Lisa_D Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Trip: Prusik Peak - West Ridge Date: 9/1/2011 Trip Report: After our 2 month bike trip, it's been a month of mellow, gorgeous climbs for Jon and me (though Jon has been on some much bigger trips without me). With good weather and open schedules, Jon and I headed out for a midweek ascent of Prusik Peak. At the 7:45 AM permit lottery, we were lucky enough to get a permit for the core zone, where neither of us had ever camped. This was good fortune for us, since on weekends there can be up to 18 groups vying for the permit! The familiar Colchuck Lake trail went quickly, and soon we were trudging up Aasgard Pass, which always takes a little longer than you think it will. Then, the other-worldly upper Enchantment Basin greeted us. For early September, it was very snowy. We walked through the inviting trails of the upper basin. We found a camp near Prusik. It was windy and much colder than we’d anticipated, but at least there were no insects. The next morning, we waited until the West Ridge warmed up a bit. The climb was straightforward, fun, and beautiful. We alternated leads. Here, Jon makes the ridge traverse portion look easy by walking most of it (I had carefully led this section with hands and feet..) My favorite part was leading the lieback/corner near the top. And the alpine hors d’oeuvres. From the top of the lieback corner, there’s an off-width crack that continues straight up to a tough-looking chimney. Out of bigger gear, I brought Jon up to look at it. Fortunately, by walking climbers right on the ledge, we found a shiny bolt, clipped it, and then went up faceholds to a narrow but easy chimney. Too soon, we were at the summit. Our single 70 meter rope worked decently for the rappels, but at one point we missed a helpful intermediate station and traversed across a licheny cliff, lured by the sight of shiny rap bolts below. That’s never a good sign. We reached the bolts, but when we pulled the rope, it wouldn’t budge. Sure enough, it was caught on “the horn of evil.” Jon aided up a dirty crack and was able to free the rope. He then used the intermediate rap station and came back to the bolts. Conclusion: double ropes would be nice, but if you have a single rope keep a sharp eye out for intermediate stations. Soon, we were scrambling down and found a great view of Prusik. What a gorgeous piece of granite. We dreamed of climbing the South Face, but neither of us has cragged this year and we wanted to swing leads in style. Or, family legend holds that Aunt and Uncle Abegg once climbed the WR of Prusik twice in a day. Then there was the idea of climbing it again and bivying on the summit! … Nah. This trip was not the time for such ambitions. We opted for a delicious Thai noodle dinner at camp. The third day was leisurely and enjoyable. Neither of us had been to Crystal Lake, so we went there and relaxed by its shores with a book. The solitude and silence were amazing. We hiked through the Enchantments and walked up Little Annapurna. The sky was very clear (and we saw a little yellow airplane flying over us!).. and there’s a great spot for jumping photos at the summit. From the top of Little Annapurna, we dropped 3000’ down to Colchuck Lake in just over two hours, knees and muscles burning from the steep trail. We stopped at the small lake near Colchuck for warm swimming and an early dinner. We could have pushed to hike out all at once, but it was early in the day and our bodies thanked us for having rest and food before the final 5 mile walk down to the car. The trail still went on forever, but it wasn’t too painful. See you again soon, Enchantments! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLJ Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 yellow airplane... I'll bet thats Scurlock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa_D Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 yep it was crystal clear that day and I've been checking his website to see if he posted photos yet. I didn't find anything so far, but am not sure if I looked in the right section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telemarker Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I want to hear about your bike tour. Pac Coast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa_D Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 I want to hear about your bike tour. Pac Coast? We rode Highway 20 from Bham to Sandpoint, then did a huge 1000 mile loop in Montana including Yellowstone and Glacier. It was an awesome and cheap way to do a long trip and we met amazing people. TR here: http://students.washington.edu/climb/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=6486 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaucho Argentino Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Hi, Lisa... Saw plenty of your posts, funny you guys are also in the UW (are any of you any close to the J-wing?)... Great climb, BTW, and holly shenanigans about the more than 1000 miles bike trip. Do bikes come with cotton and silk seats now? Agony!! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa_D Posted September 16, 2011 Author Share Posted September 16, 2011 Great climb, BTW, and holly shenanigans about the more than 1000 miles bike trip. Do bikes come with cotton and silk seats now? Agony!! :-) professional bike fits and nice expensive bike shorts help a lot! No overuse injuries, blisters, or saddle sores on the whole trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murse11 Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 A few things... Awesome pics. What bikes are you riding, and what are you doing that allows you to have 3 months off at a time?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telemarker Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 I want to hear about your bike tour. Pac Coast? We rode Highway 20 from Bham to Sandpoint, then did a huge 1000 mile loop in Montana including Yellowstone and Glacier. It was an awesome and cheap way to do a long trip and we met amazing people. TR here: http://students.washington.edu/climb/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=6486 Awesome! I love touring! About 8 years ago I rode the Pacific Coast hiway from Astoria to Ensenada in 23 riding days , and consider it one of the most satisfying adventures I've ever been on. I would do it again if time allowed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa_D Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 A few things... Awesome pics. What bikes are you riding, and what are you doing that allows you to have 3 months off at a time?! We have a Surly Cross Check & Kona Jake the Snake. We have been in grad school and I just finished my masters in June. Jon is almost done with his PhD. We spent a year working our pro deals to get the gear for cheap, and saved every penny possible to afford taking the summer off. We did the 7 week bike trip for $1900 and a lot of that was spent on high quality groceries. It was totally worth it, even if we're on a bit of a spending freeze right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevino Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Any pictures of little annapurna and the snow creek "glacier"? I'm referring to the snowfield on descent from dragontail... thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa_D Posted September 19, 2011 Author Share Posted September 19, 2011 This is the best I have, and I don't know if it's enough detail or the right spot. From what I saw there was still snow, pretty continuous. Crampons probably a good idea if you're thinking of going up Dragontail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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