I had flown in from Chicago three days earlier and had already hiked Elbert, but this was by far the best weather day. I car-camped a bit past the trailhead at a turn off the night before and was underway by 5:30 a.m. About a dozen or so others left at the same time.

The path through the trees was easy to follow and soon I approached the tree line. A mountain goat greeted me on the way up.

A big false summit was the first challenge. Folks on the trail were still few and spread far apart, but that would soon change.

The path turned from dirt to very rocky. Many of the stones required knee-high step ups and it felt very much like stair climbing in spots. I reached the summit in about 3.5 hours and was greeted by a handful of people and several dogs.

Several of us exchanged photo ops; I found the Survey Markers (there were two) and started heading down.

Going down the first false summit there were now several dozen people on the way up. I had to stop frequently to allow others to pass. By the time I reached the tree-line I estimated over a hundred hikers were on the trail.

The hike back down over the rocks and boulders was a challenge. I passed several who looked at my trek poles with envy. On the Quandary descent I would highly recommend them to save your knees. The down-stepping is especially brutal on this hill at the higher elevations.
With a cool breeze blowing through the Aspen, I reached the trailhead at about 10:30. Many were still coming up the path. There were no parking spots in sight all the way down to the entrance off Rt. 9 on the drive out. I would suggest an early start to avoid the crowds!

Overall, this was a very beautiful hike with the summit in sight a majority of the way. Most of the climbing stays on the straight, side ridge of the mountain and you can measure your progress by the stream/dam below and the enormous ridge across the valley to the left.