NOTE: This is a two-part trip report. For Part II, please go to this link.
The sub-title to this trip report could be:
"When one door closes, another four open."
My friend Adam (Gimpilator) and I originally hoped to attempt Whitehorse Mountain this past weekend, but after reviewing a recent report from another mountaineer and questioning the current infamous moat conditions, we decided to change our plans. I had mentioned the Enchantments to several people for the previous weekend, but when we (incorrectly) thought Eightmile Road was still closed we chose other plans. So when the Whitehorse trip got cancelled this week, one of the people from that trip mentioned the Enchantments. With a good weather forecast, Adam and I wanted to make the most of our weekend.
We initially focused on Colchuck Peak and Dragontail Peak. Adam was not very enthusiastic about Colchuck, basically thinking of it as a sub-summit of Dragontail. I, on the other hand, wanted to do both peaks all along. Adam wanted us to go for Dragontail first and then Colchuck, but I thought it seemed much more straightforward reaching the Colchuck summit first and then head east for other peaks. Adam agreed to the idea, and soon Josh (Flow) was included in the plans, as well. We figured with the current snow conditions and being the last weekend before the overnight permit period, the Enchantments might be packed with familiar NWHers.
We arrived at the Stuart Lake Trailhead at 5:00 AM, and departed on the trail at 5:25 AM. I noticed that FWB2 had signed-in, as his permit was sticking out of the drop-in hole of the trailhead kiosk. We thought we might see him face-to-face during the trip but never did. The trail was very easy to follow, and we had sporadic views to surrounding peaks such as Cannon Mountain. The Colchuck Lake Trail had a lot of snow patches still on it, and several snowmelt-stream crossings. This slowed down our pace. We arrived at Colchuck Lake shortly after 8:00 AM. Following the route to the south end of Colchuck Lake was time-consuming, as there was a constant mixture of snow, rocks, logs, and wells to deal with.
Crossing A Stream Along Colchuck Trail
We then began the ascent of the gully containing Colchuck Glacier. We talked occasionally with a couple of mountaineering guides from New York, and they were basically near us until Colchuck Pass. We encountered a couple of guys descending the gully who said the conditions were very good, although they were firmer/icier earlier. Adam, Josh, and I each brought crampons but were hoping not to need them. Our timing was just right for reaching this gully, as the sun began to shine on it while we were there, allowing for great walking and kick-stepping (where needed) but negating the necessity of crampons. We encountered two guys at Colchuck Pass who were descending from the Colchuck summit, and shortly after we reached the pass a couple from WSU caught up to us who had began their hike from the Stuart Lake Trailhead shortly after we had.
Ascending Colchuck Glacier
We left our packs at the pass to help our progress for the final short 600' elevation gain remaining. We reached the Colchuck summit at 12:25 PM, exactly seven hours after leaving the car. We possibly could have gone faster, but we were each carrying full overnight backpacks until Colchuck Pass and we were overall trying to have a conservative pace for the anticipated long day. There were two guys sitting below the summit block, bringing the number of people encountered on the trip to 10 people... less than what we would have guessed.
Adam Ascending Colchuck Peak
Atop Colchuck Peak
After returning to Colchuck Pass, we put our packs back on and traversed a short distance east towards the southwest couloir of Dragontail Peak. We had time on our side, and the sun had not yet fully softened the couloir snowpack, so we spent some time exploring the jagged ridge leading to Point 8560'+. Our maps showed the gentle-sloped south basin of Dragontail Peak on the other side of that ridge, but we figured there must be a reason we do not hear about a lot of people going over that jagged ridge. After some exploring, we found one rappel sling (but we had no ropes or harnesses), and one possible section we could have attempted scrambling down but a large crevasse-like moat would have awaited us at the bottom. With some extra time elapsed and snow softening a little more desirably, we decided to backtrack and take our chances with the more-standard southwest couloir.
Heading to SW Couloir
The ascent of the southwest couloir went very well, and kick-stepping was easy. There were no signs of any recent human activity; it appeared we were the first people to recently attempt traversing the southwest couloir. When we reached the top of the couloir at Pandora's Box, our route seemed to be at an immediate conclusion. There was an abrupt cliff-end with a small leftover cornice near Pandora's Box. I recalled people saying the route was left of the notch at Pandora's Box, so I asked Adam (who was slightly ahead of us at that time) to climb onto the shelf of Pandora's Box to try to find the route. He did so while I was right behind him and Josh waited below the couloir-saddle. Adam claimed to have found our way into the south basin below... a direct downclimb down a steep snow slope starting from the left (north) side of the couloir-saddle.
Mount Stuart
Adam was much more confident with the plan than either Josh or me. Like Adam, I had also seen from above what awaited us below if a problem occurred but Josh had not. Let's just say it would be a good thing not to fall there. The snow conditions seemed very good. Crampons were not necessary because the snow was not hard. Defined kick-steps and hand-holds could be easily made because the snow was not too soft, while being able to still firmly palce our ice axes. With the downclimb being Adam's idea, he went first. It was slow-going but he made it down. We realized as he descended that the slope was probably steeper than any of us had ever attempted without a rope, probably 70-75 degrees. Once he began side-traversing with kick-steps and hand-holds, I then followed the route down. I was very nervous at the top, but soon found myself moving quite smoothly and efficiently (and I think that even surprised Adam). Josh was the third person to downclimb the slope. He had the opposite reaction than I did: He was more confident at the top and became more nervous as he descended. Josh told us afterwards that some of the kick-steps and hand-holds were already failing after Adam and I had used him, so in several places he had to create his own.
Josh Descending The Snow Crux Section
This snow crux section was intense, but afterwards we all thought the experience was awesome. Let me stress that most people would not have the experience or the stomach to try that downclimb, and it is not a route that we would recommend as a result. We all high-fived the accomplishment when we joined back up with each other. We then continued north to the Dragontail summit, which we reached by 5:45 PM. There were several fresh tracks leading from the nearby saddle to the summit, but we never saw anybody on the mountain. The rocky summit was smaller in size than I expected, with plenty of exposure but fantastic views in all directions.
Looking Back At Josh, Dragontail South Slopes
Enchantment Lakes Basin
Atop Dragontail Peak
After spending some time at the summit, we descended to the saddle below and entered the west end of the Enchantment Lakes basin. We passed two tents and setup our snow-camp a short distance below and east of theirs. We watched four people descending from Little Annapurna to Isolation Lake, and those people were the nearby campers. We spent the next few hours setting up camp, cooking food, and melting snow. It was a long, exhausting day with ~7000' of cumulative elevation gain and two Top 100 peaks.
Take risks not to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping
I may not have anyone rocking my world right now but, I don't have anyone messing it up either.
0
Take risks not to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping
I may not have anyone rocking my world right now but, I don't have anyone messing it up either.
Awesome guys! I met a group at Colchuck Col last year whose foray into The Enchantments was cut short when they couldn't get over that crux section, and they had ropes.
Take risks not to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping
I may not have anyone rocking my world right now but, I don't have anyone messing it up either.
0
Take risks not to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping
I may not have anyone rocking my world right now but, I don't have anyone messing it up either.
Nice job getting through there.
Just for information to anyone else considering the route from Colchuck Col to Dragontail, the key is to not go to the top of the coulior at Pandora's box, exactly becaue of the very steep snow slope you found on the far side.
Instead, about 50 feet below the top, traverse onto rocks on the left, and scramble (briefly 4th class and exposed) across and over onto the crest a bit north of Pandora's.
I labeled it on the photo below.
That looks like a scary way down into the basin from the pass. I'm curious to see more pictures -- was it not possible to take a left at the pass and reach a much easier route to the basin? I've only been up there once and I can believe that different snow conditions could change the route dramatically. But for us last year at about this time getting into the basin was a non-event.
Thanks Matt for that information. The beta we were operating on only mentioned the notch just left of Pandora's box. If we had known there was an alternative we surely would have inspected it before getting committed on the steep slope. And to answer puzzlr's question, yes that is the way we went. Great route photos you two!
Just for information to anyone else considering the route from Colchuck Col to Dragontail, the key is to not go to the top of the coulior at Pandora's box, exactly becaue of the very steep snow slope you found on the far side.
Instead, about 50 feet below the top, traverse onto rocks on the left, and scramble (briefly 4th class and exposed) across and over onto the crest a bit north of Pandora's.
Matt- Yeah, before our downclimb I mentioned to the group how one trip report mentioned downclimbing 20 meters from Pandora's Box to find the correct route. We considered going around the clifflike rock on the leftside of the gully as a possibility on the way up, but did not know what was up and over the other side of the hill. At least with our choice we could see our whole route the entire time. We thought the "20 meters" comment might have been from Pandora's Box to the saddle. The downclimb worked for us *only* because of the snow conditions we encountered. Again, any icier or softer and it might not have worked, and then we would have had to search for that other option or turn around. Once we were down the slope and looked back, we could see the other (and more advisable) route.
After I got home, I tried reassuring my wife that I would never downclimb any snow slope that steep again, unroped. It was even steeper than the snow thumb on Gannett Peak that I experienced a few years ago.
That crux section of our trip was one of my main motivators for posting this trip report. We had several trip reports with us, and read several others, that basically glazed-over that route section. We wanted to include a better description and photos, and we wanted to advise other people against making the same route choice we did. Your comments and route description will also help future Colchuck-to-Dragontail traversers pick a better route option.
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The snow must have been perfect. Looking forward to your pics, Josh.
