Miles: 7.3
Gain: 4200

This weekend my lovely wife Amanda was out of town, leaving me and the dog (Fawkes) to our own devices. I had never been to American Basin and figured this was a good opportunity to explore some 13ers that she wouldn't want to drive 6 hours for. Plus, it's a great time of year to hike!

It doesn't seem like American, Jones, and Niagara are done from American Basin in summer conditions frequently. Looking at the terrain, it seemed that the shortest and least steep couloir on the north side, known as Patriot, could be viable when dry. I decided to give it a shot, then link up Jones and Niagara for good measure.

After work on Friday, I drove home, swooped Fawkes, and started the long, mind-numbing drive at 5 PM out to Lake City. I got to the upper trailhead at about 11:45 PM Friday night, made some Mountain House, and tried to sleep (spoiler alert: it didn't work). Fawkes apparently found something very interesting out the window and spent the whole night huffing at it. Eventually, I got up, got dressed, and got on with it.

For this route, stay on the Handies trail until about 12.9 or 13k. Locate the couloir, find a good place to veer off (I found a use trail to Sloan lake that was convenient), and head toward the base.

Once I left the trail, I angled around the east (left) side of the lake, stopping only so Fawkes could freeze himself romping through the shallows. From there, I ascended a shallow, dark gully that leads away from the lake to the base of the climb.

From here, you have a daunting view. Steep, loose talus. Everyone's favorite! I initially tried ascending the middle of the couloir, but after 10 minutes of making next to no progress (not helped by the fact I was doing it one handed because I had Fawkes's leash in my hand), I realized straight up wasn't an option. However, the wall of the gully on the left side was nearby and appeared relatively solid, so I made my way toward it. Once there, I was able to ascend with relative ease, keeping one hand on the solid rocks, one on the leash, and utilizing the more solid holds of the couloir wall. In a situation in which I had two hands, the wall could be a fun little class 3 scramble. As it was, it was a little harrowing trying to keep from sliding down the loose talus, keeping my hold on the wall, and not getting pulled down the mountain by Fawkes every time he wanted to chase a butterfly.

Eventually, around 13.6k, you reach the top. From there, turn left and locate a followable trail (or just go up) toward the summit of American.

From there, I descended back to the top of the couloir and angled south toward the ridge toward Jones. Fortunately, you can avoid the summit of the large point on American's ridge and follow a faint trail to the saddle. For the most part, there is at least evidence of prior tracks in the area, so it's not difficult to stay on route. Though the ridge looks somewhat rough, it can be kept to class 2 fairly easily. It helps immensely to have a 45 pound Brittany pulling you up.

Niagara was the last objective. From Jones's summit, descend 150 feet of loose talus to reach a decent trail leading to the saddle with Niagara. From there, it's a pretty straightforward climb to the summit--just go up.

Yes, sadly, you have to reascend Jones on the way back to American Basin. However, it went quicker than expected and found ourselves on the summit in no time.

Rather than go back down the Patriot couloir, there's another route (sometimes used as an ascent route) that drops into American Basin from the far west side of American's ridge and deposits you in the far west of American Basin. Descend to the Jones/American saddle, but instead of contouring east around the large point, head west. There's a faint use trail headed that direction all the way to American Basin

Once at the low point in American's ridge, turn right and descend 200 feet of the loosest sand/dirt mix you'll ever run into. I didn't try to ascend this slope, but can only imagine it's horrendous. My technique for descending was "take a sidehill step, slide 10 feet, catch myself with my other foot, then repeat." Not graceful, but it got me down quick!

Once down the sand slope, you'll be deposited into a sea of rocks. There are scattered cairns in the area, but don't seem to lead anywhere productive. I followed the field to its low point, which ends in a gully. Fear not, the gully goes! it's not too bad. You can also veer out of the gully partway through and descend a grassy slope. Once down, it's just a short jaunt back to the Handies trail.

After finishing the route, it's clear why this isn't a frequent summer ascent route. However, without a dog and with two free hands, Patriot works just fine (as long as there's no one below you!). This trio made for a wonderful day in the San Juans!