In an effort to kick off the 2008 14ers season early, today Ryan, Allison and I attempted
Quandary Peak's East Ridge. We camped amount a mile from the trailhead (note to self, bring valid mallet if actually hoping to stake the rain fly into ice) and got an ~8:30 start. At about 12:30 (yep, 4 hours to go 4 miles!!!) and roughly 400 feet shy of the summit we turned around. I started out really needing to go to the bathroom, which I'm going to blame for not allowing me to focus and therefore slowing me down. I thought I could suppress the urge, but I'm glad the urge took over before we got above treeline! After the bathroom incident, however, I felt better and hoped I would be able to make good time... I was curious to see how my skiing had improved my physical condition and whether it would help my 14ers hiking. As it turns out, from about 12,000' to 13,000', despite working hard and feeling like I was making fine time considering the situation, I continually lost ground on Ryan and Allison. [I don't know why this is, but that seems to be my pattern... once I get above 13,000 I finally catch my stride and tend to do much better.] I kept pace with or passed everyone else near me, so I'm going to suggest that Ryan and Allison are in great shape and are complete 14er rockstars with lungs and hearts of steel. My legs are in noticeably better shape (I'm not sore despite a MUCH more difficult slog probably requiring more leg effort than any other 14er I've tried including Longs, even if it was "just" a 3 mile class 1 route), but I still need to work on my cardio so I'm not playing catch-up all summer long... it sucks. Either that or I need to find slower 14er hiking partners to enjoy the mountains with :) Seriously, though, Allison was an amazing hiker/snowshoer. Even if I hiked Quandary again this summer in warm weather I don't know that I could keep her snowshoe pace. As it turns out, though, I believe this had the negative side effect of creating altitude sickness. After a certain amount of time Ryan started to wait for me and Allison kept going. Since we were so far behind her she apparently thought that we were not following her. Once I caught up to Ryan we noticed her
sitting in the snow on the final summit ridge just about 1/4 mile from the summit... for a long time... and then that she started to
descend. We began to think something very bad was happening. By the time we reached her (which at 13,800' means 10 steps followed by 3 deep breaths, repeat) she was shivering a lot and not thinking clearly. We made the quick decision to add layers to her (extra hat, hand warmers, down jacket replacing her shell, etc) and more importantly to turn around in an effort to never violate our rule #1; everyone that starts the hike
finishes the hike safely whether we make it to the top or not. We took the straight shot right down the mountain (who needs trails in snow when you know the way?) and made it to the Jeep safely. Not making it to the summit after getting so close was a tough pill to swallow, but I think it was good in a way. If nothing else, it's a great excuse to head back when the snow melts :)
I think what I'll remember most about this trip was that it was chalk full of firsts. So here are a handful of them...
- First 14er of 2008 and April
- First 14er since Ryan's ACL surgery
- My first time ever hiking in snowshoes
- First attempt on continuous snow and with snowshoes
- Allison's first 14er attempt
- First failed summit attempt
- As gross as this probably is, first #2 in the snow and first #2 on a 14er. I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about. Boy, was I glad that I remembered those pocket Kleenex packs.
Based on the first 5 above, this trip was just about doomed from the start in hindsight, but I think we still learned valuable lessons and had a great time outside. This was the first time Ryan and I had been forced to seriously consider turning around, and I'm glad we proved our immunity to Summit Fever when injury is the alternative. After discussing afterwards, I think Ryan has a better appreciation for winters in Colorado above 10,000' so I don't think we'll be doing too many more winter/snow summits soon... which is fine by me since ski season isn't over yet :) I'm looking forward to the next one, when/which-ever it is, and hopefully getting to the top!
As an aside, this trip brought back a lot of Breckenridge memories from vacations past. For example, the road for Quandary is just past the
Skiers Edge, which my family vacationed at in the summer many years ago. I distinctly remember watching a beaver collect twigs in the pond in front of the lodge, and also being a complete teenage jerk to my parents on nearby Hoosier Pass. In addition to that vacation, 10 years almost to the day on a separate trip my dad and I got a white Camaro (sweet upgrade!) stuck in the Skiers Edge lot snow while taking the day off from touring CU and CSU for my college search. I created a new memory this time by making it to the
Breckenridge Brewery and enjoying the
Pandora's Bock... highly recommended!!! Drink up, and happy 14ers season.
