[tigermn]

I decided to head over and revisit Colchuck Lake since I was last there 2 summers ago as well as take the trail around to the base of Aasgard Pass and possibly visit Stuart Lake.

Colchuck North Route.

Colchuck South Route.

The drive was nice until the 4 miles of gravel/washboard road up to the trailhead. Not bad with potholes but definitely a washboard affair in places. I would start up the trailhead about 08:30AM to a pretty full parking lot. I suspect most camping.

Lake Stuart Trailhead at around 08:30AM.

Soon enter the Alpine Lake Wilderness area as the trail gently climbs to cross Mountaineer Creek.

Big sturdy log bridge over Mountaineer Creek on Lake Stuart trail.

Mountaineer creek from log bridge crossing on Lake Stuart trail.

Mountaineer creek from log bridge crossing on Lake Stuart trail.

A few partial views on the way.

Views nearing junction to Colchuck Lake from Lake Stuart trail.

Dragontail nearing junction to Colchuck Lake from Lake Stuart trail.

After something a bit under an hour I reached the junction to Colchuck.

Junction to Colchuck Lake from Lake Stuart trail.

Shortly after you cross a raging creek over a bridge and some rocks.

Creek crossing on trail spur to Colchuck Lake.

The trail starts gentle and periodically steepens and becomes more rooty and rock and places.

Rock hop creek crossing on way to Colchuck Lake.

Waterfall on way to Colchuck Lake.

After a bit some views start to open up.

Views start to open up on trail to Colchuck Lake.

Views start to open up on trail to Colchuck Lake.

Views start to open up on trail to Colchuck Lake.

A waterfall peek through the trees is passed.

Waterfall view through trees on trail to Colchuck Lake.

Then more views as you get closer to the lake.

Better views from trail to Colchuck Lake.

Better views from trail to Colchuck Lake.

Better views from trail to Colchuck Lake.

Parts of the trail are more reminicent of the roots and rocks section of the Rachel Lake trail but they are not near as long and broken up.

Roots and rocks trail section on Colchuck Lake trail.

A few more views kind of off ot the north/northwest before reaching the lake.

Better views from trail to Colchuck Lake.

Better views from trail to Colchuck Lake.

Better views from trail to Colchuck Lake.

Better views from trail to Colchuck Lake.

Better views from trail to Colchuck Lake.

And then you round the corner and are sitting above the NW part of Colchuck Lake.

Colchuck Lake from first decent viewpoint.

Colchuck Lake from first decent viewpoint.

Also nice views towards Aasgard, Colchuck and Dragontail.

Views from Colchuck Lake trail up towards the Colchuck glacier.

Looking up to Aasgard pass.

Looking up towards Colchuck glacier.

Colchuck glacier.

I continued on the trail with more views as you go. The trail gets a little rockier and places and does some minor up and down just to be a more of a pain than it needs to be.

Colchuck Lake from above continuing on trail.

Colchuck Lake from above continuing on trail.

More on the west side there is a nice pond/tarn or whatever you want to call it.

Tarn west of Colchuck Lake.

Tarn west of Colchuck Lake.

A little further up at the SW end of the lake the trail turns into a boulder crossing.

Boulder hopping to do to get over by Aasgard pass.

Not my favorite activity (boulder hopping) but it is marked with cairns and I just made my way through it. At least some nice views of the lake on the way.

Views back over Colchuck Lake from boulders.

Looking up Aasgard pass from boulders.

Views back over Colchuck Lake from boulders.

Views back over Colchuck Lake from boulders.

Views back over Colchuck Lake from boulders.

Views back over Colchuck Lake from boulders.

Views back over Colchuck Lake from boulders.

Views back over Colchuck Lake from boulders.

Views back over Colchuck Lake from boulders.

The trail goes in and out of boulders and through some wet areas and even a few snow patches.

Snow patches still on approach to Aasgard pass.

Looking up Aasgard pass.

Muddy section of "trail" to bottom of Aasgard pass.

I would basically go to where it would start up. There was some snow here on the initial part. You could see however from further back that a lot of the lower section was snow free.

Looking up to Aasgard pass.

I would turn around and head back to that little bench near the SW corner of the lake after about 3 hours of meandering/boulder hopping. By now it was 11:30. I had no desire to start up the pass in the sun as the day was heating up!

At least some flowers on approach trail to Aasgard pass.

Colchuck Lake from approach trail to Aasgard pass.

Colchuck Lake from approach trail to Aasgard pass.

Colchuck Lake from approach trail to Aasgard pass.

Back at the bench I would sit and enjoy a nice lunch, taking some pictures and looking for people on the pass with binoculars.

Views up Aasgard pass from my bench lunch spot on way back near end of boulders.

Views up Aasgard pass from my bench lunch spot on way back near end of boulders.

Views up Aasgard pass from my bench lunch spot on way back near end of boulders.

Views from lunch bench.

Views from lunch bench.

I could spot people on Aasgard pass with binoculars. Most coming down, a few going up. I could see tracks traversing snow further up. I don't suspect it would have been snow free at least on a normal route. I don't know how bad the snow would have been to cross of if you might have wanted an ice axe. It was definitely warming up and the top of the snow was pretty slushy. Nice views coming back and passed various hikers both with packs and day hikers coming up.

Colchuck Lake from trail on way back.

Colchuck Lake from trail on way back.

Tarn west of Colchuck Lake.

Tarn west of Colchuck Lake.

Tarn west of Colchuck Lake.

Tarn west of Colchuck Lake.

Some final shots before losing the lake.

Colchuck and Dragontail peak from trail.

Zoom of peak from Colchuck Lake trail.

Last glimpses of Colchuck Lake.

The trip down was uneventful. As I got further down I saw fewer people. It was heating up some though and I was glad I brought plenty of fluids.

Creek crossing on way back on Colchuck Lake trail.

Looking up from creek crossing on Colchuck Lake trail.

Back at the Stuart Lake junction about 02:15 I decided I had enough for the day and decided not to head over to Stuart. I would check out the horse ford just for fun. Looked pretty deep to me but what do I know..

This is the "horse ford" of the creek.

Log bridge crossing of Mountaineer creek.

Mountaineer creek.

Mountaineer creek.

Back at the trailhead about 03:20 and not much activity in the parking lot. Plenty of cars but I suspect most were on the trail or camping.

Lake Stuart trailhead.

Lake Stuart parking lot at conclusion of hike around 03:20PM.

Shortly after I was packed up and heading back down the washboard road, which isn't as bad coming down. It did take me over 3 hours to get home though because of an accident under the snow shed around exit 56 on I-90 which had a couple mile backup.

[Highwalker's Daughter]

Nice pics and trail info. We went in to Colchuck Lake and then up Aasgard two days before you were there. That tarn was just below our campsite the first night. It is so gorgeous there. We came out via Snow Lakes yesterday.

[tigermn]

I was thinking as I arrived at the base of Aasgard at 11:30 that I would want a much earlier start for Aasgard. Obviously the camping solution would make it easy but that isn't currently in my repertoire either from experience or having any of the necessary equipment. How was the actual climb up the pass? Did the snow present any real problems? It looked from below that people had traversed some snowfield areas. Traversing anything much less snow is not real high on my list.

[Highwalker's Daughter]

Actually, the snow crossings were not a problem as long as you take the lower trench for the upper crossing. The upper field that you could probably see two distinct crossings. There was just one kind of dicey area halfway across where there was a wet granite boulder, but it was fine stepping below it. The upper trench is currently a poor choice because it just runs into huge boulders. The lower one gets you to the "trail". I thought the worst of it was really the sliding dirt area above the landform that looks to be kind of in the middle. It was easier to boulder hop where there were handholds than to follow the trail through there. Of course, there's a whole next section that you can't see from the lake! I had heard that, but it was still disappointing to get to the crest you see from the lake and know you still have another 30-40 minutes to the real top. It was also blazing hot with not much shade along the whole route. We rested a lot on the way up so taking it slow worked well for us. We saw people coming up and going down it as late as 9 p.m.! I would not have wanted to do that as the next cairn was sometimes difficult to spot in broad daylight. We camped just past the pass and had fabulous views both directions. If you can hit it before 9 a.m., there actually was shade on the pass until then. There were some day hikers going up and down it. I wouldn't really want to go down it!