The crew before the hike. We look so excited!
The adventure started at 11am as we packed up and left Pueblo. We arrived at the Angel of Shavano Campground trailhead at 130pm, packed up our large packs and headed up to camp. The trail starts at 9,100ft as you meander through some forest and follow the Colorado Trail. At a point, you take a sharp left and head straight up the mountain. This portion slowed us considerably with our large packs but after a few hours of hiking, we made it to camp.
The initial hike to base camp.
My friend John. He had a great time!
Finn was a strong hiker. He carried most of his own gear.
Tiig carried just the winter hiking essentials, water, gloves, beacon, probe and shovel.
My friend John came with us and made an awesome fire for us to sit around in the evening. Our campsite was amazing! We built a kitchen area and a nice little trail to the campfire.
Our camp for the night. It was perfect.
The boys and I retired to our tent around 7pm and watched a movie together. Some of Tiig's gear became wet even after we let it dry by the fire so I placed these few things inside my sleeping bag so they wouldn't freeze. Not a good idea, this caused me to have an uncomfortable night of rest as I tossed and turned all night with wet gear touching my legs from time to time. The alarm went off at 5am but it wasn't til past 7am that we started moving and heating water for breakfast. The fun part about winter camping is that you can save on weight by melting snow for drinking water and water for meals. We ate a tasty oatmeal breakfast before gearing up for the day and heading for the summit.
It was a bit chilly in the morning as we ate our oatmeal.
After leaving camp around 8am it was slow going. I decided to leave our snowshoes back in the car since it seemed the snow was solid enough to hold our weight. The boys were no problem but I weigh a little bit more than them so every step caused me to sink in 4-6 inches then every so often (a little too often) I would break through the snow completely and sink in to my upper thigh. Each time I would crawl on my knees then lift myself up. This really slowed our pace to about 500ft elevation gain every half hour. The boys were absolute troopers though. I've found that the best way to keep their mind off of tired legs is to ask them about the books they have been reading. This quickly turns their mind to something else and helps to pass the time quickly. We had a great time hiking and talking. I would occasionally yell out as a sank to my thigh in snow, then we would continue on.
You can see the steepness of the ridge we were climbing.
A look back towards Salida, CO.
Almost to treeline!
The final push just above treeline.
It was hard to turn around with a great looking trail ahead of us but it was the right thing to do.
The summit of Mt. Shavano peaking through the clouds.
I soon realized that at our pace we would not make it to the summit in time to make it back home for obligations in the evening. So we decided to keep moving until above treeline (around 12,000ft) and then decide what we had time to do. We made it to above treeline at 12pm and received a burst of energy because the next portion was so windblown that we could have made really good time hiking through small rocks and dirt. We decided to stick to our plan though and turn around to head back down to camp so we could be home in time. I took some great shots of the summit from this point. We cheered our accomplishment, then started to head back down. Going down was a lot of fun for the boys. It was so steep that they could slide or glissade down. They would slide way ahead of me, then wait for me to catch up. I was jealous since I could't slide with my large pack on.
In just one hour we made it back down to camp. We quickly packed everything up then headed down to the car. The hike out wasn't bad at all, still would've been nicer with snowshoes. Next time. We made it to the car at around 330pm and headed home. As we buckled in and started to drive away Finn asked where his cell phone was. I didn't think much of it, just figured it was in his pack somewhere. I was wrong but didn't realize it until much, much later that evening.
My friend John and I at camp.
Fast forward to later that evening. The boys were already in bed, Hanni was already asleep. I was just finishing unpacking all of the gear around 1030pm and sat down to eat a bowl of cereal. I realized that I had not yet come across Finn's phone. Since it is an iPhone I decided to just double check that it was somewhere in the house by running the Find My iPhone app. I was shocked as I realized that it was not in our home, it was 89 miles away, in the San Isabel National Forest. Somewhere on the mountain. I zoomed in on the map and with just 1% of battery life left, the phone was right at our camp at 10,200ft. My heart sank. This was one of those moments where I had to make a decision. I knew exactly where the phone was. I calculated that if I left right away I would make it to the trailhead at 1am. If I found it right away I could be home by 5am. Snow was in the forecast for the area the next afternoon so either I would get it tonight, or probably never at all. So I decided to grab my gear and head to the mountain. I made it to the trailhead at 1am, this time with snowshoes. I hiked light and fast. No backpack, only the essentials. In 40 minutes I had made it to the campsite and saw the phone sitting on a tree log. Victorious!
The phone.
I put the phone in my jacket pocked. Double checked that it was in my jacked pocket, then started to hike down. By 230am I was back to the car and on my way home. Back in bed by 430am. What a day! I was glad of the experience though of the phone. It kind of made the whole adventure that much more great.
I thought going into this hike that our third time would be the charm. No such luck. Some of things that I learned. 1. An early start on summit day is a must. If we would have been up and moving at 5am we would have had a better shot. 2. Keep kids clothes dry at all cost when hiking in the winter! It's hard for kids to not want to play when hiking in the snow. Teaching them that the goal of winter hiking is to stay completely dry is very difficult. 3. When it doubt, bring snowshoes in the winter. Last year at this time we didn't need them. I made the mistake of assuming conditions were the same but they were not. All in all we met our goal though which is the same goal every time we hike, to make it back to the car safely. The boys had a great time and I know they will cherish these types of memories for a lifetime. We are already planning our next trip...
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