I like to post up in a mountain range and hit all of the nearby peaks. Quandary was also in the Mosquito Mountain Range and a very popular day hike so I went to tackle it one afternoon. There is the easy and popular East ridge to get to the summit, but there is also a West ridge so I decided to turn this into another loop hike instead of an out&back. Little did I know that the West ridge was extremely scrambly and sketchy. I parked at the Blue Lakes Trailhead and got to hiking. I missed my turn at one point and had to do a little cross country to get back on track, but on this route, a massive herd of mountain goats came my way to see what I was doing. They curiously sniffed my trekking poles and hat that were laying on the ground and got so close I could have pet them.
I got back on the route and soon got to the point where feces hit the fan. The scrambles got more intense and the trail grew more ominous. I found the remnants of a shack and a few times took an incorrect scramble and had to backtrack. At one point, I was worried about a downclimb but then saw some tufts of fur from a mountain goat and thought “If they can make it, I can make it”
I arrived at the summit just in time for a glorious sunset and more mountain goats showed up to watch the lightshow with me. They were also a curious bunch and sniffed my tripod as well as my backpack and my person. It was also one of the first times I got to witness a stark triangular shadow caused from the peak I was currently standing on. It was an absolutely magical evening and, yet again, I had the summit all to myself without any other hikers. After the show, I packed up and began the long night hike down the East ridge and back up the road to the Blue Lakes TH. I slept like the dead.
The next morning I was rudely awoken before dawn by people parking next to me and talking loudly. It went on longer than what I would consider normal for hikers gearing up for a sunrise hike. Turns out, they were here for a sunrise wedding at Blue Lakes! I watched the ceremony from afar and then cooked breakfast out of my tailgate kitchen.
I guess deomcrats can’t be veterans or have families? no matter your political opinions, people with this much hate are 100% what is wrong with this country.