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.:Getting to the trailhead:. From Denver, take I-70 west to Summit County and the Frisco/Breckenridge exit, which is also CO 9. Drive CO 9 south through Frisco and Breckenridge. About 8 miles beyond Breckenridge is the turnoff onto Blue Lakes Rd, or Rd 850. This right turn occurs right before a big left hairpin that starts the climb up Hoosier Pass, and is hard to miss. A few hundred yards beyond this is the right turn onto McCullough Gulch Rd (Rd 851). In winter, this road is not plowed, and you'd park at the turn. However, when accessible, 851 takes you right to the trailhead. A few words about the trailhead. As of mid 2003, the good folks at the Colorado Fourteener Initative have created a new, sustainable trailhead and trail for the standard route on Quandary. The trailhead is located about a quarter-mile up McCullough Gulch Rd. There is a large kiosk and parking on the right side of the road. This is now the recommended route. The old Monte Cristo trailhead lies about 1.0 miles up McCullough Gulch Rd, and followed old access roads through private property before becoming the standard route just below treeline. So please, use the new trailhead. Check out this page of the CFI website for more information. .:The trail:. .:Trip Report:. Quandary Peak is one of those 14ers that is pretty easily accessible to anyone, and is a great first peak for those wishing to sample the pastime. Be warned, though, it can be just about as busy as Grays and Torreys, especially on a summer weekend. Anyway, all these trails meander through the trees fairly gently. The first of two steep parts comes at treeline, where the trail turns abruptly west and up at about a 40 degree angle for a few hundred yards. After that, things level out somewhat, the trail angles its way up the east ridge of Quandary. The grade is pretty tame until about 1/2 mile below the summit, and things become steep again for a bit. The last 200 yards level out nicely, and that's it! The hike time is fairly short...I made a 6am start and was back down to the trailhead just after 9am...a nice early morning in the mountains. I saw very few people during my hike up, but quite a few on the way down...lots of families, folks with their dogs, and so on. On the summit, one gentleman was taking very meticulous video footage of the views. He turned out to be from a local Denver museum, and was taking to footage as part of an interactive natural history exhibit, which I thought was pretty darned cool. |
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