There are some 14ers that are great to tag together and one of those pairs is Mount Shavano and Tabeguache Peak, just outside of Poncha Springs, CO. This hike is no joke – it took us right at 10 hours, 5600’ of elevation gain and 12 miles. We luckily had a bluebird day and only passed a few hikers along the way.

Parking is super easy for this hike. The road up to the trailhead is a little bumpy, but can be navigated by most cars. The main trailhead parking was full when we arrived but we just drove the road up about 0.1 miles and there is a huge open, flat area to the left where we parked. This trailhead is shared with the Colorado Trail as well and so you may run into bikers or hikers making their way to that trail. There is also free ranging cattle in the area who wear what looks like GPS tracking devices around their necks. If you are looking for a toilet before you start, you are also in luck right there at the trailhead (we all know how important this is!).

We jumped on the trail around 6:00AM, utilizing our headlamps for the beginning of the hike in the trees. At about 0.5 miles in, we realize we are missing our trekking poles (tucked away in the truck). Ughhh. We make the tough choice to leave them behind.

It was a steady climb in the beginning, eventually leading to the neverending staircases of logs. Just before 12,000’, we finally exit the treeline, opening up to a long trail alongside the mountain filled with amazing medium to large black rocks with white streaks. The reprieve doesn’t last long and soon we land at the saddle, looking up at Mount Shavano, realizing the trek was about to get quite challenging. 

We slowly make our way up the mountainside through the steep terrain of loose dirt and gravel. I had to just keep telling myself, “One foot in front of the other – you got this”. The sun was warming things up – a little too much! Right when I thought we had conquered the final pitch to the top, we round a bend and a large boulder field lay in front of us. And it is steep! We scramble slowly up through the rocks, working hard to identify the cairns to keep us on course. After what seemed like an eternity, the summit is in sight! Interestingly, this summit was made up of large boulders and was not flat at all.

We had to skip through the boulders to cross the summit in order to lay eyes on our next feat: Tabeguache Peak. It was at this point we had to make our decision on if we tackle the next peak which was approximately a mile away. While a mile sounded easy, we would need to descend more boulders and lose approximately 1000’ gain and then regain a good amount of it when ascending Tabeguache through lots of loose scree. The other piece to this is we then have to turn around and re-ascend Mount Shavano to get back to our truck. This route also requires excellent weather as there is absolutely no place to take cover. Lightning storms in Colorado are deadly and we are like lightning rods next to all the rocks. 

We decide to head on to the next peak. Neither of us was interested in climbing Mount Shavano again in the future and we were not sure how easy the Jennings Creek alternate route was. We slowly make our way down the mountain, hopping and climbing from rock to rock and then weave our way up the ridgeline of Tab to finally reach the second peak. This peak was quite small and flatter than Mount Shavano. We hand out ibuprofen to some hikers and then work our way back to Mount Shavano. The climb back up was tortuous and long. But once back to the top, the rest is mostly downhill!

On the way back to the truck, we run into Lydia. She is from New Zealand and has been traveling alone across Colorado for the last three weeks hiking the Colorado trail and some 14ers. We find out she hitched a ride to the trailhead and so of course we offer to take her back to Salida where she is staying. We hike the final hour with her, picking and eating wild raspberries along the way. The descent is enjoyable, especially with our new company. After a total of 10 hours, we make it back to the truck. It has been a long and grueling day but we did it!

12 miles
5600’ elevation gain
14,230’ summit (Mount Shavano)
14,158’ summit (Tabeguache Peak)
10 hours roundtrip
East Slopes Route/Tabeguache via Mt. Shavano
Class 2