[TR] Alpine Lakes - Colchuck Glacier 5/28/2008

[belayerslayer]

Trip: Alpine Lakes - Colchuck Glacier

 

Date: 5/28/2008

 

Trip Report:

~First post, so bear with me if it don't look right

 

I'm taking a team up Rainier this summer and part of the supplement training has so far included lots of Washington and Oregon classics. In need of a fresh challenge for Memorial weekend, Dragontail Peak came to mind. A rugged mountain in a crisp, alpine setting. Perfect. The team consisted of 6 distinguished mountaineers: myself, my dad, my sister, and 3 friends.

I've been fortunate enough to keep intact good relations with some family friends who reside in Leavenworth. Their home offers up the perfect "basecamp" for the numerous climbs I've done within the Enchantments. The team arrived at the house Friday evening, a little before 11pm. After organizing gear, we all headed to bed. I set my alarm for 2:50 am.

When 'morning' rolled around, I woke everyone up and began the difficult task of getting us out of there at a reasonable time. The team reached the trailhead slightly before 4am.

Most all of us active hikers, we started off with a solid pace.

Morning light began to appear as we took the Colchuck Lake cutoff

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This is my dad. He is over 60 and continues to impress me. Every time I think he reaches a fitness/mental plateau, he proves me wrong by punching through. A fine partner to have up in the mountains.

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Reached Colchuck Lake at 7:30 am. The summit of Dragontail remained shrouded in clouds while we took a brief rest. Our route in red

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A little over an hour later, the team reached the other end of the lake and began pushing upward toward the moraine. My sister started dragging at this point. By the time we were up on the rocks, I could see she was hurting. Exhaustion led to the decision for her to turn back. The rest of us continued up the short, loose section of glacial moraine which leads to the base of the Colchuck snowfield/glacier.

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We took a nice break at the end of the ridge, before roping up. The glacier is pretty cruiser and the main reason I wanted us roped was for experience. Crevasses, if any, tend to form on the right side. While we geared up, we could hear the thundrous explosions of icefall ripping off from the western faces of Dragontail and smash into ledges on the way down. Several avalanche slides had preceded us, pushing out towards the middle of the glacier.

Owen and Lucas

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Rod Gullberg

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The team climbed the Colchuck Glacier without incident. Occasionally, chunks of ice would come whizzing by, but the majority of the debris hugged the eastern edge and spilled downward. I kicked steps up the middle. An hour and a half later, we were at the notch between Colchuck and Dragontail.

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The team took another short break here. I had never been to this point before, but from trip reports, I knew we were looking for a couloir (name?) somewhere to the left. Thick fog and cloud prevented a complete picture of where we were at. We hiked up through steep snow and rock until being fed into the gully.

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By 2 pm we reached the top of the couloir and seemed to break through the cloudcover. To my right rose the pandora's box feature. I scouted the ridgetop, then worked my way down along a narrow band of rocks. Steep snow crested the ridgetop, then broke away sharply as a cornice. From other trs, I knew parties do a handline across the corniced snow to the ridge above, which then connects to the summit in the distance. I took a few different variables into consideration before opting to bring the group down from the notch and onto the snowslopes of Dragontail's south side. I equalized a picket, a stopper, and a 2.5 friend, then belayed Anne down to the anchor.

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Another "breakthrough moment" for my father, as he peered warily over the notch. His fear of heights is legendary amongst family and friends, and I faintly wondered if he would succumb to panic or madness. Yet again I was wrong and he proved to be much stronger, piercing through his plateau of fear and confidently working his way down to my anchor.

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I belayed Anne as she downclimbed roughly a hundred feet to some rocks below.

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Rod Gullberg downclimbing

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I belayed Lucas down as well. Owen reached the anchors and flung his head in defiance, downclimbing the steep sections with ease. I broke the anchor down and followed.

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The slopes were still quite steep beyond here, plenty to compromise the inexperience of my father. We took it slow across the south side, until rock began replacing snow. The blue shows our route

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From the rocks, its an easy hike/scramble to the summit of Dragontail. 3:20 pm we stood on the second highest peak in the Enchantments, and 26th highest in washington!

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A short glissade down the snow creek glacier brought us to asgard pass

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From asgard, a nice, long glissade brought us nearly to the lake. Excellent run!

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Left the lake at 5:45, back at the car at 8:30 - 16 hours round trip. Definitely a classic route. Fun group to go with! All in great shape and ready to rock Washington's highest this summer!

 

Gear Notes:

Ice ax, crampons, helmet necessary. Rope reccomended but not necessary, couple slings, picket (rock gear not necessary).

 

Approach Notes:

Trail isn't in great shape, lots of fallen trees makes the hike in a little more interesting. Routefinding is straightforward and relatively easy if you are familiar with the mountain. I suggest doing Colchuck peak in addition, if you have the time, for a sweet link-up!

 

Edited May 29, 2008 by belayerslayer

[olyclimber]

nice trip, nice pics! i also enjoy making out with the batholith.

[MtnClimbr]

Nice! Great pics at Pandora's box. We watched you guys go up from our tent at the lake. There was a large avalanche that occurred just after you reached the col that covered much of your steps up the glacier...good timing...

[Bishopp66]

Nice TR. I've been looking at doing that climb this summer... now I know I want to do it.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Nice TR. I've been looking at doing that climb this summer... now I know I want to do it.

 

Just do it Kirk. Ping me, I might be up for it.

 

[sharp_end]

Thanks again for the steps on the upper portion. Your steps turned the second half of my climb into a stairway. A long and steep stairway. Thank your dad again for the vitamin-i.

[Jimmy J]

Nice job, Dad. I admire your taste for new challenges. Keep up the good work, remember, it's ALL GOOD.