Aspens

Mt. Shavano & Tabeguache Peak

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Mt. Shavano: 14,229 feet

Tabeguache Peak: 14, 155 feet

These 14ers were something else. And we may have thought we wouldn’t be getting off the mountain a few times. But we did. And we are never going back. Here’s the story…

We started out the day at 3am since we had a 3 hour drive to the trailhead. The hike itself started at 6:20am. After doing some research the day before, I estimated that it would take us about 6-8hours for the hike total. This was a double 14er, but it had three summits. In order to summit the second peak, Tabeguache, you have to first summit Shavano. In order to return from Tabeguache, you have to re-summit Shavano… there is no other way in or out.

Now, I’ve done double 14ers before and I’ve done some class 3 mountains too. Therefore, I was expecting this hike to be pretty straight forward. It was a total of about 11 miles, round-trip, and again, expecting about a 6-8 hour hike depending on how we were feeling. We also had absolutely perfect weather! No storms in sight and blue skies all day long, which is everything you could ask for on a hike like this!

The hike started in the trees at about 8,500 feet elevation. We hiked through a beautiful area of aspen trees and wildflowers, and then through a few miles of pines and evergreens. We enjoyed most of this section since it was in the trees and we were still fresh.

We hit the tree-line around 8:30am and continued towards the summit. This first section to the base of the summit was long, steep, and narrow. There were even a few spots with lots of snow still on the trail, causing our time to be slower than planned.

We made it to the base of the summit and headed up where it looked like there was a trail. Unfortunately, the trail ended pretty quickly and it became a “choose your own adventure” situation. A few people were already heading down from the summit, but they were coming down in all different parts. And there were several others going up at the same time as us, but again, all at different spots. We lost each other at one point and I remember thinking to myself, “Well, I hope we all find each other at the summit.”

When I made it to the summit, I realized how dumb I was to leave my friends. I’ve climbed a lot of mountains, and one of the first rules is don’t split up… and I had done just that. So I found a place to sit and rest, where the wind was blocked but I could also see most of the summit. And I waited. Eventually my friends joined me and we took a few quick pics.

After a quick chat, two of us decided to continue on while the other waited and rested. We had two waiting points. One was on the summit, and the other was the base of the summit. We knew we would all meet up at either of those locations in the next few hours. So we started our descent down the first, across the saddle, and up the second.

The problem was, there was also not a clearly marked trail on the second summit. We now believe that the trail ran across the ridge on the top, but that was completely snow packed and too slippery to hike up. So again we took the “choose your own adventure” route and headed towards the summit area by scaling the side of Tabeguache. We eventually made it and I was so thankful to finally be at the summit! …other than the fact that we were only half way done with the day and I was completely out of water.

We once again headed down the peak and across the saddle. This time we got to slide down a few “snow slides” on the way, which was both terrifying and amazing all at once! As we approached the summit for Shavano, we saw a flight for life helicopter. These are helicopters that are often called to the tops of 14ers to rescue people who fall, need some other medical attention, or get struck by lightening. I sometimes see these helicopters on my hikes, but this time was different because it was landing on OUR PEAK. In fact, it was landing in the exact place we had decided to meet up.

We began to pray for our friend and any other people who may be in danger and tried to get cell service to text our friend. Thankfully, she was okay and the helicopter was for another man who was severally dehydrated. I am so thankful for these men and women who come to rescue people on these mountains!

Anyways, we re-summited Shavano and then headed down to the meet up location at the base of the summit. But, as you know, we didn’t follow a trail up so we had no idea how to get down. I decided to head towards the right, but that was definitely the wrong choice. We ended up on the side of the mountain that was full of unstable boulders. It felt like a class 4 mountain and literally every step felt like a risk. My friend and I quickly realized the situation we were in. There was no trail on this side of the mountain, we could no longer see the trail we needed to get to, we were all alone, and we were in big trouble.

We were able to take one step at a time, maneuvering around and over boulders. We made it back to the correct side of the mountain, but still no trail. We were simply thankful to be back in eye-sight of our friend. We never truly found the trail on the way down, but did eventually make it down with only one bruised-up and bloody knee, and a few tears.

Even though it felt like we had just conquered the world by getting off the summit, we were still only at the base of the summit… meaning we still had a few hours of hiking. So we began to walk and walk and walk. Now, I know that a lot of people like downhill better than uphill because it’s easier on the lungs, but I sure hate downhills. They are the worst part of the hike for me because of the strain they put on your body. Even with trekking poles, it took us just as long to go down as it took to go up due to the amount of rocks and the steepness of the mountain.

We made it back to our car at 5:40pm with a total time of 11 hours and 20 minutes on the mountain. We had all run out of water a long time ago and were thankful just to be back at the car where we could sit and re-hydrate.

All this to say, these mountains were a beast. Maybe it was due to the fact that it was early June, maybe it was due to the extra snow on the trails, or maybe it was due to inaccurate trail reports from others. Either way, it was definitely an adventure… but one that I will never suggest anyone else to do.

I’m thankful for my friends, who hiked for 11 hours with me just to help me get a little closer to my goal of hiking all 58 14ers in Colorado. Here’s to #15 and #16. Never again, Shav & Tab. Never again.

Aspen Trees.

moremarsh3 Comments

A new habit I want to start with Sabbath-keeping is spending an hour or so just being fascinated with something that God created. I love learning about new things and how they work. I decided that Aspen trees would be my first hour long fascination, and here’s what I learned.

Aspens grow primarily in North America. In fact, they are the most widespread tree in all of North America! They grow in a variety of types of soils and are highly intolerant of shade. They must have sunlight. The Aspen tree is an aggressive, pioneer species. That means that they take over spaces easily and grow fairly quickly. Their bark is lightweight and doesn’t splinter, and they are not as flammable as most other species of trees.

The Aspen leaves are beautiful. Seriously, take some time to look at the leaves next time you see as Aspen tree. They have flattened stems that allow the leaves to “quake” or “shake” (which is why Aspens are often called “Quaking Aspens”). This also allows the trees to receive the maximum amount of sunlight since they can rotate easily in the wind.

And if you haven’t seen Aspen trees in the fall, you are wrong. The color of the leaves will blow you away. Seriously. Buy a ticket to Colorado for the fall and experience the most beautiful colors ever.

The Aspen is also the world’s largest living organism. This is because of how they reproduce. The Aspen can reproduce like other plants with a seed that is planted in the soil, but most Aspen seeds don’t survive well that way. The majority of Aspen trees that you see in one area are all connected. In fact, they are typically clones of the same tree with an identical genetic makeup! The Aspen tree sends its roots out really broadly, and smaller shoots pop up from the root system and into the sunlight, making a new tree.

I found the information above about the ways they are all connected very interesting. But since I grew up in Colorado and learned about Aspens as a child, I was familiar with this concept.

Yet, the idea that really caught my attention was the way Aspen trees interact with fire. Fire is actually a necessary ingredient for the well being of Aspen tree forests. Think back to the root system I described. If their roots are far reaching and deep enough, the fire will not truly burn down the entire forest, just what’s on the surface. Fires clear out other invading species that are fighting to take the sunlight and soil the Aspen trees need. Once the fire is out, all that is left is a perfectly cleared out forest with tons of underground Aspen roots ready to pop out of the ground and start growing freely without competition from other trees! They instantly have a ton of sunlight and lots of space to grow due to the impact of the fire.

So what does all of this have to do with life? How does this change my view of God and my understanding of the world?

Often we associate fire with suffering, hardship, grief, and lament. Fire seems to be something that is uncontrollable, harmful, powerful, and often, deadly. In life when it feels like we are going through a fire, life typically feels hard, heavy, and defeating.

When I think about how Aspen trees need fire to continue to thrive, I think about how suffering is part of the human experience. Suffering, hardship, grief, loss…these are all things that every human on earth experiences at various times in life. These seasons are extremely difficult, and in some cases, they feel like death. Yet, in every case of suffering, the individual comes out stronger in one way or another.

Suffering is a necessary ingredient of the human experience. Suffering reminds us that we are finite, frail and fragile beings. God created humans in the beginning without suffering. Yet, because of sin, we all experience suffering in various ways, at various degrees, and at various times. And it is necessary. God uses suffering to remind us that this is not how the world is supposed to be. He uses suffering to point us back to Himself, because He is the one that is unchanging, always remains faithful, and is with us even in suffering.

So if you find yourself in a season of suffering right now, I pray that you are reminded of the goodness of God in it all. He sees you. He cares for you. And even if it feels like there is a fire on the surface of your life, look back to the deep roots of your soul and know that God has not abandoned you. He uses suffering in uncountable ways, often in ways we do not understand.

These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

1 Peter 1:7

The Most Delightful Dinner.

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Think about the most delightful dinner you have ever had. What made it so great? The scenery? The people? The journey to get there?

After our crazy backpacking experience, which you can read about in my other posts HERE, we decided to ditch the last 14er and head into town early. We were all way more tired than we expected and we still had to backpack down the mountain and drive an hour into town.

With the crazy hiking portion of our trip finalized, we decided to go to the store and get a good, savory meal to cook for dinner. We grabbed all the essentials: steak, asparagus, potatoes, and wine. Then we headed to our perfect little Airbnb in the middle of an aspen forest! We took hot showers, short naps, and began cooking dinner. We found a small picnic table outside and decided that it would be the perfect place for dinner.

And it was.

This was the most delightful, content, and filling meal I have had in a long time…. dare I say, it was the best dinner ever. It is pretty hard to beat good friends, fine food, and cool mountain air. Plus we were completely surround by Colorado 14er… sitting in a forest of aspen trees… as the sun was setting… listening to deer prancing about in the trees nearby.

Yep, that’s hard to beat.

This was the most delightful dinner. And I think what made it so delightful was not just the incredible scenery, but also the journey to get to that dinner. We had just spent several days eating granola bars, oatmeal, and instant meals. (Though the astronaut ice cream was pretty tasty!) To be in a place where we had a hot meal (that was not made by heating up water) was pure joy.

The only thing we thought of that could make this dinner better was if Jesus Himself was there in the flesh with us. This truly felt like a dinner He would have enjoyed with us if He had been here in person. And yet, He was with us. He was with us on the mountains and during the cold nights and throughout the tough hiking. And He was with us during this most delightful dinner ever.

And friends, I can’t wait to have more dinners like this for eternity with Jesus. Can you imagine?! Eternity with Jesus is going to be delightful!

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:3-4 (ESV)