creek drainage and of Mt. Tabeguache off to the west. I also looked at the rough ridge to Jones Peak to the east and was glad it was not on my climbing itinerary. I decided against going back over Shavano because of the black clouds and also because reclimbing 800 feet of elevation gain did not sound too appealing at this point. I headed southwest down the talus slope from the summit toward the upper end of the drainage above Shavano Lake, hoping I could find a viable route to get down to the lake. My greatest concern was getting down past steep snow slopes that I had observed earlier, for alas, I did not have my ice ax along today! I headed down on very steep grass and scree and angled left past the snow that covered most of the head of the basin. Thankfully I was just able to sneak through some cliff bands and rocky steps to easier terrain below. After crossing an upper basin I came to the top of a second headwall and managed to find a way to get past more steep snow and cliffs and finally made my way down to the lake. I was glad to have that rough descent behind me. I arrived at the lake at noon and took a nice break to eat lunch while Allie cooled off in the lake. The menacing clouds dropped a few sprinkles and then began to break up a bit.
After lunch I proceeded to bushwhack two and a half miles down the drainage to the Colorado Trail. Some would undoubtedly call this route a nightmare, but I thoroughly enjoy this sort of thing, bashing about in rough timber trying to find a way. I thought about heading south to try to pick up the Mt. Shavano trail but decided that would be too much of a challenge. I generally followed the creek in an easterly direction, usually staying a ways above the creek to avoid the worst of the dense vegetation and abundant downed trees. In some places the going was slow, with rough terrain and numerous trees to crawl over, but much of the way was quite manageable.
I eventually made my way to the Colorado Trail and turned to the right and followed the pleasant trail a mile and a half south to the trailhead, where I arrived at 2:20. The dark clouds had built up again and rumbles of thunder made me glad to be back. This route to Pt. 13,712 turned out to be a lot of fun, with the nice trail ascent and the adventurous bushwhacking descent.
