Thursday Andre and I decided to risk the weather and hike Quandary Peak (Elevation 14,265). Quandary is located in the town of Breckenridge and the forecast for today was thunderstorms before 11:00 am. We left around 4am took Highway 24 east to CO 9, entered the town of Breck and turned left on Country road 850 followed by your first right onto county road 851. This is by far the easiest and shortest dirt road for any hike I've done yet, no need for a 4X4 or anything with high clearance which is great.
We parked at the trailhead at about 6:30
The sign reminds us that even though this trail is only seven miles RT there are NO easy fourteeners.
The trail is clearly marked and starts in a forest, we made sure our pace was quick so that we didn't risk getting stuck in a storm.
The trail as we approached treeline
We passed a few people in the very beginning of the trail but did not see anyone after that for quite some time.
Blue lake from the trail
The trail quickly became loose sharp rock for a very long time...
The weather was great so far not a cloud in the sky and there were squeaking Pika everywhere!
Lots of sharp rocks still... You can see the summit of Quandary in the back
We were just trekking along when suddenly we saw Mountain Goats right in front of us!!! It was a baby and his mom and they were right on the trail, they were adorable and they let us get within a couple feet of them!
Being able to hang out with the goats for a few minutes provided us with a nice break but we we still had a ways to go so we continued on... there was a big false summit, but eventually we made it to the top!
Me on the Summit 14,265
Andre on the Summit
And we beat the storm! We took our time heading down because I've been having issues with my knees but still did the entire thing in around 4 1/2 hours. It was a nice hike, this wasn't to strenuous compared to some of the others and would highly recommend it.
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