I almost died at Quartz Peak, and my dog Blueberry did as well.
The least known out of the Pack of Six in my opinion, it also is one of the longer ones and more remote. I should have gone earlier on Saturday, but not knowing really how far it was and how you basically are driving in desert sand to get to it, I had a late start (1:30 PM).
Everyone I ran into (6 people total) were either done or on their way down and enjoyed the hike. I was excited and seeing the quartz rocks at the top even from miles away makes the anticipation even more palpable. Blueberry was excited to hike and seeing that we completed Fremont Saddle without any hitches I was eager to see how she would do that day.
- Don't start at 1:30 PM, thinking you can get back down before sunset
- Don't bring a dog without using dog booties and a harness that you are able to lift/lower in a stable way
- Pack for more water than you need
- Look for rock cairns (arranged piles of rocks/stacked rocks), the pathway near the top is NOT well marked at all and very confusing.
- I couldn't get the dog to the summit since you need to scramble and I couldn't haul her up without getting hurt.
From this list I'll make it short. Blueberry's paws got ripped up by the rocks halfway up to the summit and I had to carry her down in the dark for the last two miles. The last three miles I ran out of water (2.5 L bag) and started to seize in my lower back and quad. I didn't pack a head light and used my cell phone's light by jamming it under my hat on my forehead. Coyotes were howling in the distance, no joke.
But other than that, Quartz Peak was equally challenging but interesting to hike since it is so remote.
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