Summiting of Mt. Quandary!

The goal

The trailhead

Jeremy, me, Chris D., Terence

The view from 14,265 ft

Today we summitted Mt. Quandary.  I've really wanted to do a winter 14'er for a while.  Finally, today was the day.  When we started out, it was a little cold, but not bad.  There was not a cloud in the sky, and we did not see any snow tails off of the mountain, which is a good sign.  We got lucky with great weather and NO wind, which is rare at 14,000 feet.  Quandary is an easy hike, which is why we tried it in the winter.  The first half of the trail in through a pine forest with a fair amount of elevation gain.  Once you get to tree line, the steepness of the mountain goes up.  There are two really steep pitches, and I felt strong on both.  I was able to get to the top in under 3 hours with some fair stops.  I don't know how this compares to others, but 3.4 miles with 3,400 ft of elevation gain and snow, I think it is good.  Most of the people I passed on my way to the top said it took them more than 4 hours. Everyone in my group was to the top in 3.5 hours!  The view from the top was worth the effort.  I could see Greys, Torreys, Pikes Peak, and we think Long's from the top, which are all 14'ers, and some of them a pretty far away.