A Beautiful Winter Climb of Quandary Peak

Quandary Peak is one of the most climbed of Colorado's 14000 foot peaks.  It is a relatively short hike and fairly easy as far as 14ers go.  It also has very easy access with its trailhead just off of paved Colorado highway 9 close to the town of Breckenridge.  It's a popular peak among hikers new to hiking 14ers as well.

I never climbed the peak.  Stories of big crowds deterred me from visiting Quandary.  Drew Petersen, another hiker from Salida that I started talking to climbed the peak several times and spoke quite highly Quandary.  Drew had plans to hike the peak again in the near future.  Since we live pretty close to each other and I never climbed the peak, we decided to climb the peak together. We monitored the forecast and set out on Wednesday, January 7th.  When we arrived at the trailhead it was in the 20s with nearly no wind at the parking lot.  It was a beautiful clear bluebird day.

Quandary has relatively gentle slopes and is typically safe from avalanches in the winter on its East Ridge route.  This makes it a popular 14er for winter climbs as well.  Because of its popularity, the parking lot already had quite a few cars for a Wednesday in January.

From the trailhead, the trail was very nicely packed from the hiking traffic.  Almost immediately we put on microspikes and used them the entire trip.  We had the trail to ourselves as we traveled through the woods on the lower reaches of the route.  As we broke out to the trees for good we could see quite a few groups climbing ahead of us.  Even on the lower reaches of the hike there are plenty of views from several clearings. We reached  treeline quickly and the views are pretty much continuous the rest of the climb.

Looking back toward Hoosier Ridge

The trail was well-packed

Looking toward North Star Mountain early in the hike

The summit poking out above the trees

The route passing through a meadow before treeline

Drew climbing a lower slope

View toward Grays and Torreys

Before climbing above treeline, we stopped to add a layer since the wind was picking up with elevation.  Almost immediately we began passing other hikers.  There were a decent number of hikers along the way.  By the time we reached the main ridge to the summit we passed every group climbing that day.  Only one other climber that already summited passed us on skis as he descended.

North Star Mountain

Catching up to other hikers above treeline

Looking ahead to Quandary

I think this looking at Wheeler Mountain

Pacific Peak

Before we made our way up the last 1000 feet to the summit along the ridge we stopped to add our shells and goggles.  The wind was stronger along the ridge above 13000 feet.  I took the lead and made it to the summit about 15 minutes before Drew and had the top to myself until he caught up.  I had a snack and drink while taking in the views at 14265 feet.  The summit was a little chilly with gusts maybe reaching 30MPH and a temperature probably in the teens.

Quandary's East Ridge

Drew making his way up the ridge

The scenery started early on this hike and the summit views are beautiful.  The 14ers of Lincoln, Democrat, and Bross are just a few miles to the south.  The northern Sawatch 14ers area are prominent to the west as well as the Elk Range's high summits.  The front range 14ers of Gray and Torreys seem very close and Pike's Peak dominates the skyline toward Colorado Springs.  The Sangres are even visible far to the south.

Looking west from summit

Looking east

Looking north

Sawatch Range beyond the West Ridge

Sawatch close up

Decalibron 14ers over North Star

Looking down the West Ridge

Tomcat on the summit

We descended quickly making great time.  Along the way we passed quite a few people.  The views are just as good heading down as they are climbing.  Before entering the woods for good, there were a few places where the snow started to soften but never bad enough to put on our snowshoes.  We used microspikes the entire trip with no issues although most were using snowshoes or skinning.

Descending back down the ridge

The view northeast as we descended

 It seems a lot of people that climb 14ers in Colorado grow tired of hearing about Quandary climbs.  It is a fairly easy peak among the 14ers and gets quite busy.  I can't speak for the trip in summer, but in winter this is a beautiful trip,  As far as winter hikes go, this one is a great bang for the buck.  Starting at nearly 11000 feet, there is minimum time below treeline, and the views are big.  The entire trip is around 7 miles and getting to the trailhead is easy.  Seeing the endless views of snow covered mountains from the summit was well worth the trip even if having Quandary to yourself is rare.  This was the most people I have seen on any hike since I moved to Colorado.  I was lucky to have the summit to myself for about 15 minutes even with quite a few others climbing that day.

Line of hikers heading up as we descended

I did this hike with Drew Petersen.  This is the first time I hiked with Drew.  In fact since I moved to Colorado in June I have hiked, mountain biked, and cross country skied more than twenty times and each trip was solo so this is my first trip in Colorado that I wasn't solo.  Even though he is nearly twenty years my senior he kept up with me and passed the entire crowd of other hikers on the climb.  He traveled over 1600 miles last year  in the mountains by foot so he's in great condition.  I'll be sure to join Drew on future trips in the mountains.

Another shot of  Tomcat on the summit

Cross Country Skiing the North Fork of the South Arkansas River

Up until Christmas, most of the lower elevations around Salida were mostly free of snow.  A fair amount of snow fell the past week starting on Christmas night.  With high avalanche danger in most higher mountainous areas,  it seemed like a good time to cross country ski at some lower elevations.

I haven't cross country skied since I moved to Colorado.  When living in Maine I cross country skied quite frequently and was eager to explore some areas in Colorado by ski.  I didn't really know where to ski and got some suggestions.  One that sounded good was skiing along the North Fork of the South Arkansas River.  I was told it offered good mountain views without any real avalanche danger and decent skiing terrain.  Best of all, it's not too far from Salida.

The route I followed started at the Angel of Shavano Campground.  The road is plowed to the campground.  Beyond the campground is Forest Service Road 240.  In the summer this is a four wheel drive road that follows the river, more of a small mountain stream, to a couple of alpine lakes.  The route follows the river below 14ers Shavano and Tabeguache and sits below many other 12 and 13000 foot peaks.  In the winter the road isn't plowed making it a nice place to ski.  The trailhead sits at a fairly low 9160' in elevation and the end of the road climbs to Billings Lake at 11800' or so.

I originally planned to ski it on New Year's Eve.  I woke up that morning to -14F and decided to wait a day with warmer temps.  The temperature was hovering around zero when I started on New Year's Day the next morning.  As I passed through Salida, just the summit of Shavano was barely obscured by the clouds.  By the time I reached the trailhead, it started snowing.  The forecast wasn't calling for snow until afternoon but it was just flurries at this point.

The first quarter mile was rough.  Someone attempted to take a wheeled vehicle in the deep snow and chewed up the snow pretty badly.  Luckily they couldn't make it too far and the trail was in better shape after the vehicle turned around.  The route is uphill almost the entire way but very gradual.  I was breaking trail the whole way but it wasn't very deep.  As I continued the snow began to fall fairly hard.

Ski tracks in virgin snow

Skiing through section of aspens

Because of the snow I never did get to enjoy any of the scenery I heard about in the area.  The snow was getting quite heavy and the wind was starting to pick up.  At times it was near whiteout conditions.  Although I was in the woods, I would pass through the occasional clearing and really get hit with wind.  After two hours of skiing, I reached the Shavano Townsite, an old mining settlement from the 1880s.  Shavano Townsite sits at 10750' feet or so. The conditions were not getting any better and I decided to turn around after 4.5 miles.  I had climbed nearly 1600 feet in the 4.5 miles but it never felt too steep.

Shavano Townsite

Remnants of an old cabin at Shavano

As I returned, my route was almost entirely downhill.  It was snowing hard enough that my tracks were almost completely covered.  I was skiing into the wind and it was quite chilly.  Because it was downhill, I made it back to the trailhead in about an hour.  The total trip was about 9 miles with snowbreaking most of the way.

The result of skiing in the heavy snow

By Monday, warmer weather was moving into the Salida area.  With temps forecasted to reach 50 this week, I wanted to ski this route again in clear weather while the snow was still decent.  A friend skied it over the weekend and told me a snowcat tracked out the trail making for faster conditions. 

I had a couple of setbacks Monday morning before I returned to ski the North Fork again.  I made it about 5 minutes from home before turning back to pick up a prescription that needed to be filled for one of our dogs. Right before our driveway, I had to pull over to let another car pass.  I pulled too far over into the deep snow and got stuck.  I ran back to the house to get Puma, who just got home from an overnight shift.  I wasn't stuck too badly and I figured we could use Puma's car to pull my car out of the deep snow. That went smoothly and I was quickly back on my way.  I at least got to see a herd of elk not too far from the house for my troubles.

Elk running in a field not too far from our house

After the setbacks, I made it to the trailhead about 830AM with fairly clear skies.  It was around 30F when I left my house so it wasn't too cold but it was quite windy.  From the start, the route was packed down by a snowcat and at least a couple of snowmobiles.  I made better time traveling the groomed path and made it to the Shavano Site in about 90 minutes.  Generally the snow was slightly hard but not icy.  Most of the powder blew off the trail.  There were a couple of thin spots where the snow blew off the trail with a couple of short patches with rocks but nothing that couldn't be avoided.

Conditions were a little thin at places

With clear skies, I was treated to nice scenery from the start.  In the beginning I could see the rocky shoulders of Shavano and Tabeguache to my right.  As I climbed the scenery got better with more open views toward 13ers Mt Aetna and Mt Taylor.

Much clearer my second trip to the North Fork

Lower reaches of either Shavano or Tabeguache

Spire below Shavano

Distant peaks coming into view

Above the Shavano Site the road became slightly steeper and the snow choppier.  The trail had more wind above that point causing the snow to be more scoured and the snowmobile tracks more prominent.  Along the way the route passed the North Fork Reservoir and a forest service campground.  Since the lake is completely snow covered, I didn't stop and continued on to Billings Lake.  Just before Billings Lake the route broke out above treeline and became steeper.

The views got better as I skied higher

There were decent views most of the way

Most of the summits along this stretch are over 12 and 13000 feet

Looking at a ridge of Mt Aetna 

The views got bigger as I climbed

Getting close to treeline

At treeline the views were incredible.  The route entered a huge alpine basin with phenomenal mountain scenery.  I headed toward the lake which was hidden by snow.  At this point the snow was extremely deep and I had difficulty skiing with no real trail to follow.  This was basically the end of the line for travel without getting into excessively steep terrain.  I was just shy of 12000 feet and had skied about 8 miles.

Reaching treeline near Billings Lake

Pomeroy Mountain and connecting peak

Looking across the alpine basin around Billings Lake

I believe the peak on the right is Sewanee Peak

Close up of Sewanee

I think this is Mt Taylor  13651'and Mt Aetna 13746'

Looking back down the North Fork

Sewanee Peak and PT 13147

Before returning back down the valley, I took my time taking pictures and enjoying the scenery.  It was quite windy above treeline with winds gusting to near 40MPH so I didn't linger too long.  The ski back to the trailhead descended more than 2600 vertical feet in 8 miles and was quite quick.  It took 3 hours to reach Billings Lake and just over an hour to return to the trailhead.  The skiing on the descent was a little tricky because of the choppy snow but not overly technical with a fairly wide route to maneuver.  The biggest challenge was not getting distracted by the views as I skied fairly quickly downhill.

My tracks across the open alpine basin

Looking back toward my descent

Another look toward Taylor and Aetna

Snow blowing below looking toward Taylor

Starting to descend at the steepest section

The trail is a little more visible as I left treeline

Big views on the descent

Hard to pay attention to the trail as I descended
with the fine views

Above Shavano the views were pretty consistent

16 miles later, with 2600 feet of climbing and descending, I was back at the trailhead.  This was by far the most scenic place I traveled on cross country skis.  While there were some nice views skiing in the east, nothing came close to the big mountain views on this trip.  By the time I got to the car, the snow was getting a little sticky as the temperature warmed to the 40s.  I'm sure I will return to ski this area again this season.

Another look at Sewanee

Plenty of big views near Billings Lake

PT 13147 on the left

Blowing snow below