the arisen

it’s 9:34 pm, easter eve, and i finished the last episode on the walking dead dvd from blockbuster. nyqil down the hatch and time to bed down. a 2:20 am rise, followed by a 3:20 am departure time to summit county, colorado, followed by a quick morning salutation to my friend, allowed me enough time to arrive at the trailhead before any other. however it didn’t take long before the throng of vehicles began to pile into the lower winter parking lot i was in. eager hikers fumbled last minute by headlamp with their gear, food and marijuana. donning my snowshoes and saying a prayer, i was first to head into the 7° F, luna-lit forest. no batteries required on this trip. the waxing moon was enough to light my way along the short trail and onto the road, but lacked the luminance to tell me where the trail verged left from the road. i passed this “turn-off” shortly after the summer TH and ascended up the road happily snapping predawn pictures, when i finally realized after about 10 minutes that i’d probably missed the turn. a quick backtrack got me to the trail where i observed a pair of snowshoe tracks heading up.

view from road, past the trail into the forest

view from road, headed back to trail into forest

finally on the trail, one zig-zags up through the forest for less than a mile. a few short and steep sections brings you out of the trees onto quandary peak’s snow blown east ridge. from here it’s a straight shot to the summit. if only it was that easy.



leaving timberline



i stowed my snowshoes on the ridgeline’s first tundra knoll and replaced them with microspikes. in all honesty, i could have done without the snowshoes in the forest. the trail had a few spots where a boot would posthole a foot or so, but it was mostly packed tight by the daily traffic. a third of the hikers had snowshoes, a third microspikes, and a third mountaineering boots. the wind began to pick up at this point, but luckily came and went on certain sections of the ridge. i pulled my sweaty mid layer off and the sweat on the puffy immediately transformed into ice crystals.



still had my hat

crossing some short flat sections were nice breaks from the steeps, but the flats had some of the windiest and coldest conditions i’ve ever been in. there were times when i was about 4 feet from the south face and nearly lost my footing into the abyss. the quandary link above shows the dropoff. that’s where you’ll find my explorer/indiana jones/st. thomas hat. the blowing snow started to sting my eyes and i knew i couldn’t summit if left unchecked. i crouched in a small depression in the talus, facing the abyss. quickly i put my balaclava completely over my head, covered my eyes in goggles, and put my explorer hat back on. a split second later the wind snatched the hat off my head. it seemed to suspend in the wind just long enough for me to contemplate jumping onto it and saving it from doom. had i done this, i probably would have landed on the cornice and i’d be lying with my hat right now on the frozen blue lakes. but at least i’d have my hat back.



at least it wasn't a whiteout

i pressed on and the wind picked up. i’d estimate a conservative 45 mph and it maybe got up to 15° F on the tenmile alpine this morning. my trusty wind chill chart puts that at -9° F, and my fingers were feeling it. i had my summer hiking gloves on and not my typical mittens and shell. those SOBs are enjoying life out in summit cove. though i was prepared enough to bring a different pair of snow gloves, they were stuffed down in my pack and i didn’t have it in me to stop again in the wind and cold. luckily the winds came and went, like i said above. i thought i was going to lose the tip of my left middle finger, but no dice. i’ll save that experience for another day. it was a long and hard trudge up. it felt like being on a himalayan expedition, not that i have. us three mountaineers, and a steady crowd of tourists bringing up the rear, could sometimes only take maybe ten steps at a time before resting. at one point i may have only taken five before stopping to catch my breath. the other two were in the same boat. as tough as stopping was, the views made it all the better. north star mountain is prominent to the south during much of the climb. mt. silverheels rises proudly to the east. however only once you gain the flat summit line do the views really punch you in the teeth, with the pacific and fletcher (done) peaks and the rest of the tenmile to the north and northwest. the elks and gore are also very present, to the west and north, respectively. the sawatch range to the south is peaking out, and of course that pesky mosquito range (democrat, cameron, lincoln, bross) is right in your face to the south/southwest. i’m so high that i bet i could throw a rock into the wide expanse of south park. i didn’t try. i bet i’d get close. grays and torreys are, as usual, always lingering in the background. also to the northeast i can see the back runs at keystone i’m guessin’. i can nearly see, among a few other locations from recent awesome life experiences, the spot where i broke my tibia in december. hi keystone mountain workers. thank you for your help that day and what you do every day. even the marketing surveyors get props.

the summit, usually being the most exposed spot on a mountain, was brutally windy. my pack had to come off to get to my which-wich bag but i wasn’t worried about the wind picking it up. i was worried about my trekking poles however, which i did see one scoot about a foot before grabbing it. i positioned my camera on my tripod, tripod to my pole, pole against my pack, and secured me my free sandwich. all in all, i was on the summit for about 3 minutes. there was the standard 14er summit register container but i was not about to fumble with it in the existing conditions. this is the first time i’ve forgone proudly adding my name to the sacred cmc rolls. it just wasn’t worth it. my ass was cold! and my luck all the papers would go flying out of my hands down to meet my hat. i had had enough of this mountain.

one hard earned "free" which-wich sandwich, coming up!

 

north star mtn to the south, wind blowing to the east

quandary's tenmile companions



the descent was slow because of my recovering leg. the other two guys practically ran down the steep and snowy slope, which i would have done back in my heyday (a new heyday is dawning though). i had my ice ax and wanted to glissade, but again, the damn leg. i cruised back to the road and bb, and was ready to call it day. all in all, 5 hours, 7 miles RT, 3,450’ vertical gain, 39/58 14ers climbed. i loaded up on the carbs at jj’s chinese cuisine in silverthorne with his $8.50 lunch buffet, and then was back in 70° F denver with my shirt off, playing water games with katie. from 7° to 70° in seven hours. gotta love colorado.

what's next you ask…

well in the short term was supposed to be the long trail in vermont in august and september. a loose idea was drawn last year with fidg to partner-up and tackle the nation’s oldest long trail, however circumstances partnered us down before stepping foot on a plane together. so instead i’ve decided to put that off until next year perhaps. there’s always the john muir trail, which will be outstanding to hike and see my family in bishop, ca, but i’ve sort of lost the desire to hike long(er) trails without partnering up. same with the remainder of the colorado trail i have to complete. for that one i might wait a few years before starting off in durango and making my way to where i left off (foose creek TH). so what is a mountain man to do? climb, climb, climb. up, up, up i go. i count 19 14ers left on my docket, which equates to 8-9 “trips out”, about 10 overnighters, a couple weeks of pto, and the durango & silverton narrow gauge railroad. six of the 14ers remaining are considered “very difficult”, whatever that means. i’ll also try to make it to utah to climb mt. timp with john. and who knows what else!! i’m open for anything. once i’ve climbed the entire gamut of 14,000 foot mountains in colorado, i’ll set my sights on the rest of the centennials in the state, and then start focusing my attention back on boulder county. i have further plans beyond this, but this should be enough to keep me busy for a few years. oh, and of course there’s kili and ancon. fine, throw in all the peaks in rmnp, a grand canyon r2r hike, some sort of yellowstone thru-hike, and the tenmile traverse, and i’ll have enough to do for the rest of my thirties. who’s with me?? churp..churp. oh well, i’m excited.

my face is cold now.

quandary peak - 14,265'