Steps in the Right Direction: Quandary Peak, Breckenridge, CO

Short and sweet...

But it is STEEP

I like "there are no easy 14ers

The moon is up

It is a busy place, people going up and down

Hope you went to bed early as we are getting up way before the sun again! We are up at 4:15 am today as it is a 50% chance of rain by 11 am. Quandary is considered among the easiest 14ers to reach for its modest distance and well built trail. Still, the 3,300' climb in just 3.1 miles is no small task with rocky terrain that will challenge even the fittest hikers. As a bonus the trail is filled with exceptional views that include peaks from the Mosquito, Gore, Holy Cross and Collegiate ranges.

The trail climbs steadily across two marked jeep roads to your first glimpse of Quandary Peak, Hoosier Pass, and distant peaks of the Tenmile Range. It clears treeline and wraps to the south face of Quandary Peak's east ridge.Along the way we have views of the Blue Lakes, Monte Cristo Creek, and North Star Mountain looming high on the Continental Divide. The relatively even, dirt path that we have enjoyed to this point changes to a nicely made trail of talus on a steep, winding climb up the southeast flank of Quandary Peak. Did I mention steep? This is one of those hikes which has lots of breathtaking moments? Huff and puff moments?

During this part we meet up with a couple who seem paralyzed by the sight of mountain goat hair hanging in the bushes. The man is barking like a dog to "scare" the mountain goats away. He is afraid a goat might come out and gore them. The two mountain goats by us are playing peek a boo in the bushes right by the man who is barking like a dog. I think the goat wants to have a bout with the "dog",so perhaps he should just be quiet and hike on. We move forward and take a few photos of the goats. They are trying to rub off their winter coats of dusty white hair and put on a fresh new summer coat of white. I dare say it is a bit chilly in the morning air to throw off their winter coats. But perhaps they too had a long hard winter and are ready to start anew.Climbing up intensifies to Quandary's well-defined east west spine. The trail blends easily into the landscape, but it is well-marked by cairns and intuitively followed when not. It levels briefly along the east ridge across a wide tundra bench at the base of Quandary Peak. When we get to this tundra section the wind was whipping. The air temps were pretty chilly so we put on more clothes. I'm not sure what the wind speed was, but it was strong enough to blow you around. Kathi kept a watchful eye on those people ahead of us to see if any one was crawling or crouching to stay low out of the wind! Ok, if this was the case we would have not gone on? No one was crawling, so we pressed on. Once we are across this tundra, we are ready to head up the formidable and final push to the summit. Here we were out of the wind and I was able to remove hat, hood and gloves. We did also run into two more fairly friendly mountain goats on the tundra.

This part of the trail is a 50 steps at a time adventure. The steps are plainly laid out, but a pretty steep haul. Lots of breathing going on. As we are heading up and are now out of the wind we hear a shrieking voice yelling Stop, stop, stop... Help me, stop, help me!

You know the whole beating of your heart changes when you hear the cry for help. Kathi and I freeze in place so we can better listen. We are up above where this yelling is coming from by about 400 vertical feet. The people down by where the yelling is coming from look like little ants. My mind immediately assumes someone got too close to the mountain goats and is getting gored. Not sure of what is happening, you stand there and wonder what is the right thing to do? What is with all of these real life events? The trail is very busy and people are passing us going down the mountain... Kathi and I talk about what we should do...There are about a hundred people between us, we are just going to have to let someone else help this person.

As we continue forward we meet a couple who are 76 years old and are on their way down after summiting the mountain. They do the Quandary hike a lot. They were are out hiking or skiing 180 days last year. During the winter months they skin cross country ski up the mountain, remove the skins and Nordic ski down the mountain every morning before breakfast. We are suppose to check them out in the senior section of a ski magazine. Views from the summit at 14,265' are astonishing, notably across the upper drainage are a half dozen unnamed lakes in McCullough Gulch. To the west are jagged peaks and ridges that meet Quandary's west ridge and define the Continental Divide.

Nearby 14'ers include Mt Lincoln (14,291'), Mt Bross (14,172'), and Mt Democrat (14,152'). Hey, look to see if we can see any one up there, but I can't see that far or they are too tiny to see.

The summit is large enough for the crowd of people who are joining us on the top. We sign in the log book,take a few photos, eat a granola bar and head out. On the way down we inquire as to the help, help thing. It was a guy who did not have his dog on a leash. His dog was off chasing the goats and one of the goats was taking issue with that idea. I wonder in my mind if the dog barking man has heard any of this and and thought about a different mountain goat scaring strategy. Strangely, I feel better about the fact that it was a loose dog who was in distress, but then I do wonder why people don't have their dogs on a line.

We make the whole journey in 6 hours and 23 mins. 7 miles. As we are opening the car doors there are the first drops of rain. I sort of wonder about all of the people we passed who were going up the trail. What are their plans because they were way above tree line and here comes the rain.

Right from the parking lot it is UP

We got back early and went to soak in the hot tub. We sat in there until the incoming storm looked like we should get out of the tub and into the condo. While putting the solar cover on I stubbed my pinky toe on the corner of the hot tub. Nice words never come to mind when you stub your toe! I must have really done something to it, because it is two times too big and all purple. Figures, no blisters this year, because I have been doing preventative taping, now I bend my pinky toe to new limits? Rats, hope it fits into my boot! I hear walking in stiff boots is good for a broken toe!

6 hours and 25 minutes
7 miles
Total Hiked 123.55