Mt. Shavano is in the Southern Sawatch Range of Colorado. Sawatch comes from the Ute language and means ‘blue earth’ or ‘middle earth’ (hang on there Lord of the Rings fans) meaning not the lower canyons or the higher peaks. Shavano itself is named for a Ute war chief and medicine man who was usually uncooperative with Anglo-Americans.
Mt. Shavano is a 14,236 ft. peak requiring nearly 5,000 feet of elevation gain to summit via the standard (most common) route. It’s a gorgeous hike but a hard one and we were rewarded with a hail storm as we reached the top around noon.
Zari on the way down Shavano
Erin and Zari on the hike to the top.
Zari in her customized dog bag just below the very summit of Shavano
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