Whenever I get a holiday off of work I try to make the most of it, so as the Fourth of July rolled around I decided I better do something special. My husband had to work all day, but I called up an adventurous friend and spontaneously asked if she wanted to climb a fourteener with me on the 4th! She said yes, and we quickly figured out a plan.
I left Carbondale at 5:00 am on Friday and picked my friend up in Minturn at 6:00 am. We made it to the trailhead at 7:15, and began climbing. The overflow parking lot was already full, but luckily we found a spot to squeeze into. We knew going into the hike that it was going to be a busy day on the summit of Quandary!
We didn't hike through the trees long before popping out above treeline and into the steep rocky trail that made up the majority of the climb. I had heard mountain goats are a common appearance on the trail up Quandary, and we were delighted to spot so many on our way up the mountain. They are really spectacular animals; to be in the presence of so many was almost magical.
We summited Mount Quandary at 10:30 am and celebrated with a beer! We took several photos before finding a great spot to hunker down out of the wind. The summit was crowded when we arrived, but it slowly thinned out until there were only a handful of us left. As the afternoon clouds made their way towards us, we packed up and headed back down the mountain.
For a fourteener, the hike up Quandary is short and relatively easy. It was the perfect first fourteener of the season, and I'm looking forward to summiting more!
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