I Celebrated my 70th Birthday on the CT (Segment 14)and Mt. Shavano

You can tell by my other posts, I like backpacking and hiking. So, to celebrate my upcoming 70th birthday (August), two friends who have shared other adventures with me partnered to complete Segment 14 of the Colorado Trail and climb Mt. Shavano. Mark and Amy have shared epic climbs and cycling events, and I was happy they agreed to join me in my celebration of life. Mark’s wife, Linda, prepared meals and snacks for us she gathered from a blog post suggesting a backpacking meal plan. We could not have completed the trip without her help. It takes a team.

We hiked the segment from the Highway 50 trailhead north to the Chalk Creek Trailhead. Most through hikers and day hikers traveled north to south, but we only had three full days to complete the segment, and we decided to do the shorter length of the trail prior to our climb of Mt. Shavano.

We started from the Highway 50 trailhead at 17:00 and hiked about a (steep) mile to our first campsite. We left that camp the next morning about 0600 and hiked about 7 miles to make camp near the Mt. Shavano trailhead.

The next morning we left at 0430 for the 9-mile round trip, 4,600-ft-elevation gain, climb up Mt. Shavano. Mark made the summit while Amy and I made it to just over 14,000 ft. Mark surprised me with a t-shirt he kept from my last day at Legacy to celebrate my birthday. We laughed, but I was moved someone make that kind of effort to say “Happy Birthday.” The quote of the trip for me was Mark saying to Amy and me, “I’m uncomfortable with how uncomfortable you are with these boulders. I suggest you go no farther. We still have to get down, you know.” The last several hundred feet was over boulders with no clear trail. We had become very slow in our careful maneuvering through the rocks. Mark’s observation was all it took for us to start down while he made the summit. The length of the climb and heat of the day caused us to deplete our water supply. We drank from the mountain stream at about mile two on our descent and were refreshed (and not sick) from the cold mountain waters. We returned to camp exhausted about 18:00. A tough but beautiful climb.

Day 3 we broke camp and started the final 12.2 mile leg of the 20.4-mile segment at 0430 and got to Chalk Creek about 15:00. Steep climbs and descents sandwiched open, near-level trails that made going relatively easier than the rest of the trail. The weather was unusually hot for Colorado this time of year. The exposed sections of the trail were dusty and hot. But, you get what you get when you make your plans. The mountain and weather have the last word on your conditions.

I am grateful to the Lord for seven decades of life this side of heaven. Being in God’s Creation has always drawn me closer to Him. My “sacred pathway” is definitely nature, but I will never forget to worship and be grateful to the Creator for the gift of creation and those I share it with.

I am grateful for my wife, Kim, who supports me in these crazy adventures and shares friendships with people like Amy and Mark. She quilts. I hike. We share everything else together.