7/20/2015 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 7/20/2015, By: funkyhiker Info: Headed up Handies from Grizzly Gulch. The route is clear of snow except for two small snow crossings near the summit ridge. Both crossings were easy to handle without traction. Go get it! The wildflowers on this route are awesome. |
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7/17/2015 Route: Southwest Slopes Posted On: 7/19/2015, By: JQDivide Info: American Basin trail is in good shape. Several small snow patches remain before Sloan Lake (which is still frozen). No traction is needed, not worth the effort. Largest patch might be 50 feet wide. The flowers at the lower portion of the AB are great, but are not prime in the middle and upper. Give it a week or two, but the colors are still spectacular. |
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7/14/2015 Route: Southwest Slopes Posted On: 7/14/2015, By: addrock528 Info: Some 4 or 5 brief snowfields but otherwise summer conditions all the way. |
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7/11/2015 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 7/12/2015, By: summitbrent Info: A few snow patches remain on the route, but easy to cross without traction, though trekking poles helpful. Trail easy to follow and American Basin beautiful now, wildflowers in full swing. Go get it! |
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7/8/2015 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 7/8/2015, By: Fr3ako Info: Weather was atrocious today, windy, low visibility, constant rain to begin with and snow to finish it off. Trail is "wet" and muddy and on a sunny day, it‘s all good until 13,000‘. At 13,000‘ it‘s kind of winterish conditions....spikes were welcome. |
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7/2/2015 Route: Southwest Slopes Posted On: 7/4/2015, By: illusion7il Info: Trail is very wet in some areas and there are a few short snow crossings that are well trenched. Recommend waterproof footwear. |
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6/30/2015 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/30/2015, By: ShakyLegs18 Info: Climbed Handies via East Slopes on 6/28. The trail is muddy and flowing with water in many places. Snow free routes can be found as the trail moves in and out of snow pack around 12,500 feet. Since the the north ridge is almost entirely snow-free, we scrambled up to it via a moderate boulder field much sooner than the normal route (We found a faint trail, I think used to climb Whitecross Mountain). From there, we worked the ridge without a trail until we caught back up to it just before the last push up to the summit ridge. We descended along the trail, glissading much of it right off the north ridge. |
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6/28/2015 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 6/29/2015, By: KansanClimber Info: Trail snow clear to treeline. From the treeline to about 13000-ish the trail is wet and flowing with snow melt. Around the 13k mark there are two moderate snow fields with good trenches cut. Once on the ridge, it‘s snow free to the summit. |
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6/19/2015 Route: Southwest Slopes Posted On: 6/20/2015, By: bhollamby Info: Attempted and was turned back due to snow. The hike will start at the 11,300‘ trail head due to a snow drift that has yet to melt off. I attempted to push through it with my 4x4 set up but was unable. Even with a early start we post-holed almost all day (particularly every step after 10-11am) even with snowshoes on. Post-holing was thigh deep in spots. The basin where you need to cross is completely full. If you had crampons and felt the snow was sturdy enough you could probably get across it but I had a brand new climber with me and wasn‘t about to attempt. We climbed up to about 13,200‘ near the unnamed 13er (near Sloan Lake) in an attempt to find a route over to Handies but had no luck. Watch out for the Marmots at the TH, they are all over right now! |
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6/13/2015 Route: Southwest Slopes Posted On: 6/13/2015, By: only1srb Info: Drove directions to Southwest approach. 20miles to fork without need for 4wd, only turned it on to cross the stream mentioned, water was about 1ft deep. Left the car quickly after the stream due to snow cover and didn't hike much further from here. Snow shoes and snow preparation, clothes, boots, etc recommended this early in the season. Weather was gray about 50F near trailhead and light rain started around 3pm. Wait until later summer this year for the beautiful, green landscape |
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6/6/2015 Route: West Slopes Posted On: 6/6/2015, By: mojah Info: Taken on a drive up Cinnamon Pass. Road is snow-free but muddy |
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5/17/2015 Route: Grizzly Gulch and American Basin Posted On: 5/22/2015, By: WillRobnett Info: You'll find deep drifts within the first couple hundred feet on the Grizzly Gulch Trail. The area is still consolidating and covered with deep snow. The road to American Basin is clear up to 2.6 from the Grizzly Gulch TH. |
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2/14/2015 Route: Southeast ridge via Boulder Gulch. Posted On: 2/15/2015, By: Nelson Info: The road from Cataract Gulch TH is well packed. Two streams crossing the road are open. From 10700 (where you turn off to Boulder Gulch) to 11200 is the "death zone", i.e. Bushwacking and postholing. In the a.m. it is mostly supportable and in the p.m. It is not. From there it is continuous snow coverage to 13000. Flotation is a must. Above that to the ridge snow coverage is intermittent. You can only ski from the summit in an east/north east direction and that is not for the faint of heart. We left our skis at 13000 and skied down from there. Because of multiple melt/freeze cycles there is every kind of crust and condition imaginable but it beats walking. It was a glorious day. |
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10/23/2014 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 10/24/2014, By: uber_franz Info: Climbed yesterday, 10/23/2014. Route above 13k is covered in snow and trail is hard to find, but it wasn't too bad just heading up the shallow snow slopes and intermingled rocks to the ridge. Once on the ridge, just follow it to the summit. Ridge was windswept and shallow snow. Get up there and do it before it snows again! |
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10/17/2014 Route: East Slopes Posted On: 10/17/2014, By: StarGirl Info: I very foolishly decided to drive all the way from Denver for this hike when I am sick as a dog so I only made it past the last clearing before my burning lungs and sinus pressure got the best of me. I think that's around 12,300 or so. However, I feel this would have otherwise been doable today. The trail through the entire gulch was dry and easily distinguishable. There were occasional small patches of snow in the trees, but just a handful of them. Obviously there is snow up top, but from what I could tell, it didn't appear to be too deep (yet). My route map fell out of my pack, and I was alone so I didn‘t push it. But if I had to have broken trail up the ridge, I think with microspikes and gaitors, all would've been well today. From the register it looked like the last person who summited and signed the register went through 10/13. Sorry I don't have better information but I thought I'd share what I have. If I think if I had time in the near future, I would watch watch the weather and consider going again. |
