Handies Peak

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 9/13/2020, By: zootloopz
Info: Snow free road up to American Basin. Snow/ice starts around 12k. Managed to do the entire route without microspikes in 4 hours round trip, although some folks felt more comfortable with traction. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 9/8/2020, By: taylorharris50
Info: No snow on the route but terrible air quality from the wildfires. We drove in from Durango. Labor day weekend traffic on the drive in but almost no cars at the American Basin TH. Most seemed to park further down and hike up. I have to brag on my son a little. He has been wanting to hike Handies all summer, trained for several months, and made it to the summit at 4 years old. Proud of the little man. He said I did pretty good for being so old. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 9/1/2020, By: amyteten
Info: Started at 7:30am and the entire valley was covered in show! Used my short gaiters and put on ice tracks on the descent. Clear skies, warmed up and snow started melting quickly around 11:30am; should be really nice the rest of the week! 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 8/31/2020, By: spoony
Info: Hiked from Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch. Trail is in great shape from the trailhead through the summit. There is one downed tree in the forest and it is a little loose on the steep pitch right before the top, but easily manageable. Really pleasant hike in a very pretty basin. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/25/2020, By: kspitzer1987
Info: Perfect summer conditions from trailhead to summit. No need for any flotation or traction. Was very hazy due to wildfire smoke, but still a beautiful hike with great views from the top! Not sure if this is normal, but there was literally no wind on the summit...not even a slight breeze...this was by far the calmest summit I have ever had! 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/19/2020, By: marcusmartin
Info: Plenty of campsites available at the American Basin TH when we arrived Tuesday evening. There were approximately 10 vehicles around the TH area. The trail is in excellent condition. Summit was perfect - no wind, warm. The skies were very smoky from the Colorado fires. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 8/8/2020, By: Deb Harrison
Info: The trail is in great condition with recent trail work evident. The trail was beautiful with wildflowers, multiple creek crossings and views of a few turquoise lakes. No crowds on this trail. We had a clear sunny morning and the clouds at the summit rolled in around 11am. The scree at the top was difficult going up and down. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/9/2020, By: jordanthebuff
Info: This is was a great route! We ascended via the Southwest slopes route and descended via the East slopes. Both routes are in great shape and shout out to CFI who was working on the East slopes trail. Still some beautiful wildflowers up high. Peak was fairly crowded even for a Tuesday, but nothing like the peaks closer to Denver. The East slopes route is mostly class one and the trail is easy to follow. The final 500 feet or so are steep and loose, which makes it a class two. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/2/2020, By: climbingkt
Info: Got a late start (around 8:30am) starting from below the creek crossing, but couldn't have asked for better conditions on a Saturday. Not too many groups were passed going up or down, with less than 10 people on the summit. Beautiful conditions throughout the day with no snow on the trail, and no storms by the time I summited around 11am. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/26/2020, By: SARAH342
Info: Do the East slopes, standard route looked like an absolute zoo. Lovely hike, well defined trial. Gentle until the last half mile or so and then it's a real piece of work. Strongly recommend hiking poles for ascending and descending the upper push because of steepness of incline and loose scree. Freezing temps up top around 8am and some light hail. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/15/2020, By: JR14
Info: Storm clouds rolled in about 11:00am all around us. Could see rain south and north of us. No lightning. Ten minutes of freezing rain near the top at 11:30am. Great 360 views at the top (noon) even tho party cloudy. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/12/2020, By: E_A_Marcus_949
Info: Went up East Slopes from Grizzly Gulch. Great trail and log steps most of the way. Beautiful views. One small snow crossing in the switch-backs up on the talus but should be gone soon with all the nice weather. Beautiful hike. Went down SW slopes to American Basin and walked the road back (~4 mi). One small snow crossing after Sloan Lake (if you're heading up to the summit). Wildflowers in full force in from both sides of Handies. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/11/2020, By: joyfulwriter
Info: Summer conditions; trail is in excellent shape. CFI has a crew working to make it even better. One small snow crossing - solid and easy with no traction needed. Minor stream crossings along the way - no issues. Wildflowers are spectacular right now. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/12/2020, By: ltlFish99
Info: Handies hike yesterday was great. Perfect weather, no clouds, or wind at all. Trail was wonderful with no deadfall to get over. It was 68 on the summit at 10:30. Just beautiful with great views all around. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/13/2020, By: Squirrellysquirrel
Info: Didn't hike Handies, rather bumped into a 14ers.org trail crew member who did; he went up and over from Grizzly TH to American Basin. He noted that there are a lot of social trails above treeline; he surmised it was because hikers were avoiding snow. Just passing along information... might be worthwhile to stick to and/or fortify main trails and to deter traffic leading to social trails in order to safeguard the trail system.