Colchuck Lake, Aasgard Pass — Friday, Jul. 17, 1998

Central Cascades > Leavenworth Area

The west side of the Cascades was socked-in with clouds and drizzle so we headed east. Sure enough, the sky was cloudless just past Steven's Pass. The trail to Colchuck Lake is in excellent shape, made in up there in around 2 hours. The assent up to Aasgard pass took about another 2 hours and posed no problems, although it would have undoubtably been more challening if we were hiking with full packs (we were day tripping). Although extreemly steep, the trail and carins were easy to follow. There's only one snow patch that has to be crossed, about 2/3rds of the way up. Near the top, there was an unusually lush display of tundra wildflowers. Once at the top of the pass, after a encounter with a curious moutain goat, we continued accross the snow-filled Upper Enchantments basin (the lakes are just beginning to thaw out) to the top of Little Anapurna. If you've made it as far as Aasgard Pass, by all means put in a bit more effort to check out the INCREDIBLE views from Little Anapurna (and enjoy the exhilarating glissade down from the summit back to the Upper Enchantments basin). Oddly, at no time on this trip were we pestered by flies or mosquitos.