Quandary Peak Trip Report 03/27/2011

Peak(s):	Quandary Peak - 14,272 feet
Date Posted:	03/27/2011
Date Climbed:	03/19/2011
Author:	big_red_pride

Quandary or not to Quandary...that is the question
Group: Sean (S-Pett), Larry (LTBear), Craig (Awake), Will (Hunterwf), Ron (soon to be a 14ers.com member), and me (Big_Red_Pride). Weather: When making the decision on Thursday morning whether or not the trip was a go I looked at the weather and it was predicting the average wind speed to be at 9 MPH with gusts up to 25 MPH. When I woke up on Saturday morning they were predicting the average speed to be 24 MPH with gusts up to 49 MPH. The actual trip turned out to be something like the average wind speed to be between 40-50 MPH with gusts somewhere around 70-80 MPH. So we all met at the TH around 7 AM and started the hike around 7:35 AM. In the beginning it was really windy and cold and only after being on trail for a couple of minutes the wind died down, so we stopped to layer down and put on our micro spikes. After hiking for about 30-45 minutes we all took another break to get some water and food. Here is a shot of the group during our break. We then kept going to tree line; we made it there in about 90 minutes. Here are the guys again at tree line with the summit in the back ground. From left to right we have Craig, Will, Larry, Sean, and Ron. I learned pretty quickly that I should have exchanged my micro spikes for snowshoes, but kept on going anyway as I was only post holing up to mid calf in some spots. Here are some pictures that Sean and I took of the group battling through the wind up towards the ridge. Photo credit - Sean Here is a picture of Bross and Lincoln after taking a rest around 11.7K. We all kept going taking several breaks along the way and taking advantage of the scenery along the way. Here several more pictures that Will and I took. Photo credit - Will We finally stopped at the top of the ridge, around 13K, and decided to turn around. Some of the guys in the group were getting cold and tired of fighting the wind. Before starting out on the day we decided we were all going to summit or turn around as a group so we turned around. Here is a summit shot by Will taken a few minutes just before we decided to turn around. Summit shot by Will. Three of us decided to shoe up for the return trip as the others started heading back right away. The three of us that shoed up reached the cars around 12:45 as the others had been waiting for a while. Overall it was a beautiful day on the peak...minus the wind. We had a great time and we will be back to try and conquer Quandary again. We all had a great time and we decided that we are all going to get together for a couple of hikes this coming summer. Happy hiking everyone! Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Quandary or not to Quandary...that is the question

Group: Sean (S-Pett), Larry (LTBear), Craig (Awake), Will (Hunterwf), Ron (soon to be a 14ers.com member), and me (Big_Red_Pride).

Weather: When making the decision on Thursday morning whether or not the trip was a go I looked at the weather and it was predicting the average wind speed to be at 9 MPH with gusts up to 25 MPH. When I woke up on Saturday morning they were predicting the average speed to be 24 MPH with gusts up to 49 MPH. The actual trip turned out to be something like the average wind speed to be between 40-50 MPH with gusts somewhere around 70-80 MPH.

So we all met at the TH around 7 AM and started the hike around 7:35 AM. In the beginning it was really windy and cold and only after being on trail for a couple of minutes the wind died down, so we stopped to layer down and put on our micro spikes. After hiking for about 30-45 minutes we all took another break to get some water and food. Here is a shot of the group during our break.

We then kept going to tree line; we made it there in about 90 minutes. Here are the guys again at tree line with the summit in the back ground. From left to right we have Craig, Will, Larry, Sean, and Ron.

I learned pretty quickly that I should have exchanged my micro spikes for snowshoes, but kept on going anyway as I was only post holing up to mid calf in some spots. Here are some pictures that Sean and I took of the group battling through the wind up towards the ridge.

Here is a picture of Bross and Lincoln after taking a rest around 11.7K.

We all kept going taking several breaks along the way and taking advantage of the scenery along the way. Here several more pictures that Will and I took.

We finally stopped at the top of the ridge, around 13K, and decided to turn around. Some of the guys in the group were getting cold and tired of fighting the wind. Before starting out on the day we decided we were all going to summit or turn around as a group so we turned around. Here is a summit shot by Will taken a few minutes just before we decided to turn around.

Three of us decided to shoe up for the return trip as the others started heading back right away. The three of us that shoed up reached the cars around 12:45 as the others had been waiting for a while.

Overall it was a beautiful day on the peak...minus the wind. We had a great time and we will be back to try and conquer Quandary again. We all had a great time and we decided that we are all going to get together for a couple of hikes this coming summer.

Happy hiking everyone!

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Michael York	Nice Work 3/28/2011 6:04am Too bad about the wind... gets nasty. Nice pics, and thanks for the report. I'm definitely gonna hit Quandary the first week of April if you wanna get together for another shot, I'd love some company. Thanks for the report!
big_red_pride	2nd Attempt 3/29/2011 5:26am Hey Michael, I'm actually going to give it another shot on 4/9, at least that is the plan right now. You are welcome to come along if you want, let me know if you are interested. -Steve
hunterwf	another attempt 3/30/2011 2:16am Steve, Great report. Keep me in the loop for 4/9. Pretty sure I am off that day. Will

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