Quandry Peak

Quandry Trip Report

Date: Thu, Dec 15
Hike: Quandry Peak - 14,265 feet
Route: East Slopes Route from Monte Cristo Trailhead. TR 10,900 feet

Stats
GPS was not working well, as it was too cold! The guide book said 3.5 miles up, and that is probably what we did. We were able to stick to the trail pretty good on the way up.

On the way down, we missed the trail. That made for less miles, but it made a LOT of extra work for Scott and Richard breaking trail through 3feet of powder!!!

4:10 hours up
2:40 hours down

About 5 degrees all day, not including the wind chill. We estimated 20 MPH gusts, taking it down to about -25deg. Probably consistently around -10 to -15 degrees

Timeline
Leave Saturday at 4am (Yes! On time). Stop in Denver at 5am to pick up Erik. Arrive trailhead at 7:30am. Begin hiking by 8am. (Began hike about 7:30am) Summit by noon. (11:40am) Leave summit by 12:30pm. (Left by noon) Back to the vehicle by 4pm. (back by 2:40pm)

Lessons Learned
The water bottle insulator worked great!
Don’t hike in weather any colder than this!
Battery operated thermometers don’t work below 10 degrees!

The report
Wow, what a beautiful day. No clouds, bright sun, white snow….. almost heaven.

Went with Scott Roberts, Richard Seldomridge, Erik Wainionpaa, and Josh Dunham. Everyone was prepared with snowshoes. Probably weren’t essential on the way up, as we stuck pretty close to a trail that others had been using and packing down (although no one had been on it in several days.). I would say that the snowshoes were just plain useful for traction, through.

It was cold – real cold. Not only did it slow one down, it also seemed to rob one of motivation. I ended up being the only one to summit. Josh and Richard were within 15 minutes of the top before calling it a day.

On the way down Scott and Erik were leading. They missed the trail and got into the deep powder. Probably made the trip shorter, but much more work in breaking a new trail through deep powder.

All in all a great day with no incidents. The 2-way radios came in incredibly useful again. Don’t hike without them!