Handies Peak

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 9/21/2019, By: SWilson
Info: Dry from bottom to top. Blue bird day, not a cloud in the sky. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/31/2019, By: Squirrellysquirrel
Info: Shelf road to Burrows Park has had additional improvements to the road, culverts put in place to assist runoff/drainage. Fingers crossed: no more mudslide-washouts. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/23/2019, By: Tri Tri
Info: The trail itself is absolutely beautiful! Very easy to follow, amazing wildflowers, waterfalls, and the alpine lake is gorgeous for those who don't want to summit. There is only one patch of snow left on the trail, very easy to cross. The last 0.1-0.2 miles are very steep and very loose gravel, hard to gain traction and is the hardest part of the hike. The views from every point are breathtaking, especially at sunrise. We started at 5am and were able to summit and start down the trail before we saw any other people. The drive up definitely requires 4WD and high clearance. We came from Silverton over Cinnamon Pass using 4WD, and all roads were open and clear with no snow on the road. We made it up to the upper trailhead in a Jeep Renegade, the only others there were Jeeps and a 4Runner. If you can't make it to the upper (as it requires a creek crossing and many rocks) you can park at the lower right before the creek and it adds 0.9 miles both ways. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/11/2019, By: Squirrellysquirrel
Info: Road is open to Burrows Park/ Grizzly Gulch from Lake City, mudslide has been cleared. Happy trails :0) 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 8/4/2019, By: tdrichardson1
Info: My wife and I climbed Handies yesterday (Sat., Aug. 3) via the East Slopes route through Grizzly Gulch. There were three snowfields but were easy to pass through or circumnavigate. We met some hikers on the summit and talked to them about the trail conditions on the Southwest Slopes through American Basin. They shared that the snowfields were minimal and easy to pass through or move around, as well. The trail conditions on the East Slopes are in great condition and Grizzly Gulch is covered in wildflowers in full bloom. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/29/2019, By: uthorns22
Info: The East Slopes route is pretty close to summer conditions. I think all but one snowfields are avoidable and only one stream crossing that was a little difficult to stay dry. Some areas of the upper basin are a little muddy. I spoke with a couple people on the summit who took the American Basin route. They said there was still a decent amount of snow on the route. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/23/2019, By: DaveDavis
Info: The road to the American Basin lower trailhead is now open from Lake City. You can get to about .5 miles of the 4wd trailhead before snow blocks the road. A fair amount of snow is on the trail and route finding is required. Waterproof boots are strongly recommended - there is flowing water in the trail with mud and snow fields to cross. It is beautiful and still quite do-able, even an old fat 62 year old guy can get up it in 3 1/2 hours. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/21/2019, By: swesleyc7
Info: No problemo. There are a few fields of snow to get in your way, but are merely annoying and won't inhibit pursuit on the SW route. Traction such as microspikes are recommended, however I had no issue completing with waterproof winter boots. Coming back, I could glissade down the snow fields, chopping off 0.5 miles from the return trip. Overall just fine - just bring waterproof shoes/boots and treking poles to navigate the snow fields. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/14/2019, By: Cicatrix
Info: Trail is very muddy, some stream crossings are wider than usual. Some snow patches to go around and hike over. About a mile or less from the summit you come to a large snow field. I recommend spikes and poles at this part, it is very soft and you will post hole. Final push to the summit has snow, you can go to the side of it or try and walk up it. Normal hike up to this point. Just be prepared to walk across snow fields at final part, very doable. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/15/2019, By: bludwig
Info: The trail is very wet so be prepared with waterproof footwear and/or extra socks! I recommend starting early for the best sunrise of your life (we started at 4:00). As mentioned in other reports, there are several creek crossings and a lot of mud. The snow gets soft early because it is east facing so be prepared for post holing but wonderful glissades. I did want to mention, because I didn't see it in any other reports, that there is a massive cornice right below the summit, I do not recommend cutting diagonally to it as you would on regular summer trail but rather go straight up in the snow field and follow the ridge a bit longer. Photo 1 is the mountain from below and Photo 2 is the cornice from above. Overall, it feels like normal early season conditions and it's very wet. Traction was nice but probably won't be necessary much longer. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/10/2019, By: TravelingWilbury
Info: Lots of snow in the basin. Honestly, from reading other trip reports, sounds like east slopes is the way to go for now. I brought microspikes and an ice axe and was glad to have both. Crampons would've been nice even. Postholing was mostly pretty mild but I got a late start and it was starting to get bad later on. Don't go up to sloan lake, the trail from there is totally snowed over (one couple I talked to turned around because they couldn't find a way onward from the lake). Instead locate the trail farther to the left and take a more direct route. Once you're up on the slope, you can avoid most of the snow for the remaining route. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/7/2019, By: LetsGoMets
Info: Most of the Avy debris is cleared on the trail save for a small patch before tree line which is easy to navigate. A good amount of snow in the basin, trail is extremely wet and sloppy from water running down it. Snow in the upper shoulder area below the ridge is continuous - traction is helpful to navigate it all. Once on the ridge, the remaining climb is snow-free. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/4/2019, By: Squirrellysquirrel
Info: Just a slice of heaven! Me and my marmot buddy had a great morning hike. 5:15am start: trail conditions were optimal below and within treeline, with some avi debris here and there, easy to navigate around. Above treeline snow was soft manageable with kittenteeth and poles. I pecked a B-line directly up the main snow areas to reach the saddle, last stretch to peak was dry with great bluebird skies; sat atop Handies for about 45 minutes to enjoy the views. Decent down the snow mass was thrilling: two epically long glissades back-to-back (wish I had my ice axe, used my poles to keep from getting too out of control). Gaiters came in handy for the intermittent postholing up to my knees and waist, no snow shoes. Wildflowers are just coming on; plenty of tight blossoms just itching to explode; Grizzly Gulch is boisterous and raging. Last photo, shown out of sequence, is of the final pitch. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/2/2019, By: Tacocat Climbing
Info: Snow is clear up to the tree line. Then it is more or less consistent up to the ridge. I had no issues with traction in just boots. A little post-holing in the valley but not enough to warrant bringing snow shoes. Wonderful views! Great hike! Video of the hike: https://youtu.be/QsGjtz1NGGE 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/5/2019, By: yardman
Info: After climbing Grizzly Gulch we descended the American Basin side to do a little monitoring and exit via the road. Only about 100-200 yards of the upper trail is clear of snow. The basin is fully choked in snow. I've been up there for about six years at this time and have never seen this much snow--especially in the deposit zones of the avalanche chutes. It will be a while before any summer conditions exist.