Handies Peak
14,048’
August 13, 2013
54/54/25
The Project is still alive; just moving a little slow this
year. After a rained out attempt to bike
Pikes Peak earlier this season, I finally found a few days to sneak away to try
to get in a couple of peaks. With my
usual partners tied up with family or on vacation in Hawaii, I headed down to
Lake City, prepared to attempt these peaks on my own. At least I thought I was prepared and all set
as I left the Fort. However, just before
the Copper Mountain exit on I-70 I suddenly realized that I had forgot my pack,
with all of my hiking essentials inside, and my hiking poles.
Now what? I was too
far from home to go back and then head out again. I just past what of been my best chance of
finding a pack in Dillon. I figured I would at least go to Leadville and look
around for a suitable pack, hopefully without breaking the bank. Strolling around downtown Leadville I only
found one real gear store, but the packs were more money that I wanted to spend. Maybe Buena Vista? It was only another 30
minutes or so down the road, plus I can easily head home from there if I had no
luck. B.V. was the same story as Leadville: one store and way too
expensive. Now I had to make a decision.
Push on even longer to Gunnison in the hope of finding a pack, or call it a day
and head home. Gunnison is a college right?
They have to have something there.
Just as I left B.V. I remembered that there was a pawn shop at the edge
of town. A quick stop there and I found
an L.L. bean school-bag backpack that would do in a pinch.
The drive from Salida to Gunnison is absolutely beautiful! It
was my first time in this part of Colorado, even after living here over 15
years. I can’t wait to bring the family
back down this way. As I drove onward I
started thinking, about what I had in the car to replace my essentials that I
left behind. I knew there was a headlamp
in the Xterra, as well as a first aid kit.
I figured I could pick up some 1 liter water bottles at a gas station if
nothing else, though I thought I had a few Nalgenes hiding under seats
somewhere. I was happy to find out that Gunnison had a Walmart. Being such a gear head (not a gear snob) I had
looked at other Walmarts and noticed that they carry a good selection of hiking
backpacks and the Gunnison store had a much larger selection than I had seen in
other stores. After trying on several I
decided on one that actually came with a water bottle. Bonus! From no, to 2 packs
within 90 minutes. The climb was on!
I was a little worried about the drive up to Handies, out of
Lake City. I figured that Xterra could
handle anything this road threw at it, but I was not as assured about my off-road
driving abilities. As the road climbed
and serpentine its way toward American Basin, I hugged the non-drop-off side. My wife would not have made it up this
road! I only had 1 really sketchy spot before
reaching the turn-off to American Basin. I actually got out and walked the road
ahead to make sure that I could make it over a small rocky section. As I drove
over the rocks I could feel the wheels spin a little before gripping and
pushing me forward. The reported crux of
the drive was reported to be once you got off the main road and head into
American Basin. I must say I did not
find this section to be any worse than anything I had already driven. What was a great surprise was how quickly the
scenery went from beautiful to spectacular!
This was why I choose the route, even though it is a little short of the
3000’ elevation gain. American Basin’s beauty lived up to everything that it
was hyped up to be, and better yet I had it to myself, as I was the only car in
the parking lot. Within 30 minutes I was
joined by another car, whose occupants quickly headed up the trailhead for an
evening ascent of the peak.
I spent the time before turning in for the evening, cooking
dinner and scrounging though the Xterra for supplies to fill my pack. I was
happy to be here as I was not sure if this trip was going to come off. Colorado has had a really wet monsoon season
this year, and this area had been getting heavy rains this past week. However,
this evening there was not a single cloud in the sky. As I bivied in the back
of the Xterra for the night I was optimistic about a blue sky day for tomorrow.
The alarm sounded, once again way to early, at 5 a.m. Peering out the window, I could see a sky
full of stars, and decided to push my luck a little and get a little more sleep
before heading out. Memoires of past
storms though, had me out of the sleeping bag and on the trail by 5:30. It was light enough that I did not need my
headlamp, which was good since it did not want to work correctly. I set off at
a slow pace. My legs felt good, but my
breathing was labored.
Even though the trail was never overly steep, my mind was
full of doubt. Could I make it on my
own? Was my mind in the "game”? Do I want to make it? At times, as I ascended it was really tough
to keep myself motivated. A great reason
to have a partner along. While I did not get noticeably stronger as I climber,
I did not get weaker either. I kept a
steady pace all the way to the summit which I reach at 8:15, which was a little
ahead of my schedule.
All my doubts disappeared as I set my feet upon the summit. I had made it all on my own! Mental toughness often is much more important
the physical toughness. I do not know
how one develops mental toughness, other than with experience. It is not something that can be taught, only
earned. I had the summit to myself for
30 minutes, when I was joined by a couple who had come up from the Grizzly
Creek trailhead.
The descent went quickly.
I stopped and sat by Sloan Lake.
While the lake bottom looked sterile, the water was a beautiful aquamarine. I could have spent all afternoon lakeside,
just staring into the water and at the ridge above it, but a few clouds were
beginning to move in, and I still had places to go today, so I headed down
after a 30 minute break. Shortly after the lake I ran into a group of marmots
that paid me very little attention, even as I passed within 2-3 feet of them.
There were several young marmots in the group.
This was the first time I had ever seen young marmots, during my
mountain ramblings.
Shortly before reaching the car, a light rain moved in. Not
enough to cause me to stop and put on a rain jacket, but enough to make me glad
I was not in the group that just passed me on their way up at this late hour. I
made it back to the car about 5 hours after beginning my day. This was the
easiest 14er that I have done, along with being one of the most scenic. It was a great one to officially start my
season off with.
The drive out of the basin back down to Grizzly Creek
trailhead, for Redcloud and Sunshine peaks tomorrow, went much smoother than the
drive in, with gravity working in my favor.
There was more traffic than I passed on the way in yesterday, but I did
not have any difficulty passing on the narrow roads. Once to the Grizzly Creek trailhead, I would
spend the rest of the day, resting and preparing for tomorrow’s peaks.
