Trip Report: Shavano and Tabeguache

August 2nd, 2014

Another weekend, another trip to the high country! We wanted to get in some longer miles so we picked Shavano and Tabeguache for Saturday. After work on Friday we drove up to the trailhead, finding a nice flat parking spot for our Element camper, falling asleep under the stars.

We awoke to the sound of other hikers heading out, including a wonderful car alarm going off. Sigh. I guess parking at the trailhead wasn't conducive to sleeping in, so we got out of bed at 6am and hit the trail at 7. The trail started climbing right from the start!

As we were ascending, I noticed that the terrain was very technical- lots of big, loose rocks. The climb out of the forest brought gorgeous morning views.

After treeline we began ascending more technical, steep terrain. In one direction, the sky was perfectly clear:

However looking in the other direction, the clouds were forming right under our feet:

Clouds just continued forming all day

It was a very cool day!

The final pitch to the top got only marginally steeper, since most of this hike was steeper than most anyways. The class 2 scrambling really wasn't bad on the way to the top of Shavano- I don't even think we lost the trail!

into the clouds, literally

The summit of Shavano was very popular, so we took a few photos and continued on to Tabeguache.

Happy 14er pup! Number 21 for Cody!

On top of the world

The trail heading to Tabeguache was a little harder to follow at first, but after a little bit of scrambling we found a few cairns and were OK. However, there was a lot more tricky scrambling on this part of the trail.

The trail from summit to summit was 1 mile long, with 500 feet of loss and 300 feet of gain each way. The trail up to Tabeguache summit was also a slightly trickier scramble. Sometimes there was no trail, we just went up!

The ascent to Tabeguache

There was hardly anyone else on Tabeguache- apparently the prospect of descending and climbing for another mile doesn't sound like fun to everyone :)

Cody's 22nd 14er!

Such a cute nubbins

A perfect Case family portrait

The clouds were still forming/reforming at the top of Shavano on the way back up and over, so the descent was interesting. 

Unfortunately, I (Alaina) slipped ever so slightly on one of the rocks at the top while climbing up, and my leg grazed against the side of another rock. Guess what, rocks aren't soft! I guess I should consider myself lucky that this is the first injury I've ever gotten from the mountains!

It's just a flesh wound!

The scrape on my leg didn't really hurt a ton, but it made downhill running more painful. I also lost some confidence, which was desperately needed for the very technical terrain. I let Ryan run ahead of me with Cody and an incredibly talented 14 year old runner (who happens to run with Dakota Jones), while I hobbled my way down the mountain.

To relax after an amazing day in the mountains, we enjoyed lunch in the town of Salida, then made our way to Turquoise Lake and enjoyed a relaxing paddle with all 3 of us on the board!

Cody disapproves of selfies, with beer, on a paddle board :)

And nothing ends a perfect day like hotdogs and mac 'n cheese cooked by the lake:

Cody carefully monitors the chef

Oh wait- dinner by the lake is pretty amazing, but it's also amazing to camp completely alone at this site. Life is good!

The before sunset photo

Ryan dances in celebration of a perfect camping spot for the Element Camper

Wildflowers and mountains, all to ourselves

Cause I'm happy!

An hour later, the sunset photo

These clouds are making the mountains turn red 

Garmin Data:

Adidas Adios Boost Shoe Review

Ryan's Review
I like lightweight shoes. I have toothpicks for ankles and a frame sometimes described as bird-like, so I appreciate shoes that cut the weight at the end of my slim leg pendulum. I also like shoes in the 8-10mm drop range, but unfortunately for me, most lightweight trail shoes gravitate toward the 4mm drop end. These make my calves explode.

So I tried an experiment with road shoes: Adidas Adizero Adios 2.0. These shoes are 8oz, 10mm drop, with a tough Continental rubber outsole. I loved them. I was running rugged mountain trails in the Golden, CO area and not feeling rock poke. My calves were singing praises. My only issue was the upper. I couldn't lock down my heel without tying the laces really tight, hurting my instep.

Adidas Adios 2.0

Enter the Adidas Adios Boost. Same specs (drop, weight, outsole) as the 2.0, but with two major improvements. First, the midsole: Boost technology does not use EVA foam; instead, it is made of thermoplastic beads that are fused together. This midsole is among the bounciest and most durable I have ever run on. It's like Hoka bounce without the stack height or extra give. Second, the upper has a stiffer lacing system that allows for heel lockdown that is so good I don't even run in my Adios 2.0 any more. It can't compare. 

Adidas Adios Boost. White Ranch Park, Colorado

This is a lightweight road shoe that you can use for running mountain trails. My first run in the Adios Boost was a 23 miler at White Ranch, featuring loads of steep, rocky terrain, cambered, snowy trail, and 4,000+ feet of vert gain. This shoe is up for the task. The next weekend I ran a 25 miler at White Ranch, again. I could bomb down the loose rock with confidence that the outsole and midsole would protect me, despite the fact that this road shoe has no rock plate. They're super snappy on the uphills and I've had some of my fastest mountain training runs in them.

Ride and Fit
The ride is firm on the Adios Boost, and it feels like an 8mm drop, but the claim is 10mm. Two drawbacks for trail running is they're not good in loose, dry rock/sand, and they're ice skates in mud. Compared to the Adios 2.0, they run slightly larger than size (maybe try 1/2 size down). The toe box is standard, and the heel is narrow. The low heel collar lets in a lot of debris, so you might want to use gaiters on dirty trail.

Pedigree
Hal Koerner won Hardrock 100 in Adios 2.0. Chris Vargo won Golden Gate Dirty 30 in Adios 2.0. Patrick Makau set a world record marathon 2:03:38 in Berlin in 2011 in Adios 2.0. Now with the Boost midsole technology -- both springy and durable -- if a touch heavier than EVA foam, this is a superb shoe.

Adios Boost sticking to rock on Beaver Brook Trail

Alaina's Review
Ever since I tried on the Adidas Boost shoes while working at Runners Roost, I couldn't wait to own a pair. The original Boost shoes are super comfy, but they are a lot bulkier than the majority of shoes I run in. When Adidas added the Boost technology to their lightweight Adios, I was sold. 

My first run in them was a 12 mile run on the Colorado trail. When I first put them on I was worried that they wouldn't have enough cushion to protect me from feeling every rock on the trail. I was quickly proven wrong. For how little cushioning there is, I was amazed at how much they protected my feet. I could still feel the ground really well, just not the jabbing rocks that I can sometimes feel in my Salomon Sense Ultra and La Sportiva Vertical K. They were very quick and responsive. I just love how the Boost technology feels.

Pros
Soft, yet springy and responsive
Good ground contact feeling, yet protective on all terrain
They just feel fast

Cons The only cons I have for these shoes are based on how they perform on trails, and obviously they were designed as a road shoe.
Very slippery on light, loose dirt/sand
Not great traction on ice/snow