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| Report Type |
Full |
| Peak(s) |
Quandary Peak - 14,272 feet
|
| Date Posted |
08/09/2010 |
| Date Climbed |
08/09/2010 |
| Author |
TommyF |
| Quandry - East Ridge |
Planning this trip for a few weeks. Decided to do Quandry today as it is my only day off for two weeks. I checked the weather Sunday night, partly cloudy with chance of afternoon thunderstorms, typical Colorado mountain weather.
Woke up this morning and checked the weather again, no change from the previous night. Checked radar, only precip. was on the eastern plains, cool, headed out the door at 0330.
Drive out from the Springs was pretty dark, obvious heavy cloud cover. No problem, figured it would break up as I headed west. Crested Wilkerson Pass into the valley towards Hartsel. Started to pour down rain, not good. Heavy downpour all they way to Fairplay. Not looking good for the home team. Rain started to lighten up as I headed out of Fairplay towards Hoosier Pass, still heavy cloud cover. Decided to press ahead and see what it looked like at the TH. Arrived at 6am, 5 cars in the parking lot. A couple of College ladies getting ready to head up. Decide to head out and turn around if the weather gets worse.
To my surprise, the weather/cloud cover started to clear up and the sun was starting to peak out. Started the trail at 0630. The trail is easy to follow. There were a couple of spots up on the ridge that could be confusing, but with the amount of people coming and going, not a problem. Temps were probably in the 40s and quite humid. Arrived at the summit at 1000. I stopped quite often to take pictures, admire the views, and chat with pretty much everyone going up and down the trail.
The trail is pretty rocky above the tree line and you need to pay attention to foot placement. I could see twisting an ankle pretty easily if you aren't paying attention. Spent about 30 minutes on top taking pics, grabbed a snack and chatting with the other 10 or so on the summit. You could see the weather was changing and started to head down at 1030. Everyone had the same thought as we all pretty much started down at the same time. Started to get a light rain as I entered the tree line, getting a bit heavier then letting up the last half mile from the bottom. Arrived back at my vehicle at 12:45. About 5 minutes after I got back to my vehicle, it unloaded. Very heavy rain. Heavy rain all the way into Fairplay. All in all, a great day to be out.
As a side note, as I was heading down, already into the tree line, people were still heading up. It was around 11:45 or so, and it was apparent that the weather was quickly moving in. Many without hardly any gear. Many wearing tennis shoes, shorts, T-shirts. For quite a few, that is all they had besides water. It amazes me that so many people wander out in the mountains without regards to how quickly mother nature can turn on you.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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