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First 14er This has been a dream I shared with my wife since 1996; of course she thought I was out-of-my-mind. Since then, we had made a few trips to Breckenridge for meetings and family vacations. During my research of 14ers I learned that Quandary was considered by the "experts" as a good first climb. Since Quandary was in the area, I made sure I would drive my wife out and view the majestic peak in an effort to convince her we should maybe try hiking the summit. Last Summer she finally agreed to give it a go this year for our 20th anniversary and my 55th birthday; both falling on 6/14.
We did it Having no idea what we were doing we hit the elipitical in an effort to get our legs ready for the trek. Let me tell you there is a slight difference between Quandary and Mt. Sunflower. Our hike was pretty routine until the headwinds hit about 1 mile into the journey. WOW!!! We have wind in Kansas, but it never knocked me off my feet like this did a few times. This flat out hammered us AND ate my lunch. Once we hit the rocky portion of the trail we knew we weren't in Kansas anymore. I thought I was dead on the trail many times, especially when I looked up around the 2 mile mark. Holy Frit!! Those little dots up there are the people we spoke to earlier. Thankfully, my wife was not going to let me stop. We did a great job of encouraging each other when it was needed. We may not have set a speed record but WE DID IT. Now we are thinking of which 14er may be our next once our dogs stop barking .
Thanks to.... I want to thank all the great people along the trial who shared words of support: the Canadian Gals, the family from Denver, and the solo hikers on the summit especially Washington (hope you get your compass to work, but we feel you may not need it) all made our first 14er a day we will never forget.
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Our hike was pretty routine until the headwinds hit about 1 mile into the journey. WOW!!! We have wind in Kansas, but it never knocked me off my feet like this did a few times. This flat out hammered us AND ate my lunch. Once we hit the rocky portion of the trail we knew we weren't in Kansas anymore. I thought I was dead on the trail many times, especially when I looked up around the 2 mile mark. Holy Frit!! Those little dots up there are the people we spoke to earlier. Thankfully, my wife was not going to let me stop. We did a great job of encouraging each other when it was needed. We may not have set a speed record but WE DID IT. Now we are thinking of which 14er may be our next once our dogs stop barking 
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