Colchuck Lake — Saturday, Jul. 5, 2003

Central Cascades > Leavenworth Area

The trail to the lake is in fine condition with no difficulties. There were a few bugs, but not as bad as I expected. The lake is in one of the most dramatic settings in the Cascades and well worth a visit just to take in the views. Colchuck Balanced Rock is the precarious rock perched high above the lake to the east. You get good views of it from the north end of the lake. The route to the top is a climb requiring technical skills, not a hike. We rounded the south end of the lake and followed the Asgaard Pass trail to about 5800'. It looked like we were above most of the brush (slide alders), so we headed north across the talus to an obvious gully leading up. We actually managed to nail the brush crossing, so encountered no difficult tangles getting across. We found a couple of cairns at the base of the gully, but they didn't continue beyond the base. The gully has water from a couple of snow patches and is a good place to fill up. From the col (6800') at the top of the gully, we crossed a snowfield and headed SE up steep snow slopes. There was much more snow than we expected and were glad to have the ice axes. The route then heads NE across loose, sandy soil and granite talus to the base of the summit block. We explored the base a little and decided to use a ledge heading east about 50' beneath the balanced rock. This took us to an easily climbed crack, a couple of jug holds and the platform beneath the rock. I belayed up my partner and we hemmed and hawed about getting to the top. We finally agreed to throw the rope over the top and use ascenders. With both ends of the rope securely anchored, my partner used the ascenders and then mantled to the top. He stood victorious atop the rock with only sky behind him from my vantage point. I followed. The top of the rock is about 10'x12' and perfectly flat. It's a great picnic spot with views of Colchuck Lake nearly 3000' below, the Stuart Range and all nearby peaks. It took longer to get to the top than expected; we didn't leave the summit until 5:15. With all the mucking about setting up the rappel and sorting gear, we finally left the base of the summit block at 5:48. Thankfully, the return trip was quite a bit faster than the trip up and we hit the car at 9:55. This was a memorable climb. I only wish we'd had someone at the lake with a telephoto to snap our picture atop the rock. Stats: about 13 miles RT; 4800 elevation gain. Car to car: 13.7 hours: 4.7 hours down. (2.3 hours to lake in morning.)