Handies Peak

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/1/2012, By: mzamp
Info: A few snow crossings from TH until about 11,900. Then snow all the way past the lake until climbing out of the basin. We did not use snowshoes and only PH on occasion when near rocks and we hiked in the afternoon when the snow is much softer. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/13/2012, By: esskay1000
Info: Great day on Handies today via Grizzly Gulch. Snow started in earnest around 12,000ft and made route finding a bit of a challenge, but not too bad. Snow was easily hikeable early in the morning, but the same fields were very soft on descent and I used my snowshoes once. The glissading opportunities are awesome and I knocked off about 600ft or so on two glissades (see pic). This is worth the climb alone! 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/12/2012, By: zdero1
Info: Hiked up Handies from American Basin and had to break trail on the standard route, which I found difficult to stay on. I'd say at least 80% of the route is covered in snow, with the majority of the snow free sections above the saddle. Traversed several snowfields with steep drops below but thankfully it was a nice sunny morning and the snow was just the right consistency to hike on it without slipping or postholing. Traction would have been appreciated but certainly not necessary. Plenty of new snow in the basin but didn't bother putting on snowshoes on the descent despite postholing about 15 times. Rapid melt off occuring I'll bet this route looks dramatically different in the coming week. Cinnamon pass is free of snow with a few puddles here and there. Didn't feel comfortable taking my Forester across the stream to the upper TH as the drop into the stream appears incredibly steep. I did see another 4wd at the upper TH. Please feel free to ask any questions it would be my pleasure to help out! 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 4/30/2012, By: SnowAlien
Info: Hiked and skied Handies from American Basin. The TH is open and drivable to Grizzly Gulch TH by Subaru and to American Basin TH by high clearance 4x4 (e.g. Xterra). Snow coverage on Handies is pretty thin (but plenty of snow in the basin itself so snowshoes would be a must for non-skiers). The "snow route" as described by Bill looks thin and rocky and as we discovered, has melted near the top. The east side of Handies also looks patchy and we glad we did not hike in from the Grizzly Gulch as we would be carrying skis for the most of the way. With some creativity, the standard route was skiable. Image 1 - Snow route Image 2 - near the summit Image 3 - Grizzly gulch Image 4 - American basin 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 9/25/2011, By: coloradomojo
Info: Camped at American Basin night of 9/24. Light frost overnight. Trail clear of snow until just above the lake. ~30 ft stretch of hardened snow in the shadows and the sporadically as the trail descened the long traverse heading South. Bought micro-spikes and an ice axe; used neither. Imagine snow will be arriving soon though. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 8/29/2011, By: RockyMountainMustang
Info: Handies from Grizzly Gulch is clear and well-marked. The Gerry Roach 14ers book made it out to sound like a bit of bushwhacking, but it was pretty broken in. There may be one or two 10ft long spots in the upper meadow where you may have trouble if you are hiking by headlamp, but overall, the trail is obvious even in the dim light of dawn. It seems like Grizzly Gulch is much less used than American Basin, because I didn‘t encounter anyone the whole day. Plenty of wildflowers still in bloom, so enjoy it soon because they look ready to retire for the season. NOTE: The 18.5 mile stretch of dirt road along Cinnamon Pass to the Grizzly Gulch/Clear Creek TH is a beast. It‘s all peachy until you have to make that right turn up the really steep road, and then it gets rough. It says it‘s 2wd, and I got my Taurus up it, but bottomed out once going up and 3x coming down. Expect cruising speed of 10mph in this rough patch of the road (I think it‘s the last 4mi of the 18.5). Similar to the Kite Lake Road or the road up to Grays and Torreys, only worse. :P 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/14/2011, By: Conrad595
Info: Fantastic day Saturday morning on Handies. OutRAGEOUS wildflowers in the basin, including two large fields of columbine, made it a postcard day. Flowers should last another week at least. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 8/7/2011, By: hollamby
Info: Peak is a perfect condition. The trail heading up is COVERED in wildflowers. The flowers will start dieing soon, I think. Beautiful day, great area. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 7/31/2011, By: KWhelan
Info: Route is in great shape; definitely recommend 4WD for the creek crossing, and higher clearance 2WD for the road in. 

Route: SW slopes via. Grouse Creek Basin
Posted On: 6/28/2011, By: Matt Lemke
Info: Went up Handies today starting from the Grouse Creek trail 3.2 miles above Eureka on the Cinnamon Pass Road out of Silverton. The Grouse Creek Basin was in full bloom and truly spectacular. Crossing the pass to the basin containing Sloan Lake was another story though. Still mostly snow covered in that basin and the lake still mostly frozen. The descent from the pass above Grouse Basin was mostly on snow and went down about 900 feet before I then had to climb back up the slopes of Handies and up the South ridge. Once I got onto the slopes of Handies I was off snow. It is mainly those east facing slopes you have to cross that are snowy. Snow was icy in the morning but previous footsteps allowed crampons to not be needed. Axe would be a good idea though. It was soft during the day and consolidated so not much post holing. Highly recommend at least a hike into Grouse Creek Basin now. Photos to come in mid to late July when I make my big TR 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/19/2011, By: Monster5
Info: The road is in typical condition - rough 2wd up to the TH. The route is dry (minus run-off) until treeline. Above, still plenty of snow. You can pick your way through the basin and up to the ridge along "dry" stuff with the occasional post-hole and muddy tundra impact or just throw on the ‘shoes and march on up. Traction is useful on the snow and an ice axe recommended (although not needed, depending on your route-finding and comfort). I snowshoed up low-moderate angle snowfields until the ridge, ditched the shoes and poles, and climbed up to the summit (minor c3 bumps or just pull out the axe and bypass via snow). The route to Whitecross can be done mostly dry with the minor c3 bumps on climber‘s left.To the right, moderate-angle snowfields. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/11/2011, By: ilium
Info: There is still plenty of snow, but if you leave early enough you can avoid using snowshoes. On the return I found the snow nearest the river basin was the most solid. I carried my shoes the whole way, but never used them. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/1/2011, By: BillMiddlebrook
Info: A few shots of Handie‘s east slopes, taken during a climb of Redcloud Peak. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/26/2011, By: Rcizzle
Info: Had a great climb up Handies today. There is a lot of snow still in the American Basin. The peak itself was stripped of much its snow above 13,700 allowing for its climbers to cross on dry land on the south face. I went and veered a little off the route description on the west slope and ended up south of the mountain. There is some instability in the snow, but nothing that concerned me. I had some PHing problems at the beginning of the trail, but as I got higher up, that problem mostly diminished until the temp picked up. Recorded a temp of 50 degrees on the summit. I wore microspikes up. Had a great glissade on the return, but the bottom turned into a wet glop. The LFGR crossing was also not bad at all, it was still buried in snow. The Alpine byway is plowed to the lower AB now, looks like Hinsdale may get to the pass by the 30th. The road is really really rough and muddy near Handies and requires decent clearance (nothing you didn‘t know), but the road is snow free to Silver Creek and Griz Gulch.