Today our schedule for the day was to climb Handies Peak (I also did the bonus bi-centennial, Pt 13,795) and then set up base camp (somewhere above 12,400 ft) in American Basin. We had a great day and it went exactly as planned.
On the summit of Handies Peak (14,048 ft)
On the summit of bonus Bi-Centennial, Pt. 13,795
The Topo Map, with our approximate route and camp spot.
The Elevation Profile, for Handies and the bonus point, showing 4,900 ft of gain with 9.5 miles.
The San Juan mountains of Colorado have some of the most rugged, remote, and beautiful peaks. Erin and I wanted to try our hand at bagging several summits in one long weekend. Our three day schedule was jam packed:
Day 1: Handies Peak (With optional Bi-Centennial Pt. 13,795)
Day 2: American, Jones, and Niagara (As many as we could get of these!)
Day 3: Redcloud and Sunshine (With optional Centennials Pt. 13,832 and Pt. 13,811)
Thus, on a Wednesday, I drove to Erin’s and we filled Bertha with mountaineering gear, coolers, beer, and camp chairs. We were both giddy with excitement; to get the heck out of Denver and into the mountains.
Bertha on Cinnamon Pass Road
The Apostles
Ice Mountain Champions
The Ridge to North Apostle from Ice Mountain and the 14’er Huron in the Background
Doug enjoying the view of Huron (behind him) from North Apostle.
Doug and I left Denver mid afternoon on Friday, drove to the Apostles trail head, backpacked in a few miles, and camped above 11,000 ft. We woke up at 4:30am, climbed Ice Mountain and North Apostle, packed up camp, and hiked back to the trail head (in hail & rain), and drove back to Denver. A most excellent 24+ hours!
Every weekend, there are hundreds of people summitting Mt. Bierstadt via the standard West Slopes, from Guanella Pass. I was purposely putting off climbing Mt. Bierstadt because of my dislike for encountering hoards of people in the wilderness. Back in 2008, I had climbed Mt. Evans via the 2nd Apron and that was super fun…until I got to the summit and encountered the masses.
In talking with Erin about this, she suggested we overnight at Abyss Lake and climb Mt. Bierstadt from the Northeast side. We talked about doing the Sawtooth over to Evans, while we were there, as it looked like a bunch of fun.
Doing Mt. Bierstadt via Abyss Lake, turns the experience into an overnight backpack, which adds a bit of adventure and a great deal of mileage. It was 23.4 miles round trip with about 4,600 ft of elevation gain.
Victorious on Mt. Sneffels (14,157 ft)
Jeff Scrambling up to the Summit of Mt. Sneffels
The Amazing View! Cirque Mountain, Teakettle Mountain, and Potosi Peak.
Jeff and I climbed the uber classic southwest ridge of Mt. Sneffels.
Jeff had mentioned, on my Pigeon/Turret trip last summer, how he was interested in climbing the ridge route on Sneffels. In the meantime, I had heard nothing but good things about it from other folks in the Colorado Mountain Club.
So, finally, after thinking and dreaming about the route for year, I got to climb it! The southwest ridge did not disappoint; it truly is a classic ridge scramble and, as such, is featured as one of the premier routes in the CO Scrambles book.