Aasgard Pass, Lake Stuart, Colchuck Lake, Enchantment Lakes, Little Annapurna

Day hike to the upper enchantments and a climb of Little Annapurna. We left from the Lk Stuart trailhead at 7:00 and were ready to climb Aasgard by 9:30. The ascent took us a little less than 2 hours, and the conditions were about as good as we could have expected. You can make the ascent without stepping on snow if you choose, and there were a couple really minimal patches left. Routefinding is reasonably straightforward on the way up with many cairns. Look for the friendly marmot family about halfway up the pass.

From the top we descended to the northeast flank of Little Annapurna. There is an easy route on rock all the way until about 150 feet from the top. The snow portion is fairly straightforward but given the rocks right below we chose to break out ice axes - probably not necessary. Views were outstanding from the summit, which is completely melted. There is a beautiful meadow on top as well as some unusual rock formations which make great shelters. We rested on top for over an hour. Be careful on the summit - a couple of the summit rock formations are quite exposed on the south and west sides, so watch where you step. This would be especially important if snow were present.

Walking back to the pass we encountered a pair of "friendly"/curious mountain goats. They got a little too close, but we scared them off without too much trouble. We also saw a group of 8 goats with 4 kids.

The descent from the pass wasn't too bad but watch your step. One note - for some reason we had trouble locating the trail back to the Colchuck Lake campsites immediately after stepping off the south side boulderfield. There is a dusty patch which marks the correct exit point but there are a couple blocked off side trails that lead nowhere. The correct route is through the rocks directly above where you step off the boulder field.

Back at the car at 8:00 PM.