Handies Peak By Way of Grouse Gulch

There are 58 peaks over 14,000ft (4267m) in Colorado and it seems like one of the things you do when in Colorado is climb a 14er. Fortunately there was one not to far from Silverton, Co where I was camping, Handies Peak. It is one of the more accessible peaks and relatively easy one to summit at 14,058ft (4284m).
One of there reasons I wanted to come to the Silverton area is because the Hardrock100 mile trail race is starts and finishes in Silverton. It is considered on of the more difficult mountain races in the US with over 33,197ft (10118m) of elevation gain and loss. After seeing the race coverage from the past few years I wanted to see the town and surrounding San Juan mountains.
After deciding to do Handies Peak I needed to decide which route to take. From what I can tell there are 3 main routes to choose from.
Grizzly Gulch Trail Head to Hands: 7.8 miles (12.55km) 3628ft (1105m) elevation gain
American Basin to Handies Peak: 5.3 miles (8.52km) 2440ft (743m) elevation gain
Grouse Gulch to Handies Peak: 9.4 miles (15km) 4527ft (1379m) elevation gain
I chose the Grouse Gulch trail head option partly because it is a small segment of the Hardrock 100 course and I wanted to see what the runners will experience. The other reason it was the closest trail head to drive to. The last 3 miles to the trail head was on the Alpine Loop, which is a Jeep, OHV, or high clearance road. The road is narrow with shear drop offs and rough to very rough and you are only able to travel at about 5 mph (8 kph) and that seem to fast at times. At one point the road got to rough and gnarly for me that I stopped shout of the trail head by 1/2 - 3/4 of a mile and started my day demo there.
I started toward the summit about 8:20 and the starting elevation was 10,789ft (3288m). I soon realized that this was going to be a long slow day and hadn’t acclimatized to the elevation yet. The first 2.5 miles (4k) was a steady climb to the top of Grouse Gulch at 13,023ft (3969m) before dropping down the other side to 12,442ft (3792m) and joining the American Basin Trail that leads to the summit of Handies Peak. The first part of the American Basin Trail is generally a steady climb, but there are a few flat spots that allow you to get a bit of a break. As the summit gets closer the switchbacks start, so you know the trail is getting steeper. The last stretch is straight up and steep, no switchbacks and on lose gravel. But it is quite rewarding reaching the top. Stayed at the top and chatted with another guy that had hiked up from American Basin for a little bit. We took pictures with a cardboard sign thats left at the top.
It was time to start descending down. The only part I was’t looking forward to was the 1500ft (457m) climb I had to do to get back to the top of Grouse Gulch before finally getting to descend back to the trail head.
There were quite few people on the trail and most were friends stopped and chatted with them. Took quite a few pictures for people along the way.
I think the only thing I would do different is acclimatize a little longer if possible. My actual moving time was only 4:31. So I spent 2 hours stopping to catch my breath, granted some of that was at the summit and some was just stopping to enjoy the beauty that I was surrounded with. But after about a week in the Silverton area I was acclimated and hiking, running and walking became much easier.
My final stats according to my Garmin are below.
Miles: 9.97 (16k)
Time to Summit: 3:54
Time back to the trail head: 2:32
Total Time: 6:26
Elevation Gain: 4881ft (1487m)
#speedgoat50k #g2g2024 #colorado #silverton #grousegulch #handies #14ers #tryhardthings #challengeyourself #getoutside #putasmileonsomeonesface #wakeupwiththebirds #trailrunning #cautionslowrunner #speakupformentalhealth #thankful #luckyman #blessed

[@TrailStrider909]

Now this is a good day!! Nice stuff my friend. 1:10 is spectacular!

[@wanderedaway441]

@@TrailStrider909 thanks, it was a fun, hard but fun!

[@TrailStrider909]

@@wanderedaway441 Like anything that is totally worth it!!

[@kimsitmer7462]

Noticed you drive hugging the left side of the road!

[@wanderedaway441]

lol, ha ha ha , That must just be the camera angle.....

[@JTrain8]

You drive to grouse gulch from Silverton I assume. Do you need 4WD?

[@wanderedaway441]

I’ll say yes, but I saw a mini van and small SUV’s at the trail head. I have a GMC 2500 4wd. You are taking a risk without some extra clearance.