Quandary Peak, CO

My second 14er hike started pretty much like the last one - up before sunrise (to beat the afternoon thunderstorms) and a yummy microwaved sausage & egg croissant sandwich (to keep my energy going). The major difference being that I had flew into Denver (5,300 ft) and drove up to Breckenridge (9,600 ft) the day before as opposed to hanging out around 6,000 ft for 4 days before attempting a hike. Eugene is about 500 ft above sea level. Oh yes, and we might have had a few glasses of wine the night before with dinner....

The route that we are taking is considered a Class I hike, 6.75 miles roundtrip and elevation gain of 3,450 ft. Almost immediately, my lungs felt the impact of the altitude as we began our ascent through the pine forest. Lucky for me, Sam was the other "low-lander" in our group to share in the joy with me. A half a dozen old mining trails criss-crossed the first mile of forest. The crisp morning air was occasionally interrupted with chickorees (squirrels) calling to each other. As the sun broke across the neighboring mountains and forest, we began to shed layers of long-sleeveed shirts and warm pants. Jen would mark a point on her GPS to follow our progress at various breaks throughout the day.

As we ascended higher onto the mountain, surrounding mountain tops come into view. Valleys with massive mountains on either side stretched into the horizon to the southeast and southwest of us. Below, several small lakes glittered in the sunlight. One small resevoir below had a long band of white marble peeking through the rockside. above us, the summit hovered above the scree and talus fields that lay ahead.

About 13,900 ft, altitude sickness started kicking in. We were less than a mile from the summit but the increasing nausea made progress slow and arduous. The talus and scree slope wasn't particular steep nor difficult to navigate. But the nausea made short breaks a necessity every 15-20 steps. Groups of hikers were passing us, young and old, yet there was nothing I could do to make the nausea go away and the ascent more expedient. I didn't want to slow the group down, knowing that afternoon thunderstorms are on their way, so I would signal my friends to go ahead of me. Each time, they only shook their head and continued to encourage me to keep going. What great friends I have!!!

Less than 100 feet from the summit, I began to take much deeper breaths to take in as much oxygen as possible. Distracting myself with this newfound routine seemed to help the nausea subside. At the same time, the slope began to ease a bit as we approached the summit, where many other hikers have already made their way up. I was able to actually start having conversations with my friends again without feeling like my breakfast was going to explode through my throat.

Around 11:30am or so, we joined other hikers at the summit register recording our names, dates, and home towns. Being a popular hike, there were about 30-40 people spread all across the summit at any given time. The view south revealed 14ers Mt. Bross, Mt. Lincoln, and Mt. Democrat. The northern view revealed a large basin anchored by Crystal and Pacific Peaks with the Gore Range in the distance. A black ski lift tower several peaks over marked the top of Peak 10 in Breckenridge. Peering towards the east ridge, several hikers could be seen ascending the rock gendarmes along the Class III hike option.

Several photo opportunities and a Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter PowerBar later, we began our descent to avoid the omnious black clouds advancing towards us. Long stretches of rock stairs made the descent quicker and easier although many hikers were still trudging their way up the trail. We wondered if they would summit before the imminent storm hit. Our footsteps were much lighter and our joke-cracking louder now. I would look back toward the summit on occasion only to see giant black clouds casting shadows over the peak. The pikkas we saw darting around the talus fields were fewer and farther in between. They must've known that a storm was approaching. We had barely reached timberline when I felt the first drops of rain. We hurried our way down the trail as occasional rain drops and cold wind breached the sky. By 2pm, we were safely back in the comfort of the truck, relaxing in barefeet and headed back to town.