Previous :: Next Topic |
Author |
Message |
dicey custom title
Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 2870 | TRs | Pics Location: giving cornices a wider berth |
|
dicey
custom title
|
Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:55 pm
|
|
|
Gabriel and I spent three sunny, glorious days in the Enchantments scrambling some peaks over the weekend. Since there are numerous recent, and great TRs of the area, I'll keep it brief
Day 1
Colchuck lake trailhead to basecamp situated high on a rocky mound directly between Inspiration and Crystal lakes. We relaxed and hung out at camp to catch the sunset.
Day 2
Headed up and over Prusik Pass and contured down and west in a big sweeping arc following cairns part of the way. We swung way too far east and topped out on a ridge that was not druid plateau. "Hey, Cannon is way over there!" The connecting ridgeline looked nasty, so down and around we went, eventually making it up to the proper DP, and the summit of Cannon. We descended directly to Lorelei lakelets where we filtered some water (after breaking through the ice), and headed back towards Prusik Pass. From the pass we made quick work up to the NE summit of Enchantment Peak. There was a group of 4 on the summit, so we tagged the top and headed over to check out the SW summit. Couldn't find an obvious, safe route to that sucker, so we headed down. Passed by a certain NWhikers tent on the way, and left him a note in case he wanted to join us for some scrambling the next day.
Day 3
Another great sunrise!
Packed up camp and headed over towards Dragontail area. Cached our overnight gear at the base of some slabs and began working our way up to the ridgeline. We intended to approach Dragontail via the plateau since the glacier route is pretty much out for the season unless you like ice climbing! Not having learned our lesson from yesterday, once we reached the plateau, we kept heading due west instead of north to pop back over and descend to the col. After reaching an impasse, we saw the proper route and headed back. I guess that silly compass only works if you take it out of the pack and actually hold it in your hand!
Once back on route, we were soon at the summit of Dragontail looking down at Colchuck lake waaaay below.
We had a snack then headed back down to the col and then back up to the plateau. We retraced our steps from earlier in the day part way down before traversing over slabs, huge boulders and finally a permanant snowfield which deposited us at the base of the scramble route up Witches Tower. The obvious ramp leading to the summit scramble looked spooky from afar, but we found it to be low angle and with good purchase. Once past the slab, easy 3rd class scrambling leads to the summit. This peak was our favorite Too bad we couldn't spend more time up there! We needed to get a move on if we were going to make it out before dark.
After much boulder hopping and enjoyable slab walking, we returned to our cache, packed up our gear and headed to Aasgard.
The only notable issue on the descent was ice covered boulders down by Colchuck lake, which made for an interesting traverse back to the main trail
We ended up having to use headlamps for the last 2 miles or so.
The larches are done larching, and most of the upper lakes are frozen solid or nearly, with the exception of Isolation.
A few pics:
enchantments october 081 enchantments october 035 enchantments october 083 enchantments october 091 enchantments october 118 enchantments october 126
|
Back to top |
|
|
ragman and rodman Member
Joined: 28 Apr 2005 Posts: 1219 | TRs | Pics Location: http://rgervin.com/ |
Ah yes... the Witches Tower... last year in July rodman and I walked by it on the way from Annapurna to the Dragontail Plateau and then over to Dragontail Peak... in the back of my mind I figured that we might try the Tower on our way back out, but instead we were able to use the Dragontail Glacier to close the loop and we never got back to the Tower... sounds like a good excuse to get back up there!!
|
Back to top |
|
|
kleet meat tornado
Joined: 06 Feb 2002 Posts: 5303 | TRs | Pics Location: O no they dih ent |
|
kleet
meat tornado
|
Tue Oct 24, 2006 2:19 pm
|
|
|
dicey wrote: | enchantments october 035 |
Dang, that's purty.
A fuxk, why do I not give one?
A fuxk, why do I not give one?
|
Back to top |
|
|
wildernessed viewbagger
Joined: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 9275 | TRs | Pics Location: Wenatchee |
That would be quite the campout.
Living in the Anthropocene
Living in the Anthropocene
|
Back to top |
|
|
Randy Cube Rat
Joined: 18 Dec 2001 Posts: 2910 | TRs | Pics Location: Near the Siamangs |
|
Randy
Cube Rat
|
Tue Oct 24, 2006 3:23 pm
|
|
|
Thanks for the beta on WT. Haven't done that one yet.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Guiran Member
Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 621 | TRs | Pics Location: University of Washington |
|
Guiran
Member
|
Tue Oct 24, 2006 3:33 pm
|
|
|
One of these days I really need to get back there....
|
Back to top |
|
|
dicey custom title
Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 2870 | TRs | Pics Location: giving cornices a wider berth |
|
dicey
custom title
|
Tue Oct 24, 2006 5:07 pm
|
|
|
I uploaded a few more pics to flickr:camp view 2 toilet view enchantment peak NE summit cannon witches tower
|
Back to top |
|
|
plain old dan Member
Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 276 | TRs | Pics Location: Tualatin Oregon |
dicey wrote: | Passed by a certain NWhikers tent on the way, and left him a note in case he wanted to join us for some scrambling the next day. |
. Sounds like Witches Tower was a lot of fun!
|
Back to top |
|
|
nuclear_eggset Member
Joined: 02 Jul 2006 Posts: 2206 | TRs | Pics Location: Eastside |
witches tower looks amazing!
so much snow and ice though! wow!
glad it was a great trip for you.
|
Back to top |
|
|
gabrielx Member
Joined: 15 Nov 2004 Posts: 72 | TRs | Pics
|
|
gabrielx
Member
|
Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:36 am
|
|
|
dicey wrote: | Gabriel and I spent three sunny, glorious days in the Enchantments |
That describes it well!
Most interesting to me about this trip was how casual I have become about navigation, it used to be I consulted my map and compass at every significant landmark. I need to get back to that.
More pictures:
Sunrise and McClellan Peak from our campsite Little Annapurna from our campsite Looking east from our campsite (Dragontail in center) Druid Plateau Prusik Peak and The Temple from N of Prusik Pass Jabberwocky Tower from Aasgard Pass Colchuck Balanced Rock from Colchuck Lake
|
Back to top |
|
|
derekwayne Member
Joined: 08 Aug 2006 Posts: 99 | TRs | Pics
|
you could have not asked for better weather guys
GREAT pics
|
Back to top |
|
|
Tazz Member
Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 7902 | TRs | Pics
|
|
Tazz
Member
|
Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:46 am
|
|
|
Very nice stuff you two!!! So just a simple C-3 scramble for Witches Tower huh? hmmmm
|
Back to top |
|
|
ActionBetty Im a dirty hippie!
Joined: 06 Jul 2003 Posts: 4807 | TRs | Pics Location: kennewick, wa |
|
ActionBetty
Im a dirty hippie!
|
Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:05 am
|
|
|
envious
"If you're not living good, you gotta travel wide"...Bob Marley
"If you're not living good, you gotta travel wide"...Bob Marley
|
Back to top |
|
|
|