Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Handies Peak

The last days of summer brought snow, then melting, to Handies Peak. Two grandmothers and a retired Kansas couple made it to the 14,048' top.
Spectacular wild scenery, black, russet, outlined in white, Gave us views different from the flower time of late July.
Congratulations to the "tough" hikers of Tuesdays this summer. You put out extra efforts and worked on conditioning. You conquered 10,000', 11,000', 12,000', 13,000', and two 14,000' peaks in one season. You trained on some long hikes at altitude, as well as some short, steep ones.
We've planned several autumnal hikes at somewhat lower exertion levels, probably shifting the times toward Mondays in mid-October. Later, we'll look for deep snow to challenge our snow shoes.
Next Tuesday, how about an auto tour of Fall colors. They are coming fast this week so we may catch them at their peak. Start at 9 a.m. at the Visitor Center in South Fork.
Buy lunch at Platoro's Skyline Lodge (bring your own if you eat sparingly). Then more color on the way home. We'll try to be back by 4 p.m., but you can come at your own pace.
Bring your cameras.  We'll give you several opportunities to make excellent, memorable, photos, even if it's cloudy.


Handies Trail--to the wall

 



Barb, Linda, Marilyn at the lake

 



High country Sloan Lake 

 



Zig-zag up to Handies Peak

 



Wayne&Linda nearing the top

 



Marilyn & the S. Wall

 



last flowers of summer Handies

 



red trucks look mighty good

 

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