I took heed in everyone's trip reports that it was going to be a busy mountain to climb, so I made sure to get up there early.
I arrived to the lot at 5:30am and ended up parking in the congo line of cars near the trailhead. Even though I forgot my headlamp, there were plenty of other folks starting at the same time and after the first 15-20 minutes or so, I could see on my own, as well as appreciate the beautiful colors as the was sun coming up!
This was my 8th summit of a 14er, my first on Quandary. I didn't really train for it, but I remembered hearing things from "It's super easy." to "It's super steep." With both of those in mind, I knew to mentally prepare for that last mile, 1000' ascent - folks weren't kidding around! I saw the snowfield that folks have been reporting about, but it's completely off the trail (though if you walk a few feet off the trail, you can get to it just fine).
It took me 2:50 to summit and about 2 to descend. I'm quite clumsy going down, so I wasn't a quick descender (though I hope folks appreciated that my pup and I moved out of the way for them so they could pass by).
All told, it was fine; I don't think I need to do it again, but it is another 14er under my belt! There was SO many people (I'm trying to guess how many of those folks were Labor Day, tourist climbers compared to what a "normal" summer Sunday is like) and so many happy doggos (including mine!). I wasn't thrilled about how much loose rock there was, but again, I'm clumsy, so it took more time than I'd wanted to navigate that on the way down.
A link to today's hike, including my photogenic pup (she thanks everyone for the compliments and pets!), via Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/2671455466
