brian_m Posted May 6, 2006 Posted May 6, 2006 Climb: Mt. Colchuck-North Buttress Couloir Date of Climb: 5/5/2006 Trip Report: After a short evening of sleep, I left North Bend at midnight. The drive to Leavenworth was made slightly more interesting by a suicidal Deer which decided to end his (yes, a large buck's) life by T-boning my truck on highway 97. Yep, you read that correctly, I did not hit him, he hit me causing costly damage to my truck and sadly, ending his life. I met Zach (cc profile: bigbro) just a few hundred yards from the trailhead (most snow has melted on the road except for just below the trailhead). We downed a few Rockstar energy drinks (the big 24 oz ones) and headed up the trail at 3am. Temperature 45 degrees F. Somehow (in the dark) we missed the trail cut off for the bridge to cross the creek and head up to Colchuck lake and ended up wandering through the valley for a while backtracking to find our way across the river and up to the lake. The ice covered lake was easy to cross and we headed up the moraine for the base of the NBC. After a brief stop to mend a crampon and apply much needed sunscreen we got on the route (in full sunshine) and headed up perfect snow conditions for the col. The route was in great shape but a bit warm as we dodged more than a few projectiles from above. Zach just below the Col. After reaching the col, we found that the climbing had just begun and the exposure began. The backside was in even better shape (being shaded) and had great hardpack for the traverse and climbing through mixed rock and snow sections. The final section just below the summit provided great climbing and even better views. After a brief stop on the summit... we headed back to the cars enjoying perfect glissading down the colchuck glacier and an "enjoyable" hike out dealing with the soft snow conditions in the forest. Back to the cars by 6pm and home by 8:30... Overall a perfect day trip! To see a few more pictures, check out my blog at: http://highaltitudedreamz.blogspot.com/ Quote
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