|
After a pleasant night at 11,500' in American Basin following
the ascent of Redcloud Peak the day before, I woke up at 7:00 a.m. to
bag Handies Peak. I was a bit cloudy, but overall good weather. I was at the
time following generally accepted peak bagging criteria, so the notion of not
gaining 3,000 absolute feet didn't cross my mind. The route ascended the Western Slopes
in the shade, which was welcome. I was making good time and reached the switchbacks
in about an hour. On the right is a view of Handies' West Slopes from our campsite.
|  |
 |
The switchbacks also went by rather quickly, and all of the training I had been
doing in NM had paid off. I ran for a good portion of the switchbacks, and reached the Southern
saddle in 1:55. There were a few thin clouds making the surroundings somewhat foggy. The views of
"American Peak", Point 13,735, and Half Peak were all astounding. The view South from the saddle
is shown in the photo on the left.
|
| I arrived at the final stretch to the summit (photo on right). This point was reached from steep gravel, which tested my patience
somewhat. I was looking forward to viewing our campsite from the summit, but unfortunately the clouds
shrouded the view. The hike down was uneventful and went by quickly, reaching the truck at a little after 11:30 a.m.
I began to contemplate the logic behind what counts as a true ascent of a peak, and having abandoned an attempt
to traverse to Sunshine Peak made it a little easier to dismiss traverses as valid climbs. This meant not counting Torreys
which we traversed to from Grays a month earlier. I also couldn't fathom counting sub 3,000' vertical climbs when I really
got to thinking about it. Thus, while I did summit Handies, I can't count this climb as a true ascent.
|  |