Peak(s): |
Quandary Peak - 14,272 feet |
Date Posted: | 03/15/2009 |
Modified: | 03/18/2009 |
Date Climbed: | 03/14/2009 |
Author: | jedrejcic |
Peak(s): |
Quandary Peak - 14,272 feet |
Date Posted: | 03/15/2009 |
Modified: | 03/18/2009 |
Date Climbed: | 03/14/2009 |
Author: | jedrejcic |
A Spectacular day on Quandary |
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Our team this time consisted of five - two of my buddies that had accompanied me on the summit of Long's in August (Zach and Rob), my wife (Michelle) who had never sumited a 14er (although she'd been getting closer and closer), and her friend Tristen. All a very capable group. We left Colorado Springs together in one car at 4:30am, and drove the "back" way through Alma and over Hoosier pass, and found the Quandary Trailhead at about 6:45am. Road 851 was covered in feet of snow, but there was enough room to fit about three cars at the very start of it, and since we'd gottn there so early, we got first choice. A couple of other snowboarders and skiers quickly took up the other two spots there while we were sitting in our car eating some food before starting out, and thereafter folks had to park along 850, which really wasn't that bad of an option, so no real worries on the parking situation. We started our climb somtime around 7:15am, and it was a bit chilly when we started out, but after an hour we shed a layer or two, and as the sun came out, we saw nothing but blue skies. This is me, Zach, and Tristen. Four of us started out with snowshoes, but Rob just used his Yak Trax the whole way up and down, and he had no issues really. Those of us with snowshoes didn't posthole through the snow as much as he did, so we kind of think he had to put in a bit more effort, but his traction was apparently good enough. The snow had different textures throughout the day, and obviously some areas were more packed than others. Possibly worth mentioning, the snowshoers were using the MSR Denali Evo shoes, which have great traction for moderately steep climbs, as long as it's not ice. We broke treeline fairly quickly, and started up the first part of the ridge, taking our time, and taking some pictures. We were nearly to the end of the first ridge (where the slope is almost level for a bit), so we took a nice break to eat and to enjoy our progress. Here's Michelle enjoying the view: Me enjoying a sandwich: And Tristen taking a nap: And this is how Tristen felt after taking her nap: Climbing the second ridge up to the summit took absolutely forever, but the views were spectacular, and the day was clear enough for us to see all the way to Pikes, the Maroon Bells, and obviously so many other peaks in the immediate area, it was just awesome. After scaling the last 1,000 veritcal feet, I think we were all pretty dead, and all very surprised at how long it took us to get past those last 1,000. I was using rest steps the whoel way, and each step I only moved 4 to 8 inches, and sometimes I took two breaths between each step, and still every ten minutes I had to stop and let my heratbeat get back to something managable. Possibly due to lack of training, but as always, you just have to pick yourself back up and keep going. We didn't reach the summit until 1:00 - 1:30 pm, but the day was so beautiful, no weather in any direction, winds were so light, and we had daylight on our side, so we stayed up there at least until 2:15 and enjoyed the views and took pictures before heading back down. I don't have the awesome group photos yet, but these were the ones on Michelle's camera. Here's Michelle and Tristen with seemingly the whole of Colorado behind them: I think this is the first picture I have of Rob smiling at the top of a 14er: So, we started our trip down, and met some locals along the way, that posed dramatically for us, as if on cue (strike a pose): Not many pictures on the way down. Oh, I forgot to mention, Zach and I donned our new crampons and got out our ice axes about a third of the way up the last steep slope on the ridge, just really to try them out in these conditions, and as long as we kept finding packed snow, they were great. But they were even more useful on the way down - I thought they had very useful qualities for the descent. Rob kept his Yak Trax on, and Michelle kept her snowshoes, and Tristen just went without anythign but her boots, and all of us seemed happy enough with the performance of our gear. So conditions were favorable for all. And as usual, the descent took seemingly forever, but we got down to the car at about 5:00pm or so, having taken all the time we wanted, and being able to enjoy the summit without any freezing cold or gusting winds, and the clearest atmosphere I can ever recall seeing in this beautiful state. So we all felt very fortunate to have had the luck to plan the ascent on this day. I can't say what the future weather will bring, but I hope that you all get a similarly rewarding experience going up Quandary. It was the best time I've had to date climbing a peak. |
Comments or Questions |
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