14er Report #5: Quandary Peak (Summer Conditions, East Slopes)

Quandary Peak View #3. Colorado, 2014

[If you are the videographer I spoke to on Quandary, leave a comment or e-mail me with your website address. Hope you had a great climb!]

Quandary Peak is a great choice for the 14er initiate–good trail and a relatively short, non-technical, route. Judging from the number of folks headed up the trail, many others have heard the same. That said, it is still a strenuous effort (especially by American couch potato standards) and not to be taken lightly. You need to be in shape and the altitude always has the potential to turn your head into an exploding potato (speaking of) and your stomach into a nausea generator.

[NOTE: The peak is also a good choice for your first 14er winter ascent. See my Quandary – Winter Conditions trip report HERE.]

There were still plenty of people just parking their vehicles (very limited spots left!) and starting up the climb as I returned to my truck at the trailhead. That means they were starting out at around 9.am. This is a good hour to go to work maybe, but, at least in my book, it doesn’t fit the bill in the mountains. Given an average time to the Quandary Peak summit (say, 3 1/2 hours for a typical, tranquil pace), that will put these folks on top just as the thunderstorm threat meter starts its surge off the charts.

Consider these advantages of starting early:

1) You miss the crowds…thus no parking issues, a clear trail, and a more enjoyable experience.

2) The scenery and the photography is spectacular as the sun rises. Nothing beats being up on a high mountain at this magical moment.

3) You minimize the thunderstorm threat.

4) You beat the traffic jam coming home. (A huge factor if you must road warrior your way back to the megalopolis on I-70.)

Think about it.

Quandary Peak (14,265′) Trip Report

Route:

The standard, and very popular East Slopes route from the Quandary Trailhead. I arrived early enough to park right at the information sign. (There was a large RV at the overflow lot below and one SUV already parked in the TH lot beside me.)

The trail was well-marked and I had no problems following it in the no moon darkness with just my headlamp (moonset was 3:44a.m. and she was already well below the peaks above when I started out). With summer conditions, there were no snow patches at all and the only hazard was slipping on a loose stone on the rocky upper slope.

Timeline:

A 12:30a.m. departure from Boulder.

Parked and on the trail by 2:45a.m. (After some initial, in-the-darkness confusion related to the overflow lot versus the very small trailhead parking lot.)

On the summit by 5:10a.m. for first dawn light, an hour before the actual sunrise. Played photographer, hermit, and lonely philosopher on the summit for nearly two hours, finally starting down at 7a.m.

Made it back to the truck at the trailhead by 9a.m..

Weather Conditions:

Great! My previous 14ers this year have been in late spring conditions with those associated temperatures and snowpack. Today was classic high country summer…no snow, and temps probably right at freezing or barely above at the start, calm to maybe 5-10mph breeze (very light breeze even on the summit!).

Be prepared to strip off layers as you hike up–then put them back on as you sit around and enjoy the summit view–at least if you go early like I do.

The sky was completely clear during the entire trip (some low clouds in the distant valleys and on distant horizons). The first cumulus puff balls started forming above the mountain around 9:30a.m., but I was off exploring Lower Blue Lake by then. The standard, thunderstorm-avoidance rule of being off of a 14er summit by noon probably applied today, but I wasn’t around to confirm that.

Trail Conditions:

No issues, even with visibility limited to the 30-foot radius of a Costco headlamp–the footpath was well-trodden and well-signed.

Unusual Events/Comments:

People think I am a nut case for my eager and early “alpine starts”, but there was a group of 8-9 hikers coming down through the forest by headlamp as I was headed up. They said they were doing a “midnight summit hike”. How ’bout them marmots! They were the only humans I met on the uphill leg.

I was the Lone Ranger on the summit until a few minutes after the nuclear sunrise, when a group of four, friendly, young guys from Kansas arrived. This, on a peak that has a reputation for being crazy-crowded. Nice. On the way down, though, the scene changed. I stopped counting well before dropping below tree line when my cranial clicker hit one hundred people making their way up. There were at least that many folks again on the trail from tree line down to the trailhead, some groups slow-moving enough to time it perfectly to reach the summit at the prime thunderstorm hour. This, on a weekday (Friday). On a weekend? Well, good luck to ya and take a number, mate! Photography and thunderstorm issues apart, avoiding these types of crowds is just one more big reason why I choose to suffer these ridiculously early wake-ups (just take an afternoon nap when you get home).

If hiking by dark and dreary night, grope your way up the road for 50-100′ from the trailhead lot and you’ll see where the trail starts into the forest above. To be clear, this tiny trailhead parking lot is maybe 200-400 yards up McCullough Gulch Road (851). The overflow lot is that first big parking area off of Highway 9.

Carry all the water you think you’ll need–I didn’t see any water sources along the trail (summer conditions). I drank a quart. On a hot, sunny morning (leaving late!), you will drink more.

First-timers…The air may be cool, but the sun is very harsh–use sunscreen, large-brim hat, or some combination thereof. I saw plenty of potential lobster meat headed up the trail today.

There are still some wildflowers around, but they are past their peak and looking peak-ed.

Nice views of many 14ers: from Longs Peak in the north, to Pikes Peak, Bierstadt-Evans, Grays and Torreys toward the east, to the Democrat-Lincoln-Bross group to the south, to the Elbert-Massive area to the southwest, and even Mt. of the Holy Cross to the far west.

A highlight: Coming back down from the high country tundra and walking into the dappled light and exquisite perfume of a damp fir forest. I love that.

After your 14er hike, consider checking out the Blue Lakes area just two miles up the good dirt road of the same name. There is a really photogenic waterfall up there (flowing into the lower lake), and you just might get lucky and spot Bullwinkle!

Colorado 14er Senior Challenge summit count: 9 of the basic list of 58 (p. xxiii in Gerry Roach’s 14er “Bible”, Colorado Fourteeners, 3rd Ed.); 9 of the long list of 73 (pp. 347-348, with South Wilson added, also in Roach’s “Bible”.