Anyway, from Lake City (as measured from the bridge over Henson Creek), head south out of town about 2 miles to the turnoff (right) for Lake San Cristobal. Follow the road as it curves around the lake and becomes dirt at mile 6. This is the Cinnamon Pass road, and is pretty mellow for a few miles, but gets rougher as you head up the pass. At about mile 14, you'll bear right and head up the pass. This is where you'll need a high-clearance 2WD or a 4x4, as the road gets bumpy and narrow as it climbs up the valley. One thing I really noticed on this road is the heavy non-vehicle use. Lots of ATV's, horses, hikers, and mountain bikers to contend with, so make sure you're looking out for those folks. At about mile 17.7 you'll pass the Grizzly Gulch/Silver Creek trailheads, which offers access to Redcloud and Sunshine peaks (Silver Creek), and approaches to Handies Peak from the east. At about 21 miles, you'll bear left off the Cinnamon Pass road (as it begins a steep switchback) and into American Basin (it's really well signed). There's a little parking here for a few cars, but those with 4x4's can go another 0.9 miles into the basin to the obvious parking lot.

On the day I drove down (August 11^th), the weather was cool and cloudy, and I headed up to the basin with a wait-and-see attitude towards the weather. Even though intermittent rain showers were passing through the area, I decided to gear up and hit the trail, knowing it was is short and relatively straightforward hike. The trail starts off heading west into the upper reaches of American Basin, and it was here that I got pummeled by rain for about 10 minutes or so. Despite my raingear, I got pretty soaked, but the brisk winds dried me out almost as fast as I got wet. After the deluge, the skies cleared somewhat and I let out a sigh of relief. The well-defined trail angles west and south through the basin, and finally curves eastwards as you hike into the cirque below Handies south ridge. At this point, there is a new trail that has been cut by the forest service, and the old one is now closed for revegetation. Please obey the signs! Instead of heading straight up the south slopes, the trail curves slightly to the right and up to the edge of Sloan Lake, which is a beautiful alpine lake, brimming with cutthroat trout. From the lake, the trail angles east and attains a saddle point on the south ridge of Handies via a series of switchbacks. From the saddle, the summit is about a ¼ mile hike up the broad ridge.

At the summit, I had limited views due to fast-moving clouds, but I could briefly make out Uncompahgre to the north and Sneffels off to the west. The winds were pretty fierce, whipping around the summit at around 40+ mph. Noticing more weather approaching from the west, I hastily signed the register and snapped a few photos and took off down the ridge. The descent was fairly unremarkable, although I was pushing it pretty hard to beat the incoming weather. After a 90 minute ascent, I made it back to the trailhead in just under a hour, making the 2½ hour roundtrip one of the shortest 14er ascents I can remember. Still, it was a great warm-up for the next day, when I'd be attempting both Redcloud and Sunshine!