American Peak/Handies Peak (2)

Statistics

• Date - 06/11/2022
• Elevation - 14,048'
• Route - Victory Couloir/Southwest Slopes
• Miles - 7.5
• Elevation Gain - 3,470'
• ACME Mapper - Link
• CalTopo - Link
• Partners - Not Applicable

Description

I had a really busy spring and wasn't able to get the mountains for quite some time.  I had an open weekend, so I drove down the the American Basin to hike American Peak, which is a new Colorado Centennial Peak for me.  I only have a handful of these mountains left to climb, so I made the long drive to summit American Peak and complete a moderate snow climb since conditions were favorable.  I was able to drive all the way to the four-wheel-drive trailhead.  I ascended the Victory Couloir and descended the Patriot Couloir back to Sloan Lake.  To make the trip more worthwhile, I dropped back down to Sloan Lake and then also hiked Handies Peak for a second time up the southwest slopes to get more elevation in.  I last hiked Handies Peak in 2005 via the east slopes route.

Photos

American Peak on the left the evening before my hike.

Approaching the north face of American Peak.

Looking up the Victory Couloir from the base of the climb.

Looking down the snow climb about half way up.

Looking up the snow climb about half way up.

American Basin and Sloan Lake from the summit of American Peak.

Handies Peak from the summit of American Peak.

Niagara Peak and Jones Mountain from the summit of American Peak.

Summit Photo (American Peak)

Starting up Handies Peak.

Summit Photo (Handies Peak)

Grizzly Gulch

The north face of American Peak and its many couloirs.

Looking back down American Basin towards the trailhead on the way out.