Most of the couloirs I saw had lots of snow. The east side of the range had snow above about 8-9,000 ft. The snow in the Inyo Mountains had mostly melted.

The Beginning of the Owens Valley

Olancha Peak 12,123 ft.

Keynot Peak 11,102 ft.

Mt. Inyo 10,975 ft.

The Southern Sierra

Lone Pine Peak 12,944 ft.

Elevation: 14,265 ft.

Date Hiked: 10-8-2005

Trip Report:
Quandary Peak is a popular 14er off of CO HWY 9 south of Breckenridge and north of Hoosier Pass. There are a few different routes to the top of the mountain but most people use the east ridge trail. We chose to try the Cristo Couloir, why in October you may ask, well that is a good question.

Quandary Peak from CO 9

We left Lakewood around 5:30 and made it to the trailhead near Blue Lakes Reservoir around 7. The climb from the reservoir is steep and short. The first part involves climbing a small couloir through brush to get above the treeline.

The Route from just above the Reservoir

Wheeler Peak from the Couloir

Once above the treeline the climb is direct and straight forward, all you have to do is go up. It is essentially a long scree slog. We stopped a few times to get some pictures and admire the views. Not surprisingly we were the only ones on this route.

Mt. Lincoln

Mt. Democrat

Eventually we gained the east ridge and met up with the main trail. From here is was a short walk to the summit.

Quandary Peak Summit

The views from the summit were great. We could see many other 14ers and 13ers most of which I did not know by name. I did recognize Grays and Torreys not to far to the east.

Grays and Torreys Peaks

The Summit Benchmark

We stayed on top for awhile and eventually made our way back to the car. The trip down was uneventful. This would be a great route in late spring when there is snow to climb but after that its just a long scree slog.

The Cristo Couloir