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)
Handies Pk Trip Report:
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.
Pictures: (Click on picture for caption)
Time:
| Drive |
Ascent |
On Summit |
Descent |
Drive |
Total |
| 30 min |
1.75 h |
2 h |
1.25 h |
7.25 h |
5 h |
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