Quandary/La Plata Hawks

Part I, Quandary Peak  (8/11/20)

Gary, Todd, and I got an early start, as you're supposed to do when climbing a mountain. The idea of course is to get to the summit and then back down a ways before the usual early afternoon thunderstorms hit. Gary is getting a bit worried that in his last three summits, there hasn't been an afternoon thunderstorm. All I know is that it was great weather, maybe a bit hot at times, but very dusty. 

We got to the Quandary Peak Trailhead at 5:30 AM after rising early in Frisco, Colorado and driving the 30 miles in. Todd asked Siri to play Five O'clock Somewhere (possibly to get me to stop singing it) and Rocky Mountain High during the drive, so we were primed and ready for some adventure.

Early Morning Sky at Quandary Trailhead

This would be Todd's and my second ascent of a 14'er (a mountain of at least 14,000 feet but less than 15,000 feet, which is as tall as they get in the lower 48 states) and Gary's fourteenth. You can guess who we relied on to answer our 14,000 questions about mountains (although I did rely on my lifeskills to explain to Gary the importance of always using a coozie, even at 14,000 feet). Todd led the way, and it wasn't long before I was huffing and puffing in the thin mountain air trying to keep up. Because of an injury, Todd hasn't been able to run a step in over a month, I don't know what, if anything he's been doing to maintain his fitness, but he didn't seem to notice the altitude at all that I could tell. He was cruising.

Quandary is known as a relatively "easy" 14'er because it isn't technical at all. You don't need ropes, you don't need to use your hands (although we did use walking poles), and you're rarely near a steep dropoff. Still, just as they say that there are no "easy" 100 mile races (regardless of terrain), to me, this was no easy climb. You have a clear view of the summit for a good portion of the climb, so you just have to keep your eyes on the prize, and keep pushing (and pushing, and pushing). We stopped to rest a few times, but the path is clear, and since it's an accessible and non-technical climb, there are lots of other folks on the route. In short, not even I could get off trail.

Midway Snack Break

Another 50 Yards or So to Go, I'd Guess. :-)

Reppin' the Trail Hawks at the Peak Surveyed Marker

Summit View

We got to the summit in around 3 and a half hours. The views were stunning. We celebrated with a 16 oz can of beer each, ate a few snacks, snapped a few million pics and headed back down.

It's Also a Long Way Down (you can see the line of climbers coming up, right side)

Taking a Little Break on the Way Down (photobombed by Quandary Peak)

The Garmin Stats for the Ascent

After getting back down to the trailhead, we hung out for a bit, then started driving towards the Twin Peaks campsite (which I hoped had nothing to do with the early 90's David Lynch TV Show of the same name). Gary had us take the "scenic" route via Weston Pass. It was a beautiful rugged drive that gave us and the vehicles quite a workout as we bounced along in 1st gear over the unmaintained road.

The Only Pic from the Weston Pass Road that I Managed to Take

Part II, Twin Peaks Campground (8/11/20, 8/12/20)

The Twin Peaks Campground is located on Highway 82, about halfway between Twin Lakes (of the Leadville 100 Trail Race fame) and the La Plata Peak Trailhead. It was another win. Gary was the mastermind/planner of this adventure and it was apparent that he had sweated the details and bribed the rain gods to stay away. 

A big bonus of the campsite is that Lake Creek is only a few hundred yards away. It may be called a creek, but as a native Kansan, it sure looked a lot more like a river to me. The first thing that I did was to take off my boots and socks and wash away the dust/dirt from the morning's climb. The cold water felt amazing and it felt even better to put on my sandals and let my toes roam free.

Cairns in the Creek

Lake Creek, CO

Gary and Todd Digging the Sights and Sounds

It was a fun afternoon/evening as we setup camp, ate dinner, had a few beers around the fire, and gabbed the night away. When it got dark, the night sky was the brightest that I had ever seen, I've never seen that many stars before. The Perseid Meteor Showers were going on and we each saw at least one meteor streaking across the sky, but the peak of the shower happened long after we were asleep.

Hero Shot of Our Trusty Steeds, Lil' Red and Todd's Subaru at Twin Peaks Campground

Part III, La Plata Trailhead To Campsite (8/12/20)

We took our time tearing down and packing away from our Twin Peaks campground. We didn't have to be out of there until noon, and we didn't want to arrive too early at La Plata Trailhead which was only 9-ish miles down the road. We assumed that the parking lot would be packed early and would clear out as the day went along. As it happened, there were a few open parking spaces when we arrived. So we loaded up our packs, took a few pics and were just about to head down the trail when we heard a west bound truck slow down and the driver yelling at us. The driver was a park ranger and she was warning us that the highway was closing down to the west of us because of a fire. We really had no further information and couldn't see any smoke or hear any emergency vehicles, so we decided to carry on. (thankfully, we heard nothing further about the fire or road closure)

Our Three Packs, Loaded and Ready to Go

Our packs were heavy as we headed up the trail. Our (Gary's) plan was to hike up until we found a nice level spot near the river (for water) to set up camp. We didn't really know how far up that would be, but it would give us a nice head-start the next morning when we headed for La Plata Peak. We would leave most of the heavy stuff (tents, food, sleeping bags, etc.) behind and just carry rain gear, water, snacks, and a few other items (beer) up to the summit.

 

The trail was nice and easy until we crossed the river, then it became much steeper. With our heavy packs on, the ascent was pretty challenging at times. Fortunately trail builders had added stairs in one section to make it safer. In several sections, we were grabbing for trees to stop us from sliding backwards, or worse, sideways down the really steep slope towards the river. Gary asked a few hikers coming down if they had seen any likely camping spots. A few folks mentioned a beautiful meadow a ways up. It's hard to judge distance when you're surrounded by trees and all you can see is a 50 foot ascent in front of you, but the comments were, "you can't miss it", and "you'll know it when you see it". That seemed promising until another hiker declared that there's "not a flat spot between here and the summit". (Note, he was wrong) After a few miles, we saw a side trail heading for the river and decided to check it out. After crossing the river and scaling the opposite bank, we were treated to one of the most memorable/beautiful sites that I've ever seen. A huge perfect open meadow adjacent to a huge flat tree-covered area with stone fire pits and logs arranged for seating. You could practically hear the Hallelujah Chorus singing, we had definitely arrived at camp.

Gary in the Meadow

Fire Pit and Seating

My Home Sweet Home

Todd's (left) and Gary's Hammocks

In the Pines, in the Pines

Gary Playing His Ukulele

Todd Tied Our Food Bags Up and Out of Bear Reach (Gary used a Bear Canister)

We set up camp, napped, ate, tended the fire and got ready for the morning's big ascent.

Part IV, La Plata Peak Summit (8/13/20)

We got an early start, but not as early as some. Around 4:45, I could hear female voices happily chatting as they were heading up the trail on the other side of the river. It was another hour at least before we started. 

                                               Early Morning View from our Campsite

The trail was awesome. Beautiful sights in every direction as we climbed steep switchback after steep switch back. We eventually broke out of the valley and began approaching the saddle/ridge that would lead us to the summit. 

                                                            Morning Sun on Rock

                                        Todd Ascending Some of the Well Defined Trail

Once we were above treeline and climbing the ridge, the trail got harder to follow. Since it's all pretty much rocks, the only way to mark the trail is a series of cairns (stacked rocks), you just climb rocks till you get to a cairn, spot the next one, and start climbing rocks again. At a time when I was leading our group, I realized that the rocks were getting sparse and they tended to start sliding downhill when I grabbed onto them (I had put away my poles through this section so that I had my hands free). After a few feet of this, Todd and I noticed a sign that said "Keep Off, Restoration Area". So much for following the cairns. Someone nearby hollered at us that the trail had switched back to our left, so we headed that way and got back on track. The cairns were helpful through this area, but they're more of a general guide than a defined route (at least that was my interpretation), so there was plenty of free-styling along this section.

Gary Approaching the Ridge

Todd Heading Back to the Rockpile After a Quick Break

At the top of the ridge, there is a false summit, followed by the actual summit just a few hundred yards further. We didn't find a surveyed marker on the summit, but a few folks had improvised their own.

DIY Summit Markers

(l-r) Photobomber Guy, Gary, Todd, Me 

(l-r) Todd (looking very ZZ Top), Gary, and me Reppin' the Trail Hawks on La Plata Peak

Descending the rocky ridge section got a little hairy. Once again, I was leading our group when it happened so there's a slight chance that had something to do with it. All was well as we were descending, the cairns were marked well, and the route seemed obvious (downward), when we pulled aside to let a faster hiker pass us. As she passed, she remarked, "don't trust me on the route, I'm not always right". What I heard was "I'm experienced, and wise from past mistakes", my instincts said "follow her", besides, we were all following the same cairns. After 30 yards or so of veering to the left, we began swinging back to the right and I noticed that the lead hiker was kind of stranded in the same type of terrain that I got us into on the way up. Lots of loose gravelly dirt interspersed with bigger rocks that began to slide downwards when you stepped on or grabbed them. A smarter man would've decided to turn around and retrace our route until we found a better way, but at that point it seemed that we couldn't have strayed far from the route (we had just passed a cairn), and besides the lead hiker was in a bit of a precarious position and we didn't want to just abandon her. So, we pressed on, slipping and sliding up and down the slope, reaching for handholds and looking for the trail. Eventually the lead hiker got someone's attention who was also lost on the slope, and that caught the attention of someone above us who yelled "the trail's up here!". So, up and to the right (if you're on your back) or to the left (if you're on your stomach) we went. The hiker, then me, then Todd all safely got back to the trail and then immediately tried to spot Gary, who had gone lower, searching for better terrain. Gary spotted me and hollered to get my attention, we were then able to guide him in the right direction. Aside from our group, there were at least three others before us who wound up off-trail on that slope, I can't imagine how many times it happens every day. Needless to say, I was very glad that we were past the worst of it, and that the trail was easy to follow the rest of the way.

Todd on the Descent Into the Valley

As we were negotiating the steep switchbacks at the top of the valley, we came up behind three young ladies that were moving pretty slowly. We asked how they were doing, and found out that one of them thought that she had torn a quad (leg muscle) during the rocky part of the descent. We also found out that they were the group that I heard when they passed our campsite in the early morning hours. They we moving slow and cautious, but steady and they still had plenty of daylight so we moved on past them. Later as they passed our camp, we checked to make sure that they had plenty of water.

Valley deMagnfique! (French/Spanish for beautiful gawdamn valley)

Once back to our camp, we all washed up a bit in the cold mountain river, then drank a few toasts, ate dinner, and talked about everything and nothing at all until we were too tired to stay awake any longer. I really enjoyed that both of our campsites on this trip were close enough to a river that I could hear it rushing over the rocks while lying in my tent, such a relaxing sound.

Part V, La Plata Trailhead, Leadville, Half Moon Trailhead, Lawrence, Baldwin City (8/13/20)

We woke up Friday morning and slowly started tearing down and packing up. We had an approximate 2 mile hike down to the trailhead in front of us and it worried me a bit. The way up had been a little precarious because of our heavy packs and the steep trail. As it turned out, my boots seemed to slip on the dirt less on the way down than they had on the way up, so thankfully it was an uneventful and enjoyable final descent.

                                             Todd Just After Crossing the River Bridge

Gary had read that the local rivers (North and South Forks of Lake Creek) had some natural metal contaminants in them so we knew that just using Aquatabs to kill bacteria wouldn't be sufficient to purify our drinking water. Fortunately, Todd already had the solution. He owned a Grayl Geopress water purifier, which filters out practically everything including metals. He seemed to like it, so Gary and I each ordered one for the trip. I love the easy to use design, and so far none of us has gotten sick or rusted out from the inside, so I think they worked. You can see the reddish discoloration in the rocks in the below pic, presumably from the metals in the water.

                                                               Red Rocks of Lake Creek

Three Bitchin' Dudes

It was less than an hour's drive from the trailhead to Leadville where we planned to have lunch. We assumed that High Mountain Pies would open around 11:30 or so, we arrived at 11:37 (I was pissed that we were late).

No, It Wasn't Vegan, but MMMMM that Bleu Cheese Dressing

If You're Ever in Leadville, I Highly Recommend High Mountain Pies

Shameless Plug for Our Corporate Sponsor

After lunch, we sadly went our separate ways. Todd was headed for Half Moon Campground to meet up with some friends for more mountain adventures, while Gary and I saddled up Lil' Red and headed for home. I like to think that I'll get the chance to enjoy another 14'er or two in the future, but if not, I've got enough great memories of this trip for a lifetime. The mountains are patient, I will be too. :-)

Todd's video of the trip. https://youtu.be/laDyxqxeDXU

For Geeks Only: My Garmin stopped in the middle of the trek from our campsite to the peak for some reason, and it was a while before I realized and restarted the activity, thus the two below screenshots.