Mount Quandary is one of my favorite Colorado hikes to do in the Winter. It just so happens to be a 14’er, which makes it all that much more epic.
Some reasons why I think it remains one of the best Winter 14’ers to summit are:
- Proximity to Denver (Less than a 2-hour drive from Denver)
- Very close to Breckenridge (Which makes for a great burger and brew afterward (you have to hit “Breckenridge Brewery” – and I usually have brought my computer with to work from a coffee shop in the afternoon. “The Crown” is my favorite)
- A fairly “quick hike” if you are in decent shape (Perfect challenge – its not Longs Peak, nor do I want it to be in the Winter Time. Should plan for 3-6 hours round trip depending on your fitness level and your snowshoe expertise…1 hour if you are skinning up, skiing down 🤪)
- You’re pretty much guaranteed to see at least one mountain goat (I’m 5/5)
This video pretty well sums up Yury, Artem, and my descent shortly after summiting Quandary on Winter Solstice (12.21.18):
[wvideo id=”d65jz10lst”][/wvideo]
We took the East Ridge Route, yet I only have data for 2 miles as my phone died after that:
Click on photo for lightbox viewing with caption (all photos taken by Ryan with iPhone and edited in Adobe Lightroom)
![Yury deciding it's "Go Time" with the snowshoes from Costco. Damn you Costco...](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0775-700x992-1.jpg)
![Artem looking good in his ugly Christmas sweater!](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0776-700x784-1.jpg)
![Yury and Artem strategize ways to stay alive.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0777-700x327-1.jpg)
![Artem trying to get water out of the camelback - but it was frozen! :(](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0781-700x302-1.jpg)
![Yury and Artem from a distance - looking at up at the final false summits of Quandary.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0784-700x345-1.jpg)
![We made it!! Summit of Mount Quandary - 12.21.18](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0797-700x516-1.jpg)
![Panorama with Artem taking quick whisky shot break.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0212-700x280-1.jpg)
![Artem and I close to summiting in 2017. Very windy that day.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0220-700x700-1.jpg)
![Mountain Goats all along the ridge-line.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0568-700x525-1.jpg)
![Josiah with Titan IPA and Mountain Goat in background.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0574-700x525-1.jpg)
![Me with mountain goat and Titan IPA in hand.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0584-700x587-2.jpg)
![Saw so many mountain goats that day.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0586-700x525-1.jpg)
![Mountain goat walking right by me.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0587-700x525-1.jpg)
![Mountain goat giving me the look.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0589-700x424-1.jpg)
![Hannah and her first 14'er in March of 2017 - Plenty of Mountain Goats in the background.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_0594-700x525-1.jpg)
![Anthony and I almost summiting in March of 2018.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_3650-700x526-1.jpg)
![Richard and I summiting in March of 2016 on a sunny Colorado day.](https://ryanlevander.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/richard-700x620-1.jpg)
Photos by Ryan Levander are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Video I made and uploaded to YouTube (all taken with Ryan’s iPhone 7 and edited in Adobe Premiere Pro)
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