Sunshine, RC, Handies- road status

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
    For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
Hunter
Posts: 562
Joined: 8/9/2006
14ers: 35 
Trip Reports (4)
 

Sunshine, RC, Handies- road status

Post by Hunter »

Anyone have current road conditions? Heading up next week. How narrow is the 'shelf road'. Traveling in a late model 4WD Tundra. Thanks for your help.
"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."
User avatar
Kiefer
Posts: 1747
Joined: 5/10/2008
14ers: 58  39 
13ers: 317 24
Trip Reports (20)
 
Contact:

Re: Sunshine, RC, Handies- road status

Post by Kiefer »

Road is clear to the TH. Actually, road is plowed to Cinnamon Pass. The shelf part isn't too bad/narrow if that's your concern. I drove .6 mile past the TH in a Mercury Cougar 3 weeks ago.
You'll have no problems.
User avatar
Hunter
Posts: 562
Joined: 8/9/2006
14ers: 35 
Trip Reports (4)
 

Re: Sunshine, RC, Handies- road status

Post by Hunter »

Thanks Kiefer. Appears snowshoes will be mandatory next weekend. Anyone have trail beta they can share on specifics?
"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."
User avatar
3rdGenNative
Posts: 152
Joined: 12/20/2007
14ers: 30 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Sunshine, RC, Handies- road status

Post by 3rdGenNative »

Snowshoes would be ideal. I've been told that the Handies approach from both Grizzly Gulch and American Basin is currently holding 4-6' of snow. The summit looked pretty clear but the valleys are socked in.
Last edited by 3rdGenNative on Fri Jun 13, 2014 2:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"There is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it, perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will never again settle for less."
Kurt Hahn-Founder of Outward Bound

"Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God." George Washington Carver
User avatar
JROSKA
Posts: 544
Joined: 8/19/2010
14ers: 50 
13ers: 5
Trip Reports (11)
 

Re: Sunshine, RC, Handies- road status

Post by JROSKA »

I was up there on Monday / Tuesday with a Jeep Patriot, and had no issues with the shelf road. I parked at Grizzly Gulch / Silver Creek TH. FYI, I put up a conditions report for Redcloud's standard route on Tuesday June 10. In my opinion, no need for snowshoes on that route. I was crossing snowfields on the way down, relatively late (11 AM) and only experienced a few minor ankle-deep post-holes. It did appear that there was much more snow on Handies, and also on Sunshine's North Slopes route, so maybe snowshoes would be needed there. But as for Redcloud's standard route, I think you'd be just fine with waterproof boots, gaiters, and an early start. Here is a picture I took of Handies as I ascended Redcloud.

Handies PeakImage
“Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.” - Ecclesiastes 1:10-11
User avatar
Hunter
Posts: 562
Joined: 8/9/2006
14ers: 35 
Trip Reports (4)
 

Re: Sunshine, RC, Handies- road status

Post by Hunter »

Thanks JROSKA and 3rdGenNative.
"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."
User avatar
Moraine14
Posts: 65
Joined: 7/11/2011
14ers: 11 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Sunshine, RC, Handies- road status

Post by Moraine14 »

Does anyone know how the road conditions/stream crossing to the American Basin TH is currently looking? Thanks in advance for any beta.
User avatar
San Juan Ron
Posts: 1219
Joined: 6/15/2006
14ers: 39 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Sunshine, RC, Handies- road status

Post by San Juan Ron »

The road is fairly good up to the American Basin turnoff and you can then proceed maybe .25 mile into American Basin to where the road crosses the river. There is a snow drift maybe 20 yards from the river that prevents you from getting all the way to the summer TH. However, there is parking close to the river (both side). SJ Ron
"The mountains are calling and I must go" -- Muir
Post Reply