Handies Peak from American Basin Trailhead

I climbed Handies Peak from the American Basin trailhead on 09/29/2018. After climbing El Diente from Kilpacker Basin the day before, I was looking for something relatively short and easy. I wanted to be at the summit for sunset, but I got a little bit of a late start so I walked faster than I usually do up the trail. As such, my impression of the difficulty level may be a little exaggerated. Suffice it to say I poured a lot of sweat and was really quite winded by the time I made it to the summit. My legs felt the final 200 yard push up to the summit. The weather was gorgeous – late afternoon sunshine, very little wind down in the basin, and a few clouds that I hoped would turn into an awesome sunset display.

I was the only one on the trail most of the way. However, I met two hikers ignoring the “stay on switchbacks” signs and instead barrelling straight down the hillside on their way down. As a conscientious Texan who does my best not to add to the damage to the alpine environment, I was shocked at their selfish behavior.

I made it to the summit just as the sun kissed the horizon. What an awesome view!

Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn were prominent on the northern horizon, and Redcloud and Sunshine were off to the east.

I could see the Rio Grande Pyramid to the south, and Mt. Sneffels seemd the most prominent peak to the west. I caught the last few rays of light on Handies’ summit, and then I got a nice light show after sunset.

I noticed three moving specks off to the north, who quickly resolved into hikers moving along the final ridgeline on the Grizzly Gulch trail to Handies. They made it to the summit as dusk turned into night, and after we exchanged a few pleasantries and I took a photo for them, they turned around and left me alone again on the summit.

The wind was significantly stronger on the summit than down the trail, and as the sun set it got immediately and noticeably colder. Soon I was headed back down myself, my headlamp supplementing the faint lingering light in the west. It was fully dark well before I got back to the trailhead, and I took advantage of the incredibly dark sky to take some star photos. Coming from a big city near sea level, the clarity and brilliance of the stars in the mountains of Colorado never cease to amaze me!

I slept in the car at the trailhead. The night was warm – no colder than about 35 – and relatively calm. The entire American Basin 4WD trailhead is on a slight slope – not a big slope, but enough to make sleeping in the car a challenge. I kept sliding out of a comfortable position. So I woke up often – the silver lining being that I was able to enjoy American Basin by moonlight several times during the night.