It didn't look like it was going to be this way. We had a nice extended mild Autumn that was making the skiers and boarders a bit nervous. Monarch scarcely had six inches of snow the week before they opened; it wasn't looking good. But early morning of opening day, the mountain got walloped with six feet, and all was peachy and powdery.
But to get back on track here, we hiked Mt. Shavano on November 4th, and only encountered a 100 foot patch of snow across the trail. And we were able to start far later than the thunderstorms of summer would allow, so we were treated to an incredible sunset at 14,000 feet. So, let the picture show commence! (Click on the panorama shots to get the big view.)
You can see the summit of Mt. Shavano from the house (it's the highest peak in the photo.)
We were mobbed by a pair of extra-friendly jays. The must make a good living off of gorp.
First view of the valley above treeline; Methodist Mountain is in the center, and you can peek into the San Louis valley just to the right.
The air is getting thinner...
The only snow to cross was that little patch below the saddle.
The saddle. Scree fields above timberline always feel like being on another planet.
Our planet has a really nice star.
All smiles above Salida.
Aww, how cute.
Rocks make lousy tripods. On a lot of my 14er hikes summit time is short and anxious thanks to some approaching thunderhead. The nice weather let us relax and take it all in. The perspective is fantastic. You can actually see the curvature of the Earth, and you get the sense that our atmosphere is a thin and delicate thing indeed. The sky overhead is a deeper shade of blue and space doesn't feel so far away after all. If you lay on your back you can imagine falling down forever into the darkening blue until all you can see are stars.
Mountains? Yeah, we got those. The northern view from the summit. There about a thousand named peaks in this picture, but the closest are Tabeguache, Antero, Princeton, White and Jones. Also visible are the Elk Mountains, the Sawatch Range, The Mosquitoes, Tenmile Range, the Kenosha Moutains, and the Tarryall Range.
You can see the house from the summit of Mt. Shavano. (It's the white spec next to Ute Creek;-) This is the view to the southeast. Pikes Peak is visible above the Arkansas Hills, and you can see the Wet Mountains, the Sangre De Cristo Range, Sand Dunes N.P. and the San Louis Valley, the Cochetopa Hills, Mt. Ouray and Antora.
We chased dusk with our headlamps as it swept over the valley and bade the Sangres goodnight with a rosy glow.
