Colchuck Lake, Aasgard Pass — Friday, Oct. 10, 1997

Central Cascades > Leavenworth Area

Decided to play a little Russian Roulette with the weather and try a day trip up Dragontail Peak, even though reports of 2-plus feet of new snow above 7000 feet were making the rounds. Left the Stuart Lake trailhead at 6:30 am, with just barely enough light not to need headlamps. Although there was a strong dusting of fresh snow in the woods, the trail itself was mostly bare up to the turnoff to Colchuck Lake. The Mountaineer Creek crossing is now on a log jam perhaps 75 yards downstream of the old crossing point. It is very well marked and actually a bit easier than the old log. Above Mountaineer Creek the trail was mostly snow covered, though not yet deep enough to make difficulties. At Colchuck Lake there was 10 to 12 inches of fresh snow on the flat. Getting through the big boulder field at the south end of the lake was very slow going, with as much as 24 inches of totally unconsolidated snow hiding and ""lubricating"" the footing. The path up to Asgard Pass was generally traceable by the as-yet unburied cairns. Footing was poor, with little load bearing ability in the deepening snow, and increasing amounts of ice on the rock under the snow. The last 250 verticle feet to the pass was very nasty, with strong wind (30-50 mph) blowing ice pellets in our faces, heavy sheathings of ice on all surfaces, visibility dereasing towards whiteout, and frostbite considerations becoming a concern. We admitted the obvious lack of summit potential and bailed out. Going down wasn't all that easy due to the poor footing, but at least the wind was at our backs. Really a very nice day, except for the last 300 feet, and a nice workout. The fresh snow, golden larches, crystal lake, and looming north face of Dragontail made a truly spectacular and beautiful setting.