Author Archives: John

this was one of the best ones ever. We hit the leaves at peak. And we had a near record crowd. Myers finally got his daughter Hallie to come up. And she brought her fiance, Seth. Nathan Sparks came up … Continued

John Dempsey and I made the familiar trek up the Chadwell Gap trail. Rising 2100 ft in 3 1/2 mi, it is a steep little ascent. When I left on Friday the temperature was in the high 60s. That would … Continued

Wednesday Feb 11 https://www.rei.com/events/joqu/discover-mountaineering-with-climbing-guide-author-john-quillen

We had really good weather for our summit day.. and for the first time in all my years of leading people on these trips everybody on the team topped out. Kurt and Jeff Grindstaff were some of the first two … Continued

it is time for our annual migration. Climbing 2400 ft in 2.8 mi this is The Hangover. and our coterie of usual suspects. plus 1. Welcome Tim! we literally watch the colors evolved before our eyes over the course of … Continued

Greetings my friends.. lest you think I have retired from backpacking quite the opposite is true. I’ve been on several trips in the past couple of months, most notably the dolly sods, the smokies, and citico/ slick Rock. I tend … Continued

We’re going back to climb Orizaba and some smaller volcanoes December 4th. This will be our fifth expedition down there and it is dialed . Are you a sufficiently fit hiker, runner or backpacker? This is a great beginner mountain. … Continued

It was a hard fought climb, but three of the team members managed to make it to almost 20,000 feet, the summit of this beautiful mountain. Congratulations Joe Everett Richard hatten and Curtis Luzzi. This was a trip that included … Continued

It has been a minute, my friends. Not that I haven’t been busy. We are leaving for Bolivia and Colombia June 2 and I have a sizeable group in tow for the Andes. It is a very motivated group and … Continued

My new friend, David, takes one of his first laps on the Minnesota ice. You’d think hes been doing it his whole life. This was a long weekend and let me tell you how it started. I was sitting in … Continued