Colchuck Peak in a day

Todays destination, Colchuck Peak in the Enchantment Wilderness. Meeting in Monroe at 6am, even the McDonalds was not open yet. We had to wait until Sultan before we had breakfast. We arrived at the trailhead at 8am, and counted about 25 cars in the lot. Our hike up to Colchuck Lake was uneventful, but very beautiful. With the forecast for Leavenworth at 90 degrees, it was nice to be up in the mountains. 

3 miles in, we crossed the stream flowing down from Colchuck Lake

The first view of our objective (8705') showing our route up the glacier to the col in the upper left of the photo

Colchuck Lake with Dragontail Peak straight ahead, Colchuck Peak on the right. Asgaard Pass is just to the left of Dragontail.

Jacob has learned to slather up well on days like this.

From the far end of the lake, we started to ascend scree until reaching the snow bowl near the top of the moraine.

At the top of the moraine before reaching the steep snow slopes

The party ahead of us was kind enough to leave their tracks to step in. The snow was soft enough to not need crampons, especially this late in the morning.

Finally reaching the col, only 655' to go.

From the col, we're back on mostly rock up to the summit.

At the summit we had great views of neighboring Mt. Stuart and all the peaks near and far.

Looking east to the summit of Dragontail and into the upper Enchantment basin.

Panorama from Mt. Stuart on the left over to Mt. Cashmere to the north

Stats: 13 mile round trip

5100' elevation gain

Left trailhead at 8:30am, back to trailhead at 5:30pm

At Gustav's for burger and IPA at 6:30pm

Mount Rainier via the Kautz

Our long anticipated climb of Mt. Rainier this year turned into more of a route reconnoissance trip due to the warm wet snow conditions and high winds forecast for the summit. Our plan was to ascend to just below Camp Hazard on the edge of the Turtle snowfield Friday night, ascend to the summit and bivy there Saturday and descend via the standard DC route on Sunday. True to this years Washington weather pattern, we were unable to succeed in our planned ambitions. We did however succeed in having a great time and did some valuable route reconnoissance for a future climb. 

Along for the ride (left to right) were Andy (me), Jon, Alan and Jacob

Jacob, just glad to be out in the mountains, regardless of the weather

Further on and further up into the mist. Not the greatest weekend for photography, but documented none the less. 

Time to rope up once on the Nisqually glacier. The weather was quite warm, on-and-off dense clouds and drizzle.

Upwards onto the Wilson Glacier, headed for the ridge beside the Turtle snowfield

"It's breaking up" as Alan is known to say, near our first views of the icefall up close.

We passed and caused many loose wet snow slides.

Our final approach to camp.

Ensconced comfortably in our designer kitchen, enjoying hot drinks and snacks.

View from the front yard, looking back at our camp.

No, it's not dish soap.... it's Jon's gut rot

Morning brought us more of the same; some sun, some clouds, some rain, some wind. Mt. Adams peaked out for just a few minutes in the distance.

By the time we headed out, it was looking quite nice.

Back to clouds.

Self portrait - the only way I get any photos of me.

Approaching Camp Hazard, several camps on the rocks to the left. This was our original planned camp spot.

This is the famed rock step, a 30' repel off a fixed anchor.

Our first look at the Kautz near the bottom of the first ice slope.

This is as far as we dared go in these conditions. Just a few minutes later, the ice cliff in the upper right of this photo, about the size of an 8 story building, let loose. It instantly pulverized into a river of ice chunks flowing down the mountain, causing a huge cloud filled with ice bits which enveloped us and stung our faces. We were all in awe.

Jacob on the climb back up the rock step.

Back in camp, the large rock which had slid down towards our tents was still in tact. Why we pitched our tents there, I'll never know. The rest of the trip was uneventful except for the start of heavy rain and wind. We retreated to our tents, only to learn that my new tent was not holding back the wet. With sleeping bag and clothes getting wet, I suggested bailing early and heading down for a burger and IPA. It didn't take too much to convince the others, and in 3 hours we were back at the cars.