Handies Peak: A Special Colorado Fourteener

“What’s your favorite fourteener?” I’m often asked.

“Handies,” I say without hesitation.

I’ve climbed this 14,048-foot mountain five times, more than any other of the thirty-two fourteeners that I’ve summited. Why?

My short answer: it’s easy!

Or so I thought until this past October when my husband Dave and I climbed a nonstandard route to the summit with our Labrador retrievers, Ranger and Betty.  For some reason, this magical mountain didn’t seem as easy as I remembered.

Ranger had climbed Handies three previous times; Dave five times, and me, just four. We’d always hiked from the American Basin trailhead where a Class 1 trail starts and continues for less than three miles as it ascends 2,500 feet to Handies’ rounded summit.

Each time we’d climbed, we’d driven by the start of the second easiest Handies route which begins at Grizzly Gulch. This Class 2 trail goes for four-plus miles one way, with an elevation gain of 3,650 feet.

This year, Dave and I decided that we’d try the Grizzly Gulch approach to experience new views on the way to Handies’ summit.

One early October morning, we bundled up in 24-degree weather before setting out on this route, first crossing a river and then climbed 260 steps (built by the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative and counted on our descent!) before we reached a meadow.  We took off some layers of clothing as the sun hit the trail which continued through the forest until it broke out onto tundra, near a partially frozen stream. The dogs didn’t mind the frigid water and cooled off before we continued on. We hiked up and up on a well-maintained trail, across some talus and then up more steeply through additional talus.

Our effort was rewarded by views that we hadn’t previously seen. We also didn’t encounter other hikers― a true luxury on any Class 1 or 2 trail in Colorado― and unexpected because Handies has become more and more popular even though it’s tucked away near Lake City in southwestern Colorado.

Thankfully, Dave lost and then recovered, his camera’s lens cap. The five-minute search gave me time to rest though Betty and Ranger couldn’t understand the delay. Once on the ridge, we put them on leashes because of tempting places to roll on snow cornices that gave way to steep drop-offs. Once on the summit, the dogs avoided the only person already there― a solo climber, who sported a “clown’s nose,” intently looked at his phone, and gave off “leave me alone” vibes.  We did! But he warmed up a bit and chatted briefly with us before he descended. We were left alone to enjoy the vast views, including those of mountains that we had previously climbed.

Betty had just summited her second fourteener and Ranger had now climbed a 14,000-plus-foot mountain thirty-two times, including fifteen different fourteeners!

After lunch, a four-month-old puppy named Jackson, and his youthful and cheerful owner, with a pack large enough to carry the pup, reached the summit from the American Basin approach. Mother Betty first greeted the somewhat timid pup that soon became enthralled with Ranger and vice versa. Jackson’s owner kindly offered beef jerky to Ranger and Betty, and we exchanged photo-taking duties. After applying Mushers Secret to the dogs’ paws for the descent, we said goodbye to our new friends― Jackson’s owner and a young, friendly woman who’d doted on the dogs after also reaching the summit via the American Basin trail.

As we hiked down, I recalled that Handies was the first fourteener that I’d enjoyed and even considered climbing again.

Several years before I met Dave, a work colleague invited me to join him for a summer walk in the mountains. I envisioned a stroll among the wildflowers on that hot summer day, so I wore shorts, a T-shirt and hiking boots and carried a small pack, with a bit of water and food. My friend invited along another friend who I later discovered had been an Olympic track star!

The outing wasn’t a walk in an alpine meadow. It was an off-trail climb― as there weren’t any trails then― from Guanella Pass to the summit of a nearby fourteener- Mt. Evans! I was in serious trouble. Totally unprepared. At least I was younger than I am now!

After I summitted with my companions, we descended in the most direct way possible but only after my friend loaned me a hat and took my pack.  By the time we reached our car, it was dark and I was exhausted. My blistered feet took weeks to recover. I vowed never to climb another fourteener.

Several years later, I met Dave. He heard my tale of woe but somehow managed to convince me to try to climb four fourteeners on our first summer vacation. Climbing Mt. Democrat wasn’t too bad and helped instill a bit of confidence in me that I could climb a fourteener without becoming exhausted. Mt.  Princeton was just okay.

Handies was next. We hiked the standard route from American Basin along social trails until they ended well below the saddle. We made our way up the tundra to the saddle and then found a lightly-used social trail to the summit.

Two flatlanders reached the summit as we ate lunch and enjoyed the views. Storm clouds quickly rolled in, so we asked the tired-looking men if they wanted us to drive them from the trailhead to their vehicle that was parked over another pass. They gratefully accepted our offer.

Between that summer in 1991 and 2007, Dave and I climbed other fourteeners, often with our adopted Labrador Max, and sometimes with his “niece” Brew.

In 2008, I wondered if Taz, our heart-of-gold yellow Lab that had a myriad of orthopedic issues, could climb Handies. After all it was easy.  And we’d hiked more and more with her and her eleven-year-old mother Brew that summer.  But the round-trip distance of 5.75 miles with a 2,500-foot elevation gain would be longer and much higher than Taz had ventured. Could she do it? Of all the easy fourteeners, Handies had the best soft footing. Our vet gave the go-ahead for Taz.

We decided to camp just beyond the Grizzly Gulch trailhead. Brew and Taz hadn’t camped before but settled in nicely on their shared therma rest pad next to us in our tent. Sometime during the night, Taz became cold or lonely and moved onto Dave’s sleeping bag to sleep. Brew also abandoned her comfy pad and claimed part of my sleeping bag. The dogs slept well; the humans didn’t!

The next morning, Taz and Brew were energized, ready for a new adventure. I wasn’t and later learned that I had a stomach bug.  But I knew that this was probably our only chance to climb Handies with both dogs.

American Basin was as beautiful as I’d remembered. And we discovered that a developed trail had been established, sometime after 1991.

Taz and Brew enjoyed some marmot poop snacks whenever I took short breaks. As we neared Sloan Lake, about halfway up the dirt-packed trail, they spotted a huge snowbank, and rolled and rolled!  We continued on a few hundred feet off the main trail to the lake and both dogs plunged into the cold water.  After their swim and snacks, we started up the nicely groomed trail, walked a short stretch of talus and then hiked along long switchbacks to the saddle.

From there, a well-defined trail led steadily to the rounded summit. What an accomplishment for our furry friends: Taz’s first (and only) fourteener, and Brew, her fourth at age eleven. On the summit, we met a flatlander who insisted that he be photographed with Taz because they both had just climbed their first fourteener!

For Taz and Brew’s enjoyment, we stopped again at Sloan Lake and then the snowbank as we retraced our steps to the trailhead. What a fabulous day! My only regret was that we couldn’t camp a second night in such a beautiful area because we expected company the following morning at home.

When Ranger was almost twenty-two months old, I decided he was old enough to climb Handies with Auntie Layla. We enjoyed the luxury of staying in our travel trailer the night before our ascent, again from the American Basin trailhead. Just as our previous dogs had done years before, Auntie Layla and Ranger romped in a snowbank and swam in the lake. We also all enjoyed the new and improved trail up from the turnoff to the lake.

Two years later in 2015, a good friend of Dave’s wanted to climb Handies with his dog Dutch, one of Ranger’s pals. Auntie Layla and I joined the foursome, again starting from American Basin. We’d all been hiking that summer and Dave had finished climbing all of Colorado’s 58 fourteeners just a week prior. This time, the climb seemed like a relative breeze to us all. Auntie Layla was nearly ten but in excellent health, and Ranger was his usual exuberant self.

Only now, after traveling down memory lane, do I realize why Handies is my favorite fourteener. It’s easy and surrounded by gorgeous scenery with far-ranging views from the summit. And it also holds lots of happy memories and accomplishments of our beloved furry friends. When I recall each climb, I picture happy creatures, rolling in snowbanks, swimming in Sloan Lake, and cooling off in an icy stream. It’s always a day spent relishing the spectacular scenery sans crowds and cherishing the special time spent with our loyal companions. And it’s far enough away from home to make us feel like we are truly on vacation and free of everyday worries and chores!

COVER PHOTO: Betty (l) and Ranger wait while Cary catches her breath and Dave looks for his camera’s lens cap.

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