Quandary Crowds on a Wednesday in March

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ECF55
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Quandary Crowds on a Wednesday in March

Post by ECF55 »

It's looking increasingly likely I will be on travel to Colorado in late March and will be able to get away on that Wednesday (3/29) to potentially goof off in the mountains (weather permitting).

Do reasonable numbers of hikers show up on Wednesdays in March at Quandary, or is it still pretty sparse between the weekends? I'm trying to assess winter weather hiking risk, etc.
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Dave B
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Re: Quandary Crowds on a Wednesday in March

Post by Dave B »

Depends 100% on the weather, which won't be knowable until a day or two before.
Make wilderness less accessible.
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Re: Quandary Crowds on a Wednesday in March

Post by justiner »

Middle of the week March could be pretty lonely with just a few people, provided Spring Break doesn't impact it.
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Re: Quandary Crowds on a Wednesday in March

Post by nyker »

ECF55 wrote: Fri Mar 10, 2023 9:33 am It's looking increasingly likely I will be on travel to Colorado in late March and will be able to get away on that Wednesday (3/29) to potentially goof off in the mountains (weather permitting).

Do reasonable numbers of hikers show up on Wednesdays in March at Quandary, or is it still pretty sparse between the weekends? I'm trying to assess winter weather hiking risk, etc.
Agree, shouldn't be packed..

Best to plan on winter conditions and dress and gear up appropriately, then make game day decision based on then-weather/conditions.
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Re: Quandary Crowds on a Wednesday in March

Post by ECF55 »

Well, I made it to Colorado and it’s just finally a few days out. NWS provided the following forecast for Quandary Peak. Seems warmer than it has been, but still unpleasant and raw. I will probably see how my winter gear holds up to wintery conditions and turn around when it gets too unpleasant.

Wednesday
Patchy blowing snow. Patchy blowing dust before 11am, then patchy blowing dust after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 32. Wind chill values as low as -5. Very windy, with a west southwest wind 25 to 30 mph increasing to 31 to 36 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 55 mph.

Wednesday Night
Patchy blowing snow. Partly cloudy, with a low around 15. Windy, with a southwest wind 20 to 26 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph.
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Re: Quandary Crowds on a Wednesday in March

Post by daway8 »

ECF55 wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 10:01 pm I will probably see how my winter gear holds up to wintery conditions and turn around when it gets too unpleasant.

Wednesday
Patchy blowing snow. Patchy blowing dust before 11am, then patchy blowing dust after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 32. Wind chill values as low as -5. Very windy, with a west southwest wind 25 to 30 mph increasing to 31 to 36 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 55 mph.
Positively pleasant except for the wind, though I'm seeing that same peak listed as:
Mostly sunny, with a high near 27. Wind chill values as low as -11. Very windy, with a west southwest wind 26 to 36 mph, with gusts as high as 55 mph.

That's about my limit for wind gusts, but this is an "easy" enough one without worry about big drop offs or anything so you could give it a whirl. Maybe you'll luck out and the wind will be less than forecast.

Otherwise, yeah, don't get set on a summit unless you have really good gear and lots of determination - wind in the 50's can be a real chore and double digit negative windchill is no joke.
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Re: Quandary Crowds on a Wednesday in March

Post by ECF55 »

daway8 wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 10:14 pm
Positively pleasant except for the wind, though I'm seeing that same peak listed as:
Mostly sunny, with a high near 27. Wind chill values as low as -11. Very windy, with a west southwest wind 26 to 36 mph, with gusts as high as 55 mph.

That's about my limit for wind gusts, but this is an "easy" enough one without worry about big drop offs or anything so you could give it a whirl. Maybe you'll luck out and the wind will be less than forecast.

Otherwise, yeah, don't get set on a summit unless you have really good gear and lots of determination - wind in the 50's can be a real chore and double digit negative windchill is no joke.
Thanks for the thoughts/perspectives. I’m familiar with the temperatures given some prior Upper Midwest years in misery, but it’s that wind on the ridge that gives me pause. We’ll see what happens.
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Re: Quandary Crowds on a Wednesday in March

Post by ECF55 »

Thanks everyone. Weather was really ideal today. Wind gusts near the top were significant but manageable.
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Re: Quandary Crowds on a Wednesday in March

Post by ECF55 »

And to finally close out this thread and answer the original question of how busy is Quandary Peak in very early spring (EDIT: NOT Meteorological Winter) in the middle of the week? Well my one data point of “decent amounts of snow but very pleasant weather of temps near freezing and winds at ~20mph” is around “thirty people on the mountain.” Busy, but not overrun.

Fortunately for me, I had a 6am start and was the first to summit that day. Quandary summit all alone was a really nice place to spend a little bit of time.
Last edited by ECF55 on Fri Mar 31, 2023 3:17 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Quandary Crowds on a Wednesday in March

Post by SchralpTheGnar »

ECF55 wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:18 pm And to finally close out this thread and answer the original question of how busy is Quandary Peak in very early spring (Meteorological Winter) in the middle of the week? Well my one data point of “decent amounts of snow but very pleasant weather of temps near freezing and winds at ~20mph” is around “thirty people on the mountain.” Busy, but not overrun.

Fortunately for me, I had a 6am start and was the first to summit that day. Quandary summit all alone was a really nice place to spend a little bit of time.
I think you’re confused, meteorological winter ended on March 1, but you should be happy nevertheless
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Re: Quandary Crowds on a Wednesday in March

Post by ECF55 »

SchralpTheGnar wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 11:25 pm I think you’re confused, meteorological winter ended on March 1, but you should be happy nevertheless
Oops. You’re right. Corrected. Thanks.
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