Last 14er of the season! Hike this one with a buddy who was happy to help guide me through some extra credit class 3 scrambles after the peak. It was a good confidence booster. I knew that I was physically capable, but did not have the proper experience nor guidance to understand how to safely route-find. I plan to dive into more class 3s (and maybe higher) next summer.

Some thoughts

• Quandary was probably the most straight-forward 14er I’ve done. The trail well defined, and kind of a straight shot up.
• We went on a Tuesday. That, paired with paid parking, made it the least-busy hike I’ve done all summer which was pretty nice.
• I normally push through from bottom to top, with minimal breaks. We took breaks on this one, and a particularly long one just before the final stretch to the summit. It was really nice, actually. Gave me some extra time to acclimate too. Tons of people passed us during that break but we leapfrogged them once we got back on the trail.
• The Class 3 scrambling was amazing. One of my highlights of the summer. It was fun figuring out the safest path forward and then executing on it.
• Thankfully, there were no afternoon storms this day. It was a bit cloudy which prompted us to move a bit faster on the way down, but ultimately little to no raindrops.