14er Report #20: Quandary Peak (Winter Conditions, East Slopes)

Wind on the Ridge. Quandary Peak, Colorado, 2015

[NOTE: For a summer report on this climb, see 14er Report #5: Quandary Peak.]

Looking for a good first winter 14er? Try Quandary Peak.

The trailhead is accessible all winter long and the round trip is short by 14er winter standards–something like 6.5 miles total and 3,500′ vertical. In addition, it is so popular that you can let a few days of good weather go by and folks will pack down a nice trench through the snow for you! In early spring, it is also a popular peak among the 14er ski crowd.

My interest in Quandary today was threefold:

1) I needed to exercise my lungs and legs on something near by. It had been awhile since I had hiked at altitude.

2) I had the itch for some summit sunrise photography…and to experience that special moment above treeline when first light starts to illuminate the eastern horizon with that tasty orange-yellow glow.

3) I wanted to get in one more 14er summit before the end of calendar winter.

I might have preferred a 14er I had not yet climbed, but I wanted to be safe and relatively quick, thus my choice to return to Quandary. And, as landscape photographers already know, every time you return to a place it is always different–the light, the season, the weather–so the images will always be different. And they certainly were!

Quandary Peak (14,265′) Trip Report

Route:

The standard, and very popular East Slopes Route from the Quandary Trailhead. The road up to the tiny trailhead parking area 1/4 mile farther uphill was not plowed, so I parked at the larger lot, lined with mounds of snow, near the highway. Mine was the first vehicle to arrive for the day.

By headlamp, I had no problem following the packed track (and multiple tracks) in the snow all the way up the mountain. Yes, I was familiar with the dirt/rock/scree trail in late summer/fall conditions, but even a first-timer would have a hard time losing this heavily trafficked winter trail. I couldn’t be sure, but I think the winter track I followed was a lot more direct up the ridge than the normal summer trail.

Timeline:

A 1:20a.m. departure from Boulder.

Parked and on the trail by 3:40a.m.

Arrived on the flat part of the ridge by about 5:45a.m. with the first faint glow of dawn, then on the summit by 6:45a.m. where I spent about an hour watching the sunrise and the changing light. I started down at 7:45a.m. and made it back to the truck at the trailhead by 9:25a.m.

Weather Conditions:

Almost summer-like–as I knew it would be from the forecast. This “winter” ascent was almost easier than the summer hike–nice flat, snow-packed trail (for the most part), very reasonable temperatures (27 degrees at the trailhead start, 42 degrees at the trailhead finish), and mostly light wind that only periodically picked up to maybe 15-25mph for a few short cycles (as in the image at the top of this post).

Thankfully, there were a few clouds here and there in the sky to keep it from being a total photographic bore–but I would have liked more high cirrus.

Those heading up as I headed down surely found very, very warm conditions for mid-March…almost shirtsleeves and shorts weather–definitely perfect conditions to fry your face into a big blister if you were to forget your sun block.

Trail Conditions:

No issues following the track by headlamp, as I mentioned. Higher on the mountain, with a 21% waning Moon on the rise and the first light in the east coming on, I shut off my lamp on the final section of ridge. The walk up to the summit was gorgeous in the pre-dawn white-purple-blue alpine light. It is for these moments that I force my fanny perpendicular and out of bed at such unholy hours.

Microspikes were perfect for the entire trip and there was no serious post holing at all. However, I finished the hike relatively early in the morning and I could tell the snow was starting to soften up in the sun by then. Flotation would probably be a good idea if going any later in the day–especially for the section around treeline, plus and minus maybe 300 vertical feet, where skiers, hikers, and snowshoers have gone every which way.

By mid-morning, I am sure the skiers found excellent corn snow conditions coming down…and those without flotation surely suffered a thousand deaths post holing through the treeline area.

Unusual Events/Comments:

–Even though this was a repeat summit, and a short one at that, I thoroughly enjoyed it. On the unfamiliar summits, hiking in the dark, I am always a bit apprehensive–especially with the route finding. But, Quandary was a nice, relaxed, change-o’-pace. The alpine winter environment was a spectacle.

–I had the summit entirely to myself…but, on the way down, I saw a total of 19 others on their way up in groups of twos and threes. Most were skiers, skinning their way up for a long run once the snow softened a bit. One guy was just starting up from the trailhead when I arrived back at the truck–he certainly encountered some pretty soft and sloppy snow if he went all the way up and back.

–Temps in Boulder when I got back: low 80s! What’s with that in mid-March!?

–Since this was a repeat, my 14er totals remain unchanged: Colorado 14er Senior Challenge summit count: 28 of the basic list of 58 (p. xxiii in Gerry Roach’s 14er “Bible”, Colorado Fourteeners, 3rd Ed.); 34 of the long list of 73 (pp. 347-348, with South Wilson added, also in Roach’s “Bible”.

Selected Images:

So, this is what I looked like as I headed up the East Ridge, a crescent Moon rising behind me. The glow to the far left is not from the coming dawn but rather the Denver metro area lights…