Enchantments Trip

June 30 - July 3rd , 2006

Trip Report | Photos

There are more & larger versions of the embedded photos in my gallery here.

This year’s Enchantments trip was FAR less organized than last year’s and I promise that the trip report will be MUCH shorter than last year’s too. Like last year, we had some last minute changes to the attendee list and when all the dust settled, Mike, Chris, Vlad, Eva, Claire, Greg, Andrew and myself all hooked up in Leavenworth for breakfast at 7:30am on Friday morning. You all know everyone but Greg & Andrew. Greg is a friend of mine from Bellingham. Andrew is a friend of his.

After a leisurely breakfast of bacon with a side of waffles we hit Safeway for some last minute food type stuffs then were off to the trailhead 15 minutes outside of town. As usual, it took forever to get organized at the trailhead. It was 11:00 by the time we finally started up the trail. A respectable start to what I intended to be a weekend full of slacking and underachievement.

The trail to Colchuck Lake is pretty tame but it was hot so we weren’t breaking any speed records. We popped out at the lake at 2:00 and I urged everyone to keep going to the far end of the lake with the promise of a beautiful white sand beach where we could go for a swim, take a nap, eat lunch, etc.

Unfortunately when we got there we realized that the beach was under water so we had to make do with lunch on a rock.

I managed to spill my last liter of Gatorade as we were packing up to leave. Mike had already put his Katadyne filter away so I borrowed Vlad’s. OMG that thing is slooooooooooooow! Everyone but Chris had already left by the time I emerged from the lake shore with aching arms and 800ml of water. It was my turn with the rope and now I also had the filter. At first I thought my pack must be stuck on something but no.. it was just damn heavy.

We had timed it perfectly to hit Aasgard pass at the hottest time of day. I was lagging way behind and after about 15 minutes I was seriously considering radioing for help. My knees were on fire. I’d just crossed over some steep, slippery rocks in a creek when my radio tried to commit suicide. It fell about 8 feet down. This was enough to elicit a full blown temper tantrum complete with cursing and gear throwing from me. Right then, 8 feet seemed like a very long way. I felt somewhat better after however and decided to knuckle down and just get it done. I cranked up the head banger music and started singing to take my mind off the pain in my knees. I was in the zone. I soon passed Chris & Claire. I wasn’t moving quickly but I refused to stop for anything. In another 30 min I was surprised to see Greg up ahead of me. Bon Jovi got me up and past Greg, Andrew, Vlad & Eva and then it was time for Metallica which motored me up to Mike who had made it up in a record hour and a half. Seems that the secret to Aasgard is to just not stop.

From the top of the pass it wasn’t long before we found a camp site which was right next to last year’s spot that was still covered in snow. It felt pretty good to take the pack off and relax. Everyone was in camp before sunset and we had loads of goats come to greet us. After dinner we all hit the sack for a much deserved sleep.

Day 2 – Dragontail & Colchuck

The weather was perfect again and we were all looking forward to a relatively easy day with nearby Dragontail & Colchuck as our objectives.

It only took us about 30 minutes to hike over to the base of the Dragontail glacier. The glacier was looking like a far friendlier place this year as almost all the rocks were still covered in a blanket of snow. The glacier is steep but the runout is pretty benign so we didn’t rope up. The snow was soft enough to kick good steps.

We made it up in good time, stopping a few times for pictures and snow skirmishes along the way.
The view from the col is breathtaking. Mount Rainier and Adams pop into view immediately as you come over the top.

We all stopped to admire them for a little while before continuing up the final rock scramble to the summit. There’s a bit of a trial but I found it was more fun to stay on the rocks in search of low 5th moves. In no time we were all standing atop 8840ft Dragontail Peak with views of the sparkling green waters of Colchuck Lake, Colchuck and 9415ft Stuart which looks absolutely massive, Rainier, Adams and the Upper Enchantments basin.

We hung out for a while enjoying the sunshine and the views and trying to figure out our next move.

We descended back to the col, and then traversed a steep snow slope under the Dragontail ridge to a snow gully called “Pandora’s Box.” We’d watched a goat fall down this section as we’d been descending from the summit so we knew it was going to be steep.

The snow was pretty good though so we were able to kick good steps in the 50 degree slope. I set the rope up when I got to the top for the others behind me in case anyone wanted a hand line but I think most of us managed to get up without it.

When we got to the top we could see that we still had a loooong way to go to get over to Colchuck. Andrew, Vlad, Claire & I scrambled up to the highest point on the ridge just for fun before heading down the steep snow slope towards the Colchuck col. It kinda sucked losing all the elevation we’d just gained but it was such a beautiful day and we were all having fun (with the exception of Eva who wisely decided that she’d pushed her luck on her bad ankle as far as she should and opted to wait for us at the top of Pandora’s Box).

We scrambled down rock and snow slopes to the col where we’d been turned back by weather a month ago. We met a skier who was just head down the Colchuck glacier so I snapped a few pics of him on his way down. Then we headed up Colchuck which is a fun rock scramble most of the way with one nice long flat section just below the 8705ft summit. Both Mike & I hit a wall shortly before the summit but managed to drag our weary bones up to the top before stopping for a much needed lunch break. The others trickled in over the next 45 min or so. The view of Stuart from Colchuck is very seductive. I can’t wait to get up that one! We could hear ice cleaving off the glacier and crashing down the steep slopes.

Getting back to camp was a fairly simple matter of retracing our steps… down and up and down and up and down and up.

The Dragontail glacier had firmed up quite a bit and was downright icy in spots so we put our crampons on. Mike’s crampons were being quite rebellious but he finally whipped them into submission.

We were back in camp 7 hours after we’d left with 2 big peaks under our belts. We even had some very sexy gaiter sunburns to show off. Not a bad day out!

Day 3 – Prusik Peak

After a rough night during which two baby goats decided to circle our tents all night long crying, we stumbled out of our sleeping bags to face another day. Greg, Andrew, Mike and I were planning to climb the West Ridge of Prusik Peak. Chris was planning to study all day but we talked him into accompanying us to Gnome Tarn where he could watch us climb and take pictures of us. Vlad, Eva & Claire had plans to visit the summit of Cannon.

By about 11:00 Greg, Andrew, Mike and I were huddled under the balancing rock at the start of the climb trying to get out of the infamous wind. Andrew and I had both climbed this route before but couldn’t agree on where to start so we decided to part ways and race up to the ridge. I wish someone would just take some spray paint to the start of this climb because it is NOT obvious where to start. I headed over in the direction of where we’d done it last year and started up. I knew I wasn’t on the right route because this was most definitely not 5.4 but it was a fun climb for the first couple of pitches and I knew I was headed in the right general direction. Andrew scared the crap out of me by suddenly appearing around the corner at the top of the second pitch. They’d decided they were off route and hung out on the comfy ledge we were at to see if I could make our route go. I climbed myself up to an overhanging bit where I decided that it was time for a conference. The boys said they wouldn’t climb it anyway so there was little point in me continuing. I was well beyond my comfort zone so I got Mike to lower me off a nut I hoped I wouldn’t need later, back down to the ledge below.

We decided to make a fresh start and rapped back down to the trail then headed back to the balancing rock. Andrew & Greg decided they were done for the day but Mike and I were determined to finish the job. I fired myself from route finding. Mike had explored a bit and thought he’d found a route that would go so I followed him up the first pitch and a half or so. It was easy scrambling so we didn’t bother roping up which saved us a lot of time. We roped up when the exposure got scary and continued up to the white horn. The traverse under this was a bit spooky but there were good places to place pro and I got through it relatively quickly. Mike was over in no time and I suddenly realized that we were at the ridge! Yippeee! I knew it would be smooth sailing from here and we were making great time.

After a spooky move climbing over to the south side of the ridge it was time to face the crux. The wind had died down fortunately so I looked forward to it being much easier than last time. I clipped into a stuck cam, slug the horn, clipped into the 53 year old Becky piton at the base of the slab and then summoned up all my courage. Damn… it was still bloody scary but I did it much faster than last time. Unfortunately my radio crapped out so Mike and I had to resort to screaming at each other to communicate but before long he was up on the south face with me basking in the sunshine.

We released Chris from his photography duties at this point and began the fun but very exposed traverse pitch.

The rest of the climb was pretty uneventful with the exception of when I picked the wrong chimney on the last pitch and made it MUCH more difficult than it had to be. What a dumbass. Oh well.. I got up… that’s all that matters.

Two very happy climbers were atop the 8000ft summit of Prusik Peak 3.5 hours after we’d started up (the 2nd time).

I plucked up what was left of my courage for a summit cartwheel then sat down to enjoy the moment.

With loads of daylight left we hung out on the summit for about an hour before rapping down the north face.

The rope got stuck at one point and I had to climb back up to retrieve it but other than that it was pretty straightforward. We were back at the balancing rock by about 9:00 and back at camp at 10:45.

Chris scored major brownie points by having dinner ready for us when we staggered into camp. VERY much appreciated cuz I don’t think either Mike or I could have been bothered to cook dinner that night. Bed sure felt good. Mike and I went through the pictures quickly to relive the glory before passing out cold.

Day 4 – Time to say Goodbye

Everyone seemed to be raring to go next morning but Mike and I. Greg & Andrew took off first with Vlad, Eva, Claire and Chris about an hour behind them. Mike and I were a good hour behind the second group as we slowly packed up and enjoyed our last few hours in the Upper Enchantments. Neither of us was looking forward to the knee knackering descent down the loose, nasty 2200ft drop that is Aasgard Pass. Stopped to say goodbye to the goats on the way out and snap a few more pics.

Took us about as long to get down Assmaster Pass as it had to get up.

We found Chris at the end of the boulder field and hooked up with Vlad, Eva & Claire at a mosquito infested boggy creek where we stopped for lunch and to donate blood. After fueling up and bleeding we pointed our feet in the direction of the cars, said goodbye to Colchuck & Dragontail and plunged into the forest. The rest of the hike out was uneventful except for when Eva’s knee blew 10 minutes from the trailhead requiring Vlad to make a trip back for her pack. After allowing the resident blackfly population to feast on my legs for a while, we headed for home.

Another fantastic trip to the Enchantments. Thanks to everyone who participated. Hope you all had as much fun as I did!