First time venturing up a mountain with a full pack - what a workout! Left the Colchuck trailhead around 5pm Friday and didn't reach a campsite at the lake until dark, ~9pm. Trail was hot, dry, and buggy. I decided to skip Saturday's day hike over Aasgard Pass, but my camping cohorts made an attempt at it - and didn't make it all the way. Came back sunburnt and frightened (apparently made it ~3/4ths of the way before turning back), but said the views were spectacular on the way up. A couple of avoidable snow fields. Had great weather all weekend, the lake was cold but swimmable. Nice breeze on Sunday kept the bugs away. Next time, we're taking the Snow Lake trail.

The trail to Colchuck Lake is in great condition. After getting to the lake, it's routefinding fun finding your way up to Aasgard Pass. Follow cairns religiously, and when you get off track, enjoy the fun! I have yet to get all the way up or down without losing it at some point. The upper lakes are frozen, and there is snow in all the lakes. The lowest lake is pretty much snow free. Plenty of nice campsites available. Unfortunately, I did this as a dayhike so back down I went, knees screaming for mercy down Aasgard. Aasgard has one snowpatch left, the basin has lots of easily-trodden snow. Most folks can get by without an ice axe, due to the trampled paths across the snowfields. A slip would mean tumbling into 32 degree water, so be careful! Bugs weren't bad, but the weather was iffy so maybe they were at home watching the soaps.

It was raining on the west side but it was nice and sunny on the east side. The Colchuck lake trail is snow free and so is the trail around the lake except for one small patch. Aasgard pass is melting out but the lower part still has some snow.

They said that Argonaut couldn't be done in a day. Of course, that meant that we had to try it! Four of us started out at the trailhead about 8:15 Saturday morning. The trail was in excellent condition, albeit a bit rough in places from roots and rocks. The path around Colchuck Lake had patches of snow that made staying on the trail a bit more challenging. We reached the end of the Lake, and the start of the 2,500-foot climb to Colchuck Col about 10:30. It was beautiful step- kicking in the 30 to 40-degree snow. The snow was soft, but not mushy. We reached the Col shortly after noon, and had a short lunch before Jim and I took off for Argonaut, while Dee and Bob chose to climb Colchuck. We went into the climb with not a lot of information about our route, other than a brief mention in Beckey's guide. But we figured we'd just ""take a look at it"". At first glance, it appeared that a snow finger led almost continuously from the ridge connecting Colchuck to Argonaut, to the main snowfield on the northeast side of the mountain. When we got to the ridge and saw the 1,000 foot sheer drop to a gully, followed by a 1,000 foot sheer rise to the snow finger, our spirits crumbled like rotten limestone! Jim negotiated some rock ledges, and eventually we found one that took us to the gully, a narrow, snow-filled, 50-degree couloir that led to who knows where! We crossed the gully and climbed an obvious weakness (about 2 moves of 5.4 rock with great protection to 1.5 inches) that was followed by a 4th Class scramble up a rivulet of snowmelt (a little ""wet-work""!). After negotiating the 55-degree snow finger, some short rock scrambling, and beautiful 45-degree snow on the main snowfield, we reached the base of the summit blocks. The true summit is the one on the right, as you look from Colchuck. There is an easy 4th Class scramble up a rock ridge to the ""leaning rock"", on top of which lies the summit rock and register. Allow about 13 hours for the round-trip. Route-finding will eat up the clock, so plan carefully, or you will wind up hiking out under headlamp! We ended up back at the parking lot at 11:30, to the relief and dismay of our hungry and hypothermic teammates. (Note - if you split the team [not recommended], make sure they also have a set of car keys!!). I return with mixed feelings - the summit was fantastic and glorious, made all the better by the struggle with which it was reached. But the anguish of letting my teammates down to chase the summit glory leaves me feeling hollow, selfish, and inconsiderate. No summit is worth sacrificing your life or your friendships, especially those forged by the bond of the mountains. It was a bittersweet day. The MounTAIN Woman

Three sleepy, umbrella'd figures moved up the Colchuck Lake trail at dawn. Constant drizzle accompanied us to the lake. We crossed two nice-but-slippery foot bridges and marvelled at the trail, free of blow-downs. The clouds lifted at the lake, and Dragontail and Colchuck Peaks were visible, heavily dusted with snow. We worked around the lake to the Aasgard Pass on wet boulders and occasional snow patches. By the time we were 500 feet up, the wind was attempting to carry us away, and we hunkered in the snow until the strong gust passed. Stinging snow particles attacked our faces, and yet we continued on. Even in bad weather, this trail was not so fearsome as we'd been led to believe. But finally, at 6800 ft. (about halfway) we gave up, the wind having become too intense to move. Also we could see it was blowing like a hurricane towards the top! On the way back we had some dry snow, and some sun but no more rain. Running the last mile to the car, we encountered two BRAND-NEW blowdowns! We also saw a white bunny rabbit.