matsfredrickson Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 (edited) Trip: Argonaut Peak and Dragontail - NE Couloir and West Route Date: 6/22/2013 Trip Report: Steve and I were inspired by a recent TR and decided to try and repeat their route. We ascended the NE Couloir of Argonaut, descended via the East Gulley, traversed to the Colchuck-Dragontail Col, and ascended Dragontail via the West Route in a 16 hour car-to-car effort. We slept at the trailhead Friday night and set the alarm for 4:30. It was boots on trail at 5am and we reached the clearing shortly after passing the turnoff for Colchuck Lake and were treated to the first view of the route (route is left of center). We overshot on the approach and had to back track a fair amount, wasting about an hour. Before too long we were at the base of the route where we took a brief rest, donned crampons, and unsheathed axes. Snow conditions in the couloir allowed for quick travel with a few short rock steps. We simul climbed the 5.6 rock pitch and traversed the summit snow field to reach the summit at 12:30pm. Summit snow field Summit shot We rappelled the rock pitch and a second rappel down the East side brought us to an exposed and slightly sketch ledge system. We traversed the ledges and down climbed the East Gully. Neither of us had been on Argonaut before and we're not sure this is the standard descent. We traversed around Colchuck and up to the Colchuck-Dragontail col. Using steps kicked earlier that day (thankfully), we ascended the West route of Dragontail, lingering at the summit just long enough to snap a few pictures. The descent from Dragontail to the car via Aasgard Pass was uneventful (holy knees, Batman) but seemed to take forever. Red Bull and dinner at Munchen Haus was necessary before the long drive back West. Gear Notes: Light is right. Aluminum crampons, steel axe, small alpine rack, 60m rope Approach Notes: Stuart Lake trail Edited June 24, 2013 by matsfredrickson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARBrandon Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Nice work, guys! I was up there this weekend, too. Didn't do any climbing, unfortunately. Just a short overnight to Stuart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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