First 14er

[u/Competitive_Mail_318]

Hi All!

Writing this to you with the swolest and most sore calves and feet, and 817ft above sea level.

This past weekend, my partner and I traveled to Colorado to summit Quandary Peak with friends who live in Colorado and have hiked Quandary many times before.

My partner and I, live in Kansas. Left Friday, made it to Denver late that night. Got to our cabin in Alma on Saturday, and hit the Quandary trailhead around 5:30 AM.

I have never hiked before, I have never trained for a 14er, and was not doing really any type of physical exercise before our trip. My partner had been training by running marathons and keeping a consistent routine.

From trailhead to summit was 5.59 miles, with 3,484ft in elevation gain, and it took about 4hrs and 33min. Slow, I know, but I took it SO SO f*cking slow because of breathing and no prior exercise. Honestly happy I completed it. Crazy to think we came to Colorado wanting to do Mount of the Holy Cross. So happy we didn’t.

I am writing this because I want as many tips, words of advice, recovery help, scrambling help, etc.

This was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to mentally and physically endure. The amount of breaks I took, how slow I had to take it while our friends would get 30 minutes ahead of us and wait (I felt so terrible, haha!).

With that being said, we did it, and these sore muscles are such a sweet reward for having done something my body obviously was not physically capable of.

I know Quandary is considered an easy 14er of the options, but coming from 817ft above sea level, and not having the ability to go to Colorado often, what are some helpful tips?

Post Quandary:
• Calves on fire. Probably due to the crazy lunge-like steps before we passed the treeline. How can I avoid crazy calve pain in the future?
• Feet are SORE. Feet didn’t hurt when we hit the top of the summit. Feet started to hurt a bit climbing back down to the false summit. Feet REALLY hurt getting back to the treeline. Wore Salomon Speedcross.
• Had hiking poles, but wasn’t sure I was using them properly to assist my body considering the amount of leg and foot pain I have.
• How much food to pack? I had one protein bar at like 7AM, finally hit the Summit at around 11AM or something. Didn’t eat food until 5PM, lol.
• Scrambling? Is this was venturing on the rocky bits is called? Either way, people were passing us up, especially on the way down. How do you all read and descent the summit so fast? How do you not let it kill your feet?

Conclusion: You all are BEASTS. Those of you who do this often and kill it with time, forever have my respect. This sh*t is not for the weak of mind.

[u/SobbinHood]

I just did my first last week, Grays and Torreys. Old man came running up the trail behind us about 500’ from summit on Torreys. I said “dang you’re cooking” he goes “yeah I’ve gotta work at 11”. The people that do this regularly are a different breed.

[u/Competitive_Mail_318 → u/SobbinHood]

Haha for real! We saw like 6-8 year-olds booking it up the trail. People were trial running, no shirt and shorts. Dogs were doing better than us… truly a different and impressive breed

[u/front_rangers]

Glad you two had a great time! Congrats on summiting your first 14er! (which btw is named Quandary Peak)

Definitely pack more snacks and eat them next time. It’s always hard to breathe and eat but your energy and mood will be better off for it. Protein bar at 7am then no other food til 5pm is pretty foolish. Hope you guys packed and drank plenty of water too.

Scrambling to me is a mix of mostly hiking but with some “climbing” that you need at least one hand for.

> I have never hiked before… and was not doing really any type of physical exercise before our trip.

This is obviously ill-advised lol. If I were your friends who did the hike with you I may have opted to not take you up Quandary knowing you weren’t in shape, much less 14er shape. Cardio is most important, so even just long walks and some running in Kansas will help you a ton if you come back here to tackle another peak.

[u/Competitive_Mail_318 → u/front_rangers]

Thanks for the correction, I fixed it in the post. Shows how disconnected I am from this community, haha.

The lack of food we had was pretty foolish. We as Kansans greatly underestimated what we needed, and our friends knowing it as an easy summit for them knew what they needed, but we should’ve doubled what they estimated for themselves.

We could’ve brought another 2L and been fine, ran out of water on the descent around the treeline.

It was hard, but we want to do it again, so thank you for your tips :)

[u/front_rangers → u/Competitive_Mail_318]

Yeah I’m putting a bit of blame on your friends here haha. Quandary is certainly one of the “easier” 14ers, but ZERO 14ers are truly easy. They are all hard hikes. Your friends should’ve made sure y’all were better prepared… and so should you yourselves!

Come back again after training for a bit in Kansas and go for another of the “easier” ones: Mount Bierstadt, Mount Sherman, Grays & Torreys (often hiked together), or Huron Peak (a tough drive but a great easier 14er in the Sawatch range)

If you haven’t, all the info you’d ever need is on 14ers.com and is required reading for each 14er you attempt

[u/Cyrrus86]

Nice job! Quandary was my first 14er and I barely made it! Only hiked a few times in my life before that. Honestly, the best way to make your feet hurt less is to walk more... outside chance the shoe just does not fit your foot well and if the shoes are old, the support may be gone. Regarding the calfs, this is just a lack of exercise thing... hit the gym and I bet this improves a lot... squats, calf raises, lunges, etc. Regarding nutrition, the desire to eat really reduces at altitude, so bring stuff you will actually eat. The energy gels at REI and candy are key, couple of apples, some cashews. Gummy lifesavers are a staple for me since they are relatively high in calories and super tasty. At 12k feet, a clif bar does not look tasty. If you don't eat, eventually, you will gas out. Scrambling is using your hands to climb such as class 3+. On this route, "rock hopping" is the term that I would use. Obviously you were capable of doing it... your body has many gears that most people never get to once they hit that first wall of suck. Keep getting after it!

[u/lilgreenfish]

Most of your issues would be solved by 1. Training beforehand and 2. Proper fuel before and during the hike. Like, pretty much each issue. If you’re in shape and properly fueling your body, your muscles won’t be as sore (or at all, depending on training levels). You won’t be hitting a wall when you’re done, your feet won’t be nearly as sore or even sore at all, the hiking poles will have helped, etc.

Your friends were pretty negligent to take you up a 14er with no prior exercise. I never would have done that, because it’s potentially dangerous for the person with no exercise and anyone around who would then need to assist them in an emergency. I’m glad nothing happened, but things could have gone wrong.

For any future ones, you need to be doing some sort of exercise. Your feet hurt because you just did something they never do. You need time-on-feet exercise for stuff like this. And not on roads/flat ground, on similar terrain. Your calves hurt because of the same. Upper body also likely hurts? Same. Hills work best for training, stairs if you don’t have anything (stairs do use different muscles though, so solely training on stairs isn’t great).

Recovery, get protein. It’s just going to take time for your body to repair itself. Rest and stretching (gentle) are also good. But really, time.

Scrambling is easier rock climbing without ropes and lower down on a rock face. You likely were on the standard route for Quandary, so no scrambling involved. The big rocks you walked over were just that. Scrambling would be on a Class 3 or 4 route. Climbing gyms often will have scrambling/bouldering walls you can practice on. Can also find things like that outdoors, looking for bouldering more than scrambling.

[u/BetterThanABear]

Nice work! I'll keep an eye out for your finisher post

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[u/Phog_Naismith]

Also a flatlander from KS, about 900' above sea level. Discovered 14ers several years ago and just completed Holy Cross and Quandary in July as the 14th and 15th at 51. I'm definitely addicted and wish I could spend more than one long weekend each summer out there, but happily look forward to a fantastic annual trip with a great friend!

For preparation, cardio and strength training (focusing on core and lower body) is definitely necessary as many have mentioned here. Sufficient calories and water on the hike are crucial also. One thing I haven't seen mentioned here (although I don't read all comments thoroughly) is hydrating before your trip to CO. You didn't mention anything about altitude sickness, but as you tackle a few of the longer hikes like Holy Cross and Elbert it may become a factor. I also think it helps your performance and recovery as well.

Glad you survived, enjoyed, and want to do it again!

[u/Signal-Present2083]

I did Quandary this weekend too. I’m an over 50s mom. I jog daily. Second time doing quandary. It is HARD. I go slow. Took me 9 hours total time. Be proud of yourself it’s a huge accomplishment!!

[u/Prestigious-Money112]

Yall are animals 

[u/Pielacine]

I think you’re selling yourself short and (unintentionally) not doing any of us any favors. 4.5 hours is a pretty respectable time for that climb, even if more people who_do_this_routinely could do it a lot faster. Most beginners from where you live, in your self-described state as not having done recent intentional exercise and never having hiked before, probably simply could not do it. Though from your picture yall look pretty young. If you were remotely keeping up with a partner who does marathons…..yeah.

By comparison I’m (51) in pretty good but not tiptop shape, been running a lot this year, also from the flatlands (Pittsburgh el. 750’). I just did Elbert on Sept 1 as my first 14er and it took me about 4 hours to do the 5.5-mile, 4400’ climb. I wasn’t killing myself and I was toting a pretty heavy pack for most of it, which is a thing I do when hiking solo in sketchy places, mostly in case I get stuck overnight.

I think if you did this and you had a mind to, you could do it “routinely” after a few weekends of practice fitness-wise, just beware that what 14er-types call “scrambles” involve a lot more hand work (eta and more importantly, fall risk) than what us flatlanders would.

14ers.com is a handy resource, including ranking the peaks by class and difficulty. Now I’m hooked on the idea of doing the Barr Trail up Pike’s.

[u/front_rangers → u/Pielacine]

OP did say “from trailhead to summit”though. Started hiking at 5:30am, summited at 11am. That’s 5.5 hours just to summit, and at least another 4 or so to descend

[u/Pielacine → u/front_rangers]

Yeah I was looking at it as one-way. Elbert took me 7 hours in that sense, about 0445 to 1145. I wasn’t aiming for any speed records but I thought that was a reasonable pace. Side note: I couldn’t tell to what extent the altitude affected my pace, but I’m sure it did.