I escaped from work on 10/5/07 – 10/6/07 for a quick overnight up Aasgard and pitched my tent at the same little hollow next to Brynhild Lake (Isolation Lake) that I stayed at on 9/10/07 -9/11/07. Aasgard was an easy ascent on 9/10/07 but the weight of carrying the kitchen sink for that just in case scenario on 10/5/07 caused footing problems in the snow that really slowed me down. Be that as it may I really enjoyed the exercise and finished the last several hundred feet of Aasgard after civil twilight. Being in the snow cased upper Enchantments under a cold clear moonless night was phenomenal. The surface snow had formed into enormous ice crystals and everywhere my lamp touched it gleamed like the diamonds in King Solomon’s Mines. The snow was especially light and it took forever to harden a tent platform and more snow then normal to melt for water; I was very grateful it was dead calm but that all changed about 2:00 AM or so when the wind kicked up and the temperature dropped to twenty degrees in the tent. However by 7:00 AM the wind gusts began to subside and the temperature was picking up again. Having the upper Enchantments to myself I was greeted by an increasing caravan of hikers coming up Aasgard as I headed out the following morning on 10/6. Any thoughts of attempting Dragontail were eliminated by the conditions versus my experience. Snow depth varied from windswept areas so hard one could not drive a nail in them to three feet plus. Where I pitched my tent was just over two feet.
So that was you we passed! Glad you made it up safely and back down. I wish we'd had the time to spend the night, you had the entire place to yourself! It was a beautiful weather window.
Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 10967 | TRs | Pics Location: Going to Tukwila
Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:26 pm
mbgriffi wrote:
Nice shot!
-------------- "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke
"Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
Thanks, its hard to take a bad one when the weather was a gorgeous as it was on Friday. This was a pano stitched from 6 shots, I was shooting with 28 vs. 18 and it just isn't wide enough.
I've been up Aasgard on solid snow and when it's dry. Both times, the terraine seemed fairly easy to negotiate (no face-plants). How is it with a thinish layer of snow?
Nice pics. Looks like you had a well protected camp spot.
I went up about 4 hours earlier and the snow made it easier in the lower gravel scree sections. The "thin layer" got between 9 inches to 3 feet deep towards the top. It was fun going down!
It chills my spine and freezes my feet; and what a great trip you all have photographed! There was a near perfect combination of sun, cloud, snow and elements of rock and weather plus the enchanting Lyall's larch at peak. Terrific!
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