Jordan and I had a trip planned to Denver, CO to attend the National Conference on American Indian and Alaska Native Injury and Violence Prevention. We were going to present at our first poster session together, and I couldn't wait to take advantage of another work trip - this time giving us the opportunity to explore the beautiful state of Colorado. We decided to make a pitstop in Breckenridge the weekend before the conference, where we met up with a friend from Liberty University, along with a couple of her friends. We went out to dinner Saturday night, and the plan was to hike Quandary Peak together the next day. After dinner and catching up, they went off to their hotel in town, and we drove out of town towards the trailhead to find a place to camp for the night.
We ended up finding a nice little spot that was actually off the same road as the trailhead (meaning a later wake up time - score!). After a good night's sleep (we had just bought a queen sized air mattress for car camping, so we had a WONDERFUL sleep), we met them at the trailhead around 6am. We made some coffee in our Jetboil and ate a quick breakfast - a few muffins and a banana with PB - before hitting the trail. Quandary Peak sat at an elevation of 14,265 feet, and the trail was about 6.7 miles round trip and gained about 3339 feet in elevation from start to finish.
The trailhead was PACKED so we knew it would be a heavily traveled trail. It was intense from the get-go, and we were all huffing and puffing within the first 1/2 mile. We took some (...okay, several) breaks, and the trail offered breathtaking views the whole way.
It took us just under 3 hours to reach the peak - after experiencing a couple false summits. Once at the top, we were treated to 360° views of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. We relaxed at the top for a bit - refueling and enjoying the view - before heading back down.
We arrived back at our cars around noon, then headed back into town for some grub. It was a great experience hiking our first 14er in such a beautiful state and with such amazing company, but I think Jordan and I both had the same conclusion - been there, done that, but it wouldn't be our first choice of mountain adventuring, just for the sake of climbing a 14er. We had an awesome time though and seeing that many mountain tops at once was pretty incredible!!
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