Roundtrip Mileage/Elevation Gain -- 7.6 miles/3,650 ft.

This was Day 2 of a long planned San Juans trip for Jeremy, Ian, and me.  The original plan had called for us to hike Uncompahgre Peak.  However, Jeremy rather abruptly decided that he was done with the trip after only one day and he decided to head back to Denver with the Jeep.  That left Ian and me with Ian's Honda Civic -- not exactly the type of car that one would take up a 4-WD road.  That eliminated Uncompahgre Peak as a possibility (we really didn't want to hike the entire Nellie Creek road), so Ian and I decided that we'd see if the Civic could handle the road to Handies Peak.

We got an early start back to Lake City (memo to those hiking mountains near Lake City -- stay in Lake City!) and had an uneventful drive back to the trailhead.  Ian's Civic handled the road well, and we decided to hike from the Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch trailhead as the road appeared to get much rougher going up to American Basin.

All in all, the hike up Handies Peak was very enjoyable.  This was another gorgeous basin.  The only part of the climb that I really didn't enjoy was the last 500 or so feet up from the saddle.  The trail was quite eroded, but wasn't terrible.

After a few minutes on the summit (shared with a number of hikers who had come up from American Basin), we headed back down and to the car, and then back to Lake City.

Our first view of Handies Peak. Me with Handies in the background. Wispy morning clouds over the summit. A look up at the summit from the saddle. View of Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre in the distance. A look up at the final talus and scree climb to the summit. A short ridge walk to the summit. Suprisingly little solitude even on a Friday in the San Juans. Me and Ian on the summit. Me on the summit. Ian begins the descent. A look back down into the gulch from the saddle. Ian on the hike back out to the car.