On Walkabout On: The Quandary Peak Trail, Colorado – Part 2

Prior Posting: The Quandary Peak Trail, Colorado – Part 1

Narrative (Continued)

From treeline I found myself slowing trudging up a monotonous stretch of a snow covered ridgeline.  This was basically the view ahead of me I had for about the next 30-45 minutes:

I then came upon a small step that led to another steep snow climb:

At the step I checked the altimeter on my Garmin Fenix watch and it had me at an altitude of about 12,000 feet:

So I had just more than 2,000 more feet to go to reach the summit.  From the step I had another nice view of Grays and Torreys Peaks out in the distance:

After taking a few moments to enjoy the view I then proceeded to begin the next monotonous trudge up the ridgeline:

This portion of the ridgeline was not as steep as the one before the first step, but it was much longer.  I had ascended about a thousand feet from the first step and was still on this ridge:

Here was the view looking back down the ridge at the 13,000 foot level:

Here was the view looking up to where I could at least see the top of the mountain which was now just about a thousand foot climb away:

After about an hour of slowly working my way up the ridgeline I came to a second bench that had a large cornice of snow on the side of it that I made sure not to walk on:

I would hate to be standing on that cornice if it gave away as an avalanche due to the rising temperatures.  If it did give away here is the awesome alpine valley it would fall into:

Across this valley from Quandary Peak I had a nice view of the 13,500 foot North Star Mountain:

Here is a panorama picture I took from this second bench with the summit of Quandary Peak in the center:

After taking the short break to catch my breath and admire the view I then proceeded to climb the final stretch ridgeline to the summit:

It was slow going because this final stretch of ridgeline was pretty steep and I was definitely feeling the lack of oxygen at this altitude.  After about 45 minutes I reached the 14,000 foot level:

This was what laid ahead of me still:

What I thought was pretty cool was while going up this stretch of ridgeline I spoke briefly with a woman who was coming down from the summit who told me that she hiked up the mountain for her 65th birthday.  I just thought that was really awesome and I hope I can be as fit as her when I am 65.  Congratulations to her for having a great birthday out on the mountain.

Something else I did on this stretch of ridgeline was to sit down for a short time in order to change my socks.  The socks I had on had become soaked due to sweat as well as from my boots being soaked from trudging in the snow all morning.  I could feel my toes starting to go numb from the dampness.  I usually wear a pair of socks made from wool and possum fur that I bought in New Zealand when I go climbing up mountains like this.  These socks though not bulky keep my feet quite warm and most importantly I do not get blisters when I wear them.  I took them off and put on a pair of thermal socks that I have that I usually only wear when I go snowshoeing in very cold temperatures.  Those socks ended up warming up my feet up quite quickly and I had no issues numbing toes for the rest of my hike.  While changing out my socks I made sure to sit back and enjoy the view of Hoosier Ridge across from Quandary Peak:

After putting my boots back on, I made my final push to the summit of the mountain:

Climbing that final ridgeline took me about an hour from the second bench, but I made it to the summit:

Initially I was the only person on the summit when I arrived.  However, just a couple of minutes after arriving I heard some voices and out of no where came a climbing party that had snow climbed from the valley far below:

This is a shorter way to get up the mountain, but requires crampons and ice axes not to mention the ability to accept the increased risk of getting hit by an avalanche.  Anyway I found the group of six climbers to be a good bunch to share the summit with:

Some of them were quite experienced climbers having reached the summit of some of Colorado’s most difficult mountains. It always seems I meet some really cool people whenever I go hiking up big mountains and Quandary Peak was no exception.

Anyway below are pictures of the expansive views from the summit of Quandary Peak beginning with the view looking towards the southeast that is dominated by the large South Park basin:

Here is a closer look at the South Park basin:

Here is the view directly towards the south where across the North Star Mountain ridgeline I could see the 14,286 foot Mt. Lincoln which is part of a climbing course known as the DeCaLiBron because it is possible to climb four 14 thousand foot peaks in one day:

Here is the view looking towards the southwest where in the foreground other peaks in the Mosquito-Ten Mile Range can be seen, while in the distance peaks from Colorado’s highest mountains in the Sawatch Range were easily visible:

Besides the Sawatch Range even further in the distance I could make out the Elk Mountains which is home to one of Colorado’s most famous mountains, the Maroon Bells:

The Bells as they are commonly known are on the right side of the above photograph and rise to 14,163 feet in elevation.  The Bells can be seen featured on just about every cover of books with pictures of Colorado in it.

Next up is a picture of the summit ridgeline as it runs towards the west:

To the west, in the foreground the summit of the 13,951 foot Fletcher Mountain could be seen while in the distance the famous Mt. of the Holy Cross was visible:

Just about any book with pictures of Colorado in it will feature pages dedicated to the Mt. of the Holy Cross due to the shape of the cross that is left on the eastern face of the mountain by colours filled with snow.  Due to all the spring snow we have had in Colorado the cross on the 14,009 foot peak cannot be seen presently:

Here is an even closer look at the mountain where the colours that make the cross can be seen:

Here is a view towards the north where the 13,950 foot Pacific Peak can be seen rising dramatically in the foreground above a snow filled valley:

Here is a closer look at the pyramid shaped Pacific Peak:

Here is the view looking towards the northeast where the 14,000+ foot summits of Grays and Torreys Peaks dominate the view:

Here is a closer look at these mountains:

Here is an even closer view where Arapahoe Basin Ski Resort is visible in the foreground:

Finally here is the view looking to the east at Hoosier Ridge where far down below I could see Hoosier Pass which is where I started my hike from:

Also in the far distance to the east I could just make out the 14,000+ foot summits of Mt. Bierstadt and Mt. Evans:

Also towards the southeast I could see the 14,115 foot summit of Pikes Peak:

Here is a panorama photograph I took looking directly to the west from the summit of Quandary Peak:

Here is a panorama picture looking towards the east:

I spent about 30 minutes on the summit enjoying the views and talking to people before deciding to head back down the mountain:

Due to the long steep drop from the summit, Quandary Peak is a popular location for people to ski and snowboard down:

I saw a handful of people doing this which is a fast way to get off the mountain.  However, I do not ski or snowboard so I was left trudging back down the mountain giving encouragement to the hikers making the slow ascent to the summit:

It was almost noon as I was going down the mountain and the snow had become quite slick due to the rising temperatures.  This made the descent more challenging due to slipping occasionally on the slick snow:

However, in less than an hour I found myself re-entering the treeline:

I was welcomed back to the treeline by falling through deep snow that came to my waist.  I actually had a pair of hikers come up to me and ask if I needed a hand getting out of the snow.  I was able to slowly but surely make my way out of the deep snow and over to the main trail that was not as deep.  Regardless due to the rising temperatures even the packed snow on the trail featured a lot of postholing:

Eventually I got to a low enough elevation where the trail became mostly dirt:

Occasionally though the trail would once again get covered over with snow due to the shade provided by the trees:

I took me less than two hours to get back to the trailhead that I had missed earlier that morning when I began my hike:

Conclusion

I spent a total of 7 hours on the mountain and I think I could have eliminated 1 – 2 hours of time if I had not missed the turn on to the trail head in the morning.  That missed turn added two additional miles to my hike through some difficult deep snow.  The trail up the mountain is only 6 miles, but my route went 8 miles.  I think I could have done this mountain in about 5-6 hours if I had not missed that turn.  Most people would probably finish this mountain in about 6-8 hours with no issues.  Keep in mind though that trudging through the snow is very different from walking up in the summer.  In the snow people need to be properly equipped for the conditions.

I actually ran into people at the trailhead when I got off the mountain that were heading up the mountain in shorts and t-shirts at 2PM.  One of them even had tennis shoes on.  I told them they need warmer clothes and at least microspikes, but they went up the mountain anyway.  I am figuring they likely turned around once they hit the deeper sections of snow.  Plus the weather was beginning to change with darker clouds and wind rolling in.  The wind may not be that bad at the trailhead, but it is definitely worse higher up on the mountain.  That is why the rule of thumb for experienced hikers is get off the summit of a mountain before noon in order to avoid bad weather.  People who get caught in bad weather are generally those that do not follow this advice.

Anyway Quandary Peak I found to be a great place to hike up in the snow because the East Ridge is not an avalanche threat plus there was no extreme crowds on the mountain like the ones found during the summer months.  All in all I had a great time and this mountain is definitely one I recommend people check out if they are just starting to get interested in hiking Colorado’s fourteeners.