I love to read well written trip reports but can't say that I have the patience to sit here and type out a story, so I will do my best. A friend and I took 4 days to jet to Colorado and see if we could bag a couple 14ers. As fate would have it, our car rental got screwed up (we didn't get our 4x4 and ended up with a little pathetic car called a Dodge Caliber. If you have one, please don't be offended - but ours was a pc of crap) Anyhow, continuing on with fate... It decided to snow while we were arriving in town. Not out of the ordinary for Sept in CO, but certainly bad timing. Having feared that all would be lost, we ventured down route 9 through Breckenridge to see what we would have hiked had the weather cooperated.
So, we happened upon Quandary peak, elev 14265.
The weather had cleared and the sky was a deep cobalt blue. The snow in the mountains made for a breathtaking picture, and as we looked closer, we could see hikers up on the ridge. We decided to check out the trailhead and sure enough there was a good amount of cars so we decided to go for it. There was about 1/2 mile of woods walking then all of a sudden we were above treeline with about 2500 ft to go.
I decided to try out a wrist style GPS for this hike and it definitely proved invaluable, if not for the altimeter alone. Having only had 2 days to acclimate made this more difficult than hiking in the northeast, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I stayed on the advil to ward off the headaches, but they still somehow managed to overpower the medicine.
As you can see, the views were magnificent!
We lingered for as long as we could but we were starting to get scorched by the sun, so it was time to move on. I can't say I have ever been overwhelmed on a summit but this was a first. I think it's almost impossible to grasp the enormity of the space out there. I found if I tried to take it all in, I would quickly lose my balance. Perhaps you have experienced this...
Anyhow, this hike was certainly the highlight of my hiking career. Hope you enjoy the pics.
So, we happened upon Quandary peak, elev 14265.
The weather had cleared and the sky was a deep cobalt blue. The snow in the mountains made for a breathtaking picture, and as we looked closer, we could see hikers up on the ridge. We decided to check out the trailhead and sure enough there was a good amount of cars so we decided to go for it. There was about 1/2 mile of woods walking then all of a sudden we were above treeline with about 2500 ft to go.
I decided to try out a wrist style GPS for this hike and it definitely proved invaluable, if not for the altimeter alone. Having only had 2 days to acclimate made this more difficult than hiking in the northeast, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I stayed on the advil to ward off the headaches, but they still somehow managed to overpower the medicine.
As you can see, the views were magnificent!
We lingered for as long as we could but we were starting to get scorched by the sun, so it was time to move on. I can't say I have ever been overwhelmed on a summit but this was a first. I think it's almost impossible to grasp the enormity of the space out there. I found if I tried to take it all in, I would quickly lose my balance. Perhaps you have experienced this...
Anyhow, this hike was certainly the highlight of my hiking career. Hope you enjoy the pics.
