Hiking Quandary

No, hiking in and of itself is not a quandary but the name of a mountain in Colorado that a group of us just summited this past weekend. It's called Mt. Quandary, in the the Ten Mile Range aka Mosquito Range of the Rocky Mountains, named by miners who were perplexed by the rock they found on its slopes.

Mt Quandary, 14,265' elevation, is one of 54 peaks over 14,000 feet, known as 14ers, in the state of Colorado. Needless to say, Colorado is abundantly mountain blessed. And for an encore, the good Lord blessed Colorado with 584 peaks in the 13,000' range. Colorado has the most tallest mountains in our country, seemingly, most of them within eyesight of one another. The center of Colorado may possess the highest concentration of tall peaks in the world.

Since there are so many of these towering peaks near densely populated areas, what do alot of Colorado city folk do for fun? They climb the 14ers. Many have climbed all 54 14ers. Its a badge of honor, if you will. Some hikers, not many, have climbed all 14ers in a climbing season. Some hike up and ski down in the winter. Some climb up and take the train down like Pikes Peak. Some, certifiable crazies, excuse me, run up and run down the mountain path. Why do they hike, climb, ski or run these peaks? #1. Because the peaks are right there, beckoning. #2. Because they are so close to the major cities of Colorado. #3. Because Coloradans are mountain tough as hell.

This was my first taste of climbing a 14er. So, I picked an "easy" rating hike for my first one. Knowing that my feet have never walked up a path to that elevation and that my lungs will be tested, this would be new territory for me. With 10 essentials, from water to stocking cap, I trudged up the mountain path with my young posse of 20 year old college students. My godson, Griff, a sophomore at CU, was part of our hike up to the summit. Griff, a fellow flatlander from California, encouraged me and to exhorted "let's do it."

The book on Mt Quandary is that it is an "easy" hike. A difficulty category A-1. 3,300 foot elevation gain. 6 hours up and down. Translation from Coloradese to normalcy, "easy" in the mountains for a Coloradan equals foot sole grinder for normal flatlanders. It may be easy for a titanium-soled Denverite or alligator-skinned Boulderite but for a sandal-wearing beachcomber from Monterey, it was foot rock-boarding torture.

They don't call this jagged imposing range the Rockies for no reason. The path to the top of Mt Quandary was 85% loose rock, talus, cobble, scree and most of it was unstable. It was like barefooting on huge ponderosa pine cones. Not fun. In contrast, the Sierras paths have a dirt base mostly for us wimpy California hikers. Rockies paths have a rock base for goats (see above picture) and for he-man and she-woman Coloradans.

The hike up the mountain passed through and by autumnal-colored Aspen trees, dense pine forests and stunningly beautiful vistas and many intrepid hikers of many stripes all canopied by brilliant sunshine and a cooling wind. After a pleasant first mile climb in the trees, suddenly we emerged out of the forested darkness into the twilight zone of a bare sun-baked severe rock slope on a pathway to heaven...and heaven was way up there. But you have to go through hell to get there. Kinda sounds like a metaphor of life, death and resurrection. "Let's do it" rang aloud in my ears again. No surrender. I continued forward. Gulp.

Casually, my eyes left the trail ahead of my next step and I looked up and there she sat in all her singular and stark glory, Mt Quandary. Double gulp. And what's that I see about halfway up the 45 degree slope through my binoculars? Fellow hikers, as small as ants so insignificant against that slope, making their final push to the top. Heads down, one foot in front of the other, going up and sometimes sideways. About an hour or so later, I too arrived at the top of the mountain well past my young friends earlier arrival. Feeling OK and overjoyed that I made it, my buddies welcomed me at the top. A terrific moment of life(see bottom picture above).

We rested for more than hour at the top with no apparent nasty weather coming in from the west. There were at least 60-80 other hikers arriving and departing at the summit. Encircling us in a 360 degree WOW moment rose at least 19 other 14ers. A sea of some tallest mountains in North America all within sight of our resting spot on top of this world. Sadly, a picture could not capture the essence. It was all around us. And it was glorious. Thanks be to God!

What goes up, must come down. I was feeling good and energized at the top. Although, that feeling was evanescent. The descent was very difficult for me. I developed large blisters on both big toes. Each foot contact with rock was painful which happened to be every 3 feet. Due to the pain, the trip down seemed interminably long and my time reflected that. Frankly, the descent was harder than the ascent. It colored my experience...unfairly. It's not the mountains fault I had crummy boots. All the while thinking, if this is considered one of the easier 14ers, what's a "difficult" category 4-E hike like? Going up Maroon Peak backwards with your eyes closed and no boots on.

So am I going to do hike another 14er? Would I encourage other greenies to attempt a 14er? That is my quandary. I'll assess after my blisters heal.

And about those Coloradans who hike these beasts regularly on those rocky near vertical trails...I'm not worthy...yet. You're a special breed!