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Handies Pk – West Slopes – Solo Ascent

Matt | August 6, 2003 | 14ers, Climbing, Trip Report | 3894 words and 1,253 views | no comments

Date: August 6, 2003
Elevation: 14,048′
Rank: 40th
Route: West Slopes, Grade I, Class 2, 5.6 miles, 2750ft vert.
GPS: N 37° 54.783′ W 107° 30.233′
Team: Matt Esser (Toid)

Pre-climb: This was to be our last 14er of the week. It would be my fourth summit in three days. We had a very short 30 minute drive up from Silver Creek to American Basin. There were a couple of spots that a two wheel drive vehicle would have had to think about the best way to overcome them, but generally it wasn’t bad. We arrived to an empty trailhead at 4pm. We quickly setup camp and proceeded to cook some more Mountain House meals. As we soaked our feet again in the now *very* cold river (it was closer to the Sloan Lake, which was it’s source, therefore the water was colder), we came up with a plan to climb Handies separately. I wanted to climb it at night, but Gugals didn’t. He wanted to sleep in until 10am. I definitely didn’t want to do that. So the plan was to climb it separately, and for me to hike it at night and then watch the sunrise from the summit, then finally head back down to camp. As soon as I got back to camp, I would wake Gugals up and then he’d go climb it, and we would hang out the rest of the day in American Basin and take it easy, spend the night, and drive back to Boulder the following day. Perfect.

Climb: The night was pleasantly uneventful and quiet. There was nobody else at the trailhead but us, and we couldn’t even hear so much as a chirping of a marmot from our campsite at 11,600ft. Surprisingly, the night was the warmest of all the nights so far. I figured being higher up it would be colder. But, as we found out the next day as we were leaving, the Silver Creek trailhead was down in a valley, where the cool air would settle, and would logically explain the 10 degree temperature difference.

The previous morning I noticed the time that the sun made it over the top of the peaks. It was right around 6:30am. I figured I could climb Handies Peak in under two hours, so that would require a 4:30am start or earlier. Sure enough, right at 4:30, I was awake, without an alarm. I took a deep breath, turned on my headlight and crawled out of my tent.

The following view of the night sky is one I will not soon forget. The stars and planets were so bright that I could feel my heart beating faster as I became scared. Maybe I realized how insignificant Earth really is when you think about how big the universe is. Stars that formed constellations were now obvious to me. I thought from Lookout Mountain in Golden you could see the night sky well. Apparently not, but from American Basin you certainly can. There was one bright object in the south sky that took me by surprise. As I put on my pants and my jacket I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. It was easily twice as bright as anything else in the night sky save the moon. I tried to figure out what constellation it went to, but was unable to make anything out of it and it’s nearby stars. Then I began to wonder if it was a comet in the distance that was pointed right at earth. I mean this thing was so bright, I didn’t know what to think it was. Was it a planet? By now my backpack was packed, and I was hiking by headlight up the dark trail that eventually ends up on the summit of Handies Peak.

As I hiked, I was constantly looking at my surroundings, trying to see if there was anything else awake at this hour. Gugals and I were the only ones in the entire basin and I was the only one in the entire world on Handies. I began to talk to the mountain as some sort of comfort to my solitude. As my climb continued to spiral around towards the saddle we became quite good friends. The sun was starting to rise in the east, but sunlight was still a good hour away from hitting Handies. One by one the stars of the night sky were disappearing, but one remained. The bright object in the south skyh. I became convinced it had to be a planet that was just especially bright when viewed far away from civilization. But I couldn’t decide which one. However, as the sun gently rose and began to slowly dissipate the darkness, I began to see a red twinkle from the interesting object in the south skyline. It was probably Mars.

The hike itself was pretty easy. Doing it in the night reminded me of my ascent of Longs Peak on year ago. Except for one obvious difference. On Longs I was surrounded by hundreds of people during the night. Here on Handies there wasn’t one other person that was making their way up to the top when I was. As I neared the saddle the route got a little steeper. One final push and I’d be on the summit ready to watch the sunrise. I looked over my shoulder and Mars had now set behind the nearby peaks. No longer would it help guide me along the trail. For the final part of the climb I decided to turn off my headlamp and do it by what sunlight had filtered through. By 6:15am I was on the summit of Handies Peak.

I took a front row seat to watch the symphony of the sunlight dancing off the peaks as they lit up one by one and with each the light became that much closer to striking the one I was on. Reaching into my pack, I slipped on my gloves and my vest, and got my camera ready. I’ve seen the sun rise from over the ocean before, and I’ve seen the sun rise over the plains of Oklahoma. But that hardly prepared me for what I was about to see. I was now minutes away from my turn, and it appeared to me that as each mountain got awakened by the sun, they bowed down in reverence toward the sun, as if they were showing their appreciation for it rising another day. Then, as if somebody just aimed a flashlight directly in my face in the middle of the night, the sun rose between Redcloud and Sunshine and struck me awake from my numbness. The shutter on my camera clicked away furiously as I tried to capture the experience I had waited and wished for.

As I got my picture in every direction, the sun relentlessly kept rising and was eventually so high that the whole sky appeared bright. It was at this time that I realized how cold I was. The winds picked up from the west, and the cirrus clouds wisped above me. I put on my stocking cap and my jacket. I now had on every article of clothing I had with me. I peered down the east face of Handies and was in awe of it’s steepness. Then, I took the advice of a guy that’s climbed the Seven Summits. In his guidebook, Gerry Roach mentions that if civilization is pressing on you, spend an hour or two on the summit of Handies. Well Gerry, I spent a little over two hours in the early morning, alone, on the summit and even watched the sunrise. And I must say, I’m quite impressed. There are mountains in every direction that are so strikingly different they are easy to name.

I had so much time on the summit that I hiked down to the saddle on the north side of Handies Peak, and admired the view from there. I also peered down and took a picture of my car, now joined by one other way below. Then, I climbed up the definitely steeper approach to get myself back on top again. I signed the register, and contemplated life.

Not five minutes after I left the summit did Gugals radio me and inform me that he was having trouble sleeping with the hordes of cars that were pulling into the trailhead parking area. I could no longer see our tent, but could hear all the cars slowly making their way up the 4-wheel drive road. I began my slow walk down, stopping to take a couple pictures of Sloan Lake, since I couldn’t see it before. Sloan Lake is a lake at 12,900ft. That’s pretty high! As I got closer and closer to the trailhead I passed more and more people. Many of them were surprised to hear that I was already at the top and on my way down. There were probably 40 people on their way up.

I radioed Gugals and told him that he could start heading up if he wanted, I was there and could go to sleep in the tent and watch over our stuff. He made his way up and I gave him beta about the route, and told him that this was his mountain. He agreed. He knew he could do it.

After arriving back at the trailhead, I stretched out in my tent and napped. Then, at 12:10pm, Gugals radioed me to inform me that he was on the summit. I told him congratulations and then we both heard two *very* loud cracks of thunder. I told Gugals to get the heck off the summit now! I got no response.

It started as a light sprinkle, but grew to a louder rain. The storm clouds were invading Handies Peak from every direction and there was no avoiding what they brought with them. Lightning was striking nearby peaks and it was beginning to hail higher up near Sloan Lake. Which turns out was exactly where Gugals was. Gugals didn’t have a jacket, he was there in only his short sleeves and umbro shorts. So, one would think he would be trying to descend as quickly as possible. Nope. He was there filming the whole thing with his video camera. Around 1:30pm, I heard on the Radio from Gugals that he was 10 minutes from the tent. I was relieved to hear he was doing well and in good spirits. I crawled out of the tent to greet him and take his picture.

As we warmed up in the car, this group of about 15 came down the mountain and Gugals told me that they gave him food and company all the way to the top. Then, sure enough, one of them came over to our car and offered us a beer. She was an older woman who was into quilting she said. But it was mighty nice of her to offer us a Fat Tire after a week of climbing in the San Juans. She said anybody that can climb to the top of Handies at 4:30 in the morning deserves a beer. I was the first one to the summit on Handies and Gugals was the last. We talked about many things as Gugals offered them some of his 3lbs of pretzels he bought at King Soopers before our trip began. Then, after I told them my reasoning to getting up so early was to watch the sunrise from the summit, one of them realized that I must have seen Mars while I was hiking. I told her I did. I said it was so bright I didn’t know how anybody could miss it. She then told me that she woke in the middle of the night just so she could get the chance to view it. I asked her why? Then the truth was finally revealed that brought everything together….Mars is the closest its been in 60,000 years and it just so happened that I decided to do my night hike to the top of Handies during this special time. Wow. I got a really nice treat. No wonder it was so bright. After shaking hands, we took pictures of each other and then they left to head to Lake City and once again there Gugals and I were, the only ones at the American Basin trailhead.

We fired up my Dragonfly blowtorch, or I mean stove, and cooked the last of our dinners. Then, as if still on a schedule, we went to bed before 8pm for the fourth night in a row. Our plan was to wake up early and film now what we knew to be Mars with Gugals’ video camera. Also it would make for a cooler drive home and Cinnamon Pass would be less crowded at 5am.

At 5am we woke up and filmed Mars. It was again bright as ever. Then packed up our stuff and headed back towards Lake City and eventually Boulder. The drive home took just over 7 hours and was well worth it. We for once experienced no traffic delays as we were now heading back to Denver on a Friday…when everybody else would be heading towards the mountains.

What a week! I cannot wait until next summer to come back and do some of the other peaks in the area. This was truly the best mountain range I have been to, and will be looking forward to returning.

Drive: 30 min
Ascent: 1.75h
Summit: 2 h
Descent: 1.25h
Drive: 7.25h
Total: 5h

Sunshine Pk – North Slopes

Matt | August 5, 2003 | 14ers, Climbing, Trip Report | 3303 words and 1,052 views | no comments

Date: August 5, 2003
Elevation: 14,001′
Rank: 54th
Route: North Slopes, Grade II, Class 2, 11.4 miles, 4700ft vert.
GPS: N 37° 55.366′ W 107° 25.5′
Team: Matt Esser (Toid), Mark Jaeger (Gugals)

Pre-climb: The trip over to Silver Creek from San Luis took us about 3 hours on all the backroads and eventually Cinnamon Pass. It was again, gorgeous scenery as we slowly made our way up to the 10,400ft trailhead. As we were driving up, we realized we were closer to civilization, as there were about 10 cars at the trailhead on a Monday night! If anybody has seen Vertical Limit, the two Everest bums who just hung out at Base Camp in the movie, were well represented at this trailhead by these two guys from California. They were on a roadtrip just checking out the area. They just sat there on their chairs and seemed to talk to everybody that walked by them. They were still there when we left and they were still there after we climbed Handies the following day. I don’t know what they were doing, but they said they’ve climbed two fourteeners before. Don’t get me wrong, they were extremely nice and we gave them some food and talked to them most of the evening, it was just interesting to me and am making a note of it.

Climb: After making two more quick meals that can be purchased at REI, I quickly turned in to bed. I believe Gugals listened to his CD player a little before eventually falling asleep. The next morning came quickly, and I didn’t want to get up. Even if my head couldn’t remember, my body still remembered the long hike up San Luis the day before. How I put on my hiking boots at 7am that morning I still don’t know. By 7:20am I was on the trail making great pace up the Northeast Ridge on Redcloud.

As you hike around to the north, one get’s a view of the north face of Redcloud. It has a slight resemblance to Longs. Especially the hiking all the way around the mountain just to get to the side that has the least resistance. Once you leave the river, you begin to head up towards the saddle. Gugals stopped to film this avalanche that obviously occured during winter or spring. There was this mass of snow that was sprinkled with all sorts of trees that settled over the river. Meanwhile, I continued to make my way up towards the ridge.

Once on the saddle, the grass diminishes and rocks take over. The route also becomes very steep up until the 13,800ft false summit. After the false summit, there is a short little hike up to the top of Redcloud. I stood on the summit after 2h 45min. Gugals didn’t want to even attempt the route after the saddle. He thought it looked too steep and too loose. So he remained on the saddle for the next two hours while I would do the traverse over to Sunshine and come back down again.

In case you forgot which summit you were on, all you would have to do is look at your feet and the color of the rocks and you would remember that you’re standing on the appropriately named Redcloud. The rocks are all red in shade. I sat down and signed the summit register and noticed that there were two other people on the summit. I hadn’t seen them hiking, so they must have been up there for a while. They had been up there for about 45 minutes and mentioned that they camped up the trail a ways the night before, so that’s why they got an early start. I didn’t see anybody’s name on the summit register, so I asked them if they had signed it. They said no and didn’t know that’s what they were supposed to do. I thought nothing of it, and handed the canister over to them so they could write their names in the register.

Another guy from Boulder reached the top, and saw the couple placing the register back in the canister but caught them in time to sign it. He then saw what the couple had wrote and asked them what it’s like for Okies to be on the summit of a 14er. I then did a 180 degree turn, and said, “Okies? Where are you from?” They said Tulsa. Well, for those of you that don’t know, I’m originally from Bartlesville, which is 45 minutes north of Tulsa. I said I was from Bartlesville and they asked me my name. After I told them my name they asked if my dad was Rick Esser. Apparently, on the summit of Redcloud, at 14,034′, at about 10am in the middle of the San Juans somebody knows my dad by name. Unfortunately, I forgot their names, but it was still a pleasant surprise. They weren’t going to be heading over to Sunshine, but rather descending and driving into Lake City for the evening. They attended the University of Oklahoma. Where both my dad and I attended college.

The traverse over to Sunshine isn’t that hard. It’s a little over a mile, and took me about 45 minutes. At the saddle there is a sign that mentions not to descend down the steep scree. That wasn’t even a consideration for me. It looked way too steep to descend safely. I already had in my mind that I was going to climb back over Redcloud. Sunshine, the states lowest fourteener, a mere one foot above the magical 14,000ft level, is really a pile of rocks. The rocks are somewhat stable, but by the time you get to the top you’re sick of ascending what feels like a giant rock pile. I signed the register and the guy from Boulder showed up and we exchanged pictures and quickly headed back towards Redcloud. The traverse back was easier, because it isn’t as steep going up to Redcloud, but my motivation to hurry to the summit was gone, since I had already climbed it. So it took me a little longer to muster up the strength to make it back on top of Redcloud. There was at least one false summit that got my hopes up before I realized I wasn’t back on Redcloud yet.

From the summit of Redcloud I radioed Gugals and told him that I could see him still down there at the saddle. We agreed it would be cool for him to get out his video camera and zoom in on me from down there. So we did that. Then I began my slow descent down the loose rocks. More than one person offered me money for my trekking poles. I should have taken them up on it. One person (I don’t know if they were serious), offered me $100 for them.

Eventually I was back on the saddle and proudly took a picture of Gugals and his cairn that he built. Even though I’m not for building cairns I didn’t have the heart to tear it down in front of him.

The descent from the saddle was pretty easy, and we made good time down the trail. We could hear the storm clouds thundering in the distance, so we knew we needed to hurry and get down, hopefully to tree line before anything happened. But first there was one place we had to stop. The snow cave that was created from the avalanche. Gugals wanted me to video tape him walking through it. See the pictures to understand what I’m talking about. You’d just have to know this guy to understand why he wanted to do it.

After that short stop, we trekked on down to the trailhead. Once again those guys were sitting their in their camp chairs just laughing at everybody and how tired they looked. Gugals and I made our way over to the stream to soak our feet. We met a couple of girls there that climbed Redcloud/Sunshine the day before and were too tired to do anything else, so they just hung out all day by the river. While we talked to them we filtered water and snacked on trail mix and then packed up our stuff and drove up Cinnamon Pass to American Basin. Which is where we planned to spend the next two nights, camping at the 4×4 trailhead for Handies Peak.

Drive: 3h
Ascent: 2.75h
Summit: 30 min
Traverse: 45 min
Summit: 15 min
Traverse: 1h
Descent: 2.75h
Drive: 30 min
Total: 8h

Redcloud Pk – Northeast Ridge

Matt | August 5, 2003 | 14ers, Climbing, Trip Report | 3303 words and 1,172 views | no comments

Date: August 5, 2003
Elevation: 14,034′
Rank: 46th
Route: Northeast Ridge, Grade II, Class 2, 11.4 miles, 4700ft vert.
GPS: N 37° 56.45′ W 107° 25.283′
Team: Matt Esser (Toid), Mark Jaeger (Gugals)