"For my last day in Breck I decided to hike the closest 14er, which was Quandary. Having never done anything at a high altitude, I wasn't sure what to expect. I started the hike just before 7 AM, and finished at about 11. It was fairly easy for 3300 feet, and the rocky trail had many switchbacks. The summit provided an epic view, however it was windy so I didn't stay too long." — elimihuta • Jul 18, 2025

"9/28/24: CO 14er #4. First time getting everyone out for the same trip, but…..different routes. Kevin and I met Jackson at the lower (main?) Quandary TH and after a quick pit stop were able to find Calvin and Rebecca who were taking the standard route up. The three of us left Jackson’s Accord there and I drove us up to the lower (now main) Blue Lakes TH to attempt the West Ridge route. After the short hike up the road past the gate closure, we were forced to double back more than once past the dam and reroute on a different trail. I think the moral of the story in this beginning area is to take the high road whenever possible. Once we got through the willow section and into the tundra, the route became more obvious yet it still seemed like it was taking longer than expected to gain the ridge. Once you cross over the creek it’s pretty sustained Class 2 talus/boulder hopping. It took us 2:15 to make the Fletcher saddle but I guess when you figure in the 2k elevation gain on the 3 miles then it really wasn’t that bad. Still, I was concerned that C&R would still make the summit well before us. After a much needed lunch break at about 13,600 we continued our traverse along the north sid..." — LoneWolf • Sep 28, 2024

"Deceptively smooth on the way up. Felt it on the way down. The east ridge trail is easy to follow on the whole. Surprised by the amount of wildlife I saw on the way up given how heavily trafficked this one is." — tylerdelia • Aug 6, 2024

"Second 14er I've done so far. I waited until after September 17th, to have parking free availability and once again I had gotten out of work early enough, even in September, to where I had plenty of sunlight to summit. " — edgar-jlopez-roldan • Sep 29, 2023

"Decided i will start writing an actual trip report, wish i thought of this earlier but better late than never i guess. Quandary 8/21/23 Beautiful day, blue sky, no clouds, and probably 75 at the base and a nice refreshing 50,55 up top. My goal for this day was to summit Pacific via the east ridge, and Atlantic peak on the way down to mcullough gulch. I got about .25 of the way in, and realized i forgot my phone in the car. As a solo hiker, this wasn't an adventure i wanted to embark on without my phone. By the time i got back to the car, and having already been running a bit behind schedule, i decided it was too late to start this adventure and resorted to the quicker and easier Quandary peak. Plan B. Quandary was a nice 3 ish mile slog one way. Not extremely steep or loose, but pretty direct and not much for switchbacks. It was very busy. I did not pay for parking, ill keep that a secret as to where i parked, but it did add roughly a mile on to my overall distance.. Normally i stay far away from the busy trails. In this instance, i was alright with it. I was just happy to get out there, as this summer has been crappy for my peak bagging hobby due to an erratic wo..." — ryangallant • Aug 21, 2023

"June 4, 2023. One day post marathon. First Colorado 14er and fourth 14er. The last 250 feet of vert were whiteout. Solid boot trail in the snow. Only needed microspikes. Saw one mountain goat, three pika, and brown-capped rosy-finches." — runningvegan • Jun 4, 2023

"Attempted Silverheels to start pecking at the centennials and got turned back by deep snow and poor route finding. Hopped over to repeat Quandary to at least get some hiking in. East Ridge well traveled and well packed." — cheeseishappiness • May 27, 2023

"Fourth day in a row climbing mountains. Mount Elbert def took it out of us the day prior. We had thought that a shorter hike with less elevation (7 miles with 3,500' of climbing) would be easier than the previous day on Elbert (10 miles with 4,600' of climbing). We were wrong. Quandary was steeper than Elbert. It gained its elevation over a shorter amount of time. We had to sit down and spike up half way up the final ridge just to finish. We summited into a cloud. When the sun finally did come out on our descent, we whipped out the drone for some quick footage. From there it turned into post hole mania, even with our stashed snowshoes - the snow was deep and soft. Sunburn and post-holing the whole way back to the car. We stopped in Breckenridge on the way back through for a beer and some lunch. Then back to Leadville, CO where we schemed our next move on into Kansas the final/following day. Lessons learned: there are no easy 14ers." — wiweasel • May 13, 2023

"Near perfect weather, all remaining snow is avoidable or can be barebooted. Trail crew is doing a great job renovating the trail so thank them if you see them. Goats are out as well. Repeated the peak in order to help a friend bag his first 14er. https://youtu.be/pVkLHj8S4Ac" — cheeseishappiness • Jun 12, 2021

"Almost perfect conditions given the time of year. Started about sunrise, summited in 3 hours, descent took about 1:30 after a full hour on the summit. Hundreds of other people also out on the well packed trail. https://youtu.be/MkLZoVKEF8c" — cheeseishappiness • Mar 6, 2021