Post will start with an overview from an adult/parent point of view and end with a ‘Kids Corner’ section where my kids provide their own perspectives!

When we were in the truck I thought if Sherman had a voice it would be like a gentle giant. I think now it has the voice of an old but very strong man who wants everyone to summit him.- Jacob 10yrs old

The Plan

This adventure was planned to be the first 14er for my kids(and myself). We had searched for an easier option within driving distance of Salida Colorado where we were staying and Mount Sherman seemed like the best fit for us. It was advertised as a 5.25 mile hike with just over 2k feet of elevation gain which by 14er standards is about as easy as you can find! Doubling down on the awesome we planned to wake up at 4am and tackle this mountain on my birthday, June 21st!

I will include a section at the bottom where my kids can provide their perspective on this adventure!

As the picture below suggests Mount Sherman didn’t get the memo about June 21st being the first day of summer and presented some additional challenges to our expedition (foreshadowing!).

How it went

Waking up at 4am to get on the road was no problem for any of us because we had been excited to attempt this challenging hike for months! We had made breakfast burritos the night before to eat on the hourish car ride from Salida to the trailhead just outside of Fairplay, Colorado. From the turn off to the trailhead I was glad we had a truck but with the exception of the very last stretch most other vehicles could have made it driving a little slower.

We parked next to a pair of women setting out at the same time as us we said hello and started on our way up the steep trail. Boy you could tell we were starting from around 12k feet elevation the air was RARE but we got into a good groove and the kids were full of energy as we hike past some old mining structures. Couldn’t help but think that must have been a tough way to make a living building and working the mines this high up the mountain!

After climbing for a bit we encountered some mini ponds that were still iced over and we would have great fun tossing rocks into them on our descent to see if they would break through!

Things started to get sketchy as we ascended and encountered the very steep and very snowy hill shown above. This provided quite the challenge for us as I only brought yaktraks which I gave to the kids to use while I went with just my hiking boots. We were within feet of overcoming the lip of this massive hill when Jacob took a fun slide down the hill to the bottom arriving right next to the two nice ladies we had parked by. They helped him hike back up to us and carved out some steps with their crampons for us to successfully get over the ridge which we thanked them for post hike with a letter and some cash for a beer on us!

Continuing on I felt like our chances of reaching the summit were dimming not from lack of drive, the kids were focused and eager to go all the way, but we just didn’t have the right gear. We were enjoying the amazing views of the rockies that opened up to us in all directions, but the snow/icy conditions continued, and some drop offs were starting to join our trek up on either side. We made it within a few hundred feet of the summit, but my dad voice was saying we should call it and turn around. The kids were unhappy with my decision, but we had a snack while we soaked in the views and headed back to the car. Now the kids focus was on getting to slide down that huge hill we hiked up and I was pretty excited for this as well! I have a great video of this below!

Normally I would hike snowyish areas with yaktraks but advice from the local stores was that these aren’t meant for serious hiking as they have a tendency to break mid-hike creating problematic descents! I noticed the folks who were having no problem with the icy trail were using more serious crampons and we purchased multiple sets as soon as we were back home! Provided a link below and recommend packing something like this whenever you might encounter these conditions.

Kid’s Corner

Trip Overview Jacob (age 10)

The overview of Mt Sherman is one of the easiest 14er at 14,043′ feet tall. The hike starts you at 12,000-foot gate and you gain 2,800 while hiking you will encounter a ruined cabin of some sort. 

And soon after a lake then you will see a mine shaft? It was weird then a very steep hill!

My favorite parts!

Some of my favorites are the steep hill because we could slide down it when we were done. And the lake because we threw some rocks into the lake to see if it would break the ice (it did). 

A kids perspective 

We did this hike on my dads birthday (june 21) we woke up at 4 am and left the airbnb at 4:30am we had burritos in the truck the road to Mt Sherman got bumpy.

When we got there some people were being friendly. We talked to them for a minute then left to start our journey. They were far behind us until the steep hill. Keep in mind this hill is really steep and has snow on it. Those people helped us there by using their spikes to create steps in the snow and probably the only reason we got up that hill. When we were in the truck I thought if Sherman had a voice it would be like a gentle giant. I think now it has the voice of an old but very strong man who wants everyone to summit him.