Shortly after lockdown in March 2020, Mark, Matt and I had established ourselves, along with my roommate, as a small bubble in Leadville. We were lucky to be where we were with access to lots of time outside in a relatively rural area. We enjoyed a lot of luxury during this time that other people did not. For that I am extremely humbled.
- Date: March 16, 2020
- Distance: 6 mi roundtrip
- Elevation Gain: 3400′
- Trailhead: Quandary Trailhead
On March 16, 2020, Matt Mark and I hiked and skied Quandary Peak. It’s just over three miles from the popular trailhead to the peak, and the winter terrain on the trail is nearly free of avalanche danger. The accessibility combined with the recently endowed free time meant there were quite a few people out and about. This is both a popular fourteener to ski and hike as a first, so it’s usually pretty busy anyway. We ran into snowshoers, hikers, and skiers/splitboarders, out enjoying the sunny and windless day. The well traveled trail was easy to follow through the trees and once we were above treeline we simply followed the southern ridge to the summit.
While the hike was relatively easy, when we got above tree line, the wind affected snow made skinning difficult, especially for Matt and I. Mark waited patiently through our many slips and trips, and we picked our way up the ridgeline trying to find the snow with the most grip. Along the way we also ran into some mountain goats who seemed to be enjoying the view as much as we were. We reached the summit around 2 pm and enjoyed a break on the summit block along where some other hikers kindly took our photo.
We enjoyed the ski down above treeline, avoiding any potential avalanche terrain. We then picked our way through the trees down the trail we had come up and as made our way back to our car. Once we had removed our sweaty boots we loaded up and headed back to Leadville to enjoy one of the many meals we would prepare together that spring!