Quandary Peak 2008!

Well it had been two years since Dad and I hiked a 14er, and with the summer of 2008 rapidly drawing to a close we decided to seize the day and hike one before the 14ers all got buried in snow. As Dad was not in the best shape of his life we picked an easy class-1 mountain - Quandary Peak. On to pics!

At the trailhead (obviously). It was pretty cold - Dad's car thermometer said it was something like 27 degrees when we arrived. Fortunately I have a nice layer of fat around my face to keep me warm.

I don't know what my camera was doing but it turned out pretty cool.

Nice shot of Dad in front of an Aspen grove. Hey, he's smiling!

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze...

(Thats right, I just got deep on yo' ass!)

About an hour into our hike we got our first glimpse of the summit. I said "hey, look how close it is!" Dad was not pleased.

A little farther on the trail. Behind us is a shoulder of Mount Bross - another 14er.

Looking down into a valley on the north side of Quandary.

Heres where we ran into a little trouble. This was at about 13,200' and Dad was pretty tuckered by this point. You can see the summit but this last section of the climb was more than a little steep. We decided that it was best not to try and push things too hard, so Dad decided to stop where he was and skip the summit. Then we decided that I would leave Dad alone and head to the top for both of us. Fearing for both our respective lives we agreed we would never speak a word of my solo trek to Mom.

View from the summit. Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Democrat and Mt. Bross are there in the picture, I'm just not sure which is which.

The summit cairn!

Luuuuuke...go to the summit Luuuke...don't tell Mom Luke......

Heading back down through the Aspen trees.

Almost down...despite the smiles there were more than a couple "how in the heck are we not down yet?!?" comments by this point.

Finally finished. All in all a great hike and even though Dad didn't make it to the summit I think he didn't pretty darn good to make it to 13,200' considering he's 59 and out of shape. Next summer...Maroon Bells!