As classic San Juan Mountaineers objectives (along with nearby "Number One" and "Wolf Tooth"), this trio of unranked 13ers has been on my radar for some time. In July, Jonny and I finally hauled the usual amount of too much gear up Blaine Basin, passing below the north face of Sneffels westward to tackle these peaks huddled in its shadow.

"The Hand" North Arete 5.2

The Hand [LoJ] was first climbed in 1932 by Griffiths, Gordon Williams, and Lavender. Our beta was the description given in the 1932 SJM guide (which I published to MountainBraject). We scrambled up some 5th class terrain on the right side of its sharp north arete to a good stance on the ridge. Here we roped up and Jonny led a solid but highly exposed 4th class pitch just left of the crest to the Crow's Nest, a tiny platform just below the north summit. I then took the lead traversing the exhilarating overhung knife edge to the true (south) summit, the crux of which is an exposed step down in the 5.2 range. Of the three peaks, this is the best climb in my opinion.

With a single 60m rope, we made two rappels off the summit, the second requiring creative anchor selection, into the gully between The Hand and Penguin.

"The Penguin" East Crack 5.7+

The Penguin [LoJ] was first climbed in 1934 by Lavender and Jack Seerly (possibly by a 4th class route from the Penguin-Thumb col). From the south gully between The Hand and Penguin, we scrambled up towards an obvious crack on the east side of the diminutive but pointy summit. On lead, Jonny dispatched the short wall easily, then I dispatched it arduously, to reach a clean ramp leading to the apex (details at OnX Climb).

The simplest way to descend would have been to circle west from the summit at class 3-4, but we had to rappel the crack for a stuck cam. From there we directly made a brief, heinous 5th class traverse around the south side of The Penguin to reach its west shoulder, followed by a less heinous 4th class downclimb into the notch between The Penguin and Thumb.

"The Thumb" Southeast Face 5.4

From the Penguin-Thumb col is probably the easiest route to the top of The Thumb [LoJ], likely the same route taken on first ascent by Griffiths, Giesecke, and Lavender in 1933. We scrambled up the face, climbing poorly-defined features towards a "V" in the summit ridge. Although we didn't use the rope, I protected one awkward move with a cam. Gaining the ridge, we scrambled briefly up and right to the top (see The Projects).

We faffed up a moderately sketchy anchor and rappelled back down, then descended the gully north from the col. As first thunder pealed, we crossed below the north side of The Penguin back to our packs at the foot (!?) of The Hand and enjoyed a sudden, violently refreshing graupel spritzer as we hustled back down to shelter in the timber.