Enchantment Peak 5/10/14

The weather man convinced us to change plans again this weekend.  Instead of a 2 day climb of Mt. Baker, we opted for another day trip into the Enchantments.  We wanted to climb a couple of peaks, but ended up just climbing Enchantment Peak.  

Jim on a footbridge over Mountaineer Creek

 Taking the shortcut across frozen Colchuck Lake.  Dragontail Peak is in the center.  We would be going up Aasgard Pass on the left.

 Looking down on Colchuck Lake with Cashmere Mountain in the background on the right.

 Doug down in a moat that was created by strong winds

 The Black Dwarves and Enchantment Peaks

 Mark climbing the last few feet

 David having some fun at 8520'

Mark and Doug

Mark and David

  Mark skiing from Enchantment Peak down to Colchuck Lake.

Descending Aasgard Pass is usually something that you try to forget.  However, due to the soft snow, we were able to enjoy going straight down in 1/3 the normal time.  We had our usual BBQ in the parking lot and drove home tired and smiling.

Colchuck Peak 5/3/14

Our plan for the weekend was to climb Mt. Baker, but the forecast was no good.  We looked at Mt. Jefferson in Oregon, but that forecast was bad too.  The Saturday forecast for the Enchantments was good enough, so a bunch of the guys headed for Colchuck Peak.

 Going by a frozen "waterfall" in the woods.

 Moving over some granite slabs just below the lake.

One nice thing about going this time of year is being able to take the shortcut across Colchuck Lake.  Dragontail Peak is on the left and Colchuck Peak is on the right.  The route would be on the Colchuck Glacier in between them.

 Taking a break above the lake.

 They started out way down in the valley a few hours before.

 Heading up the glacier.

 The last few steps to the 8,705' summit.

Dan, Ron, Mark, David F, Pete and David S on the windy mountaintop.

Copper Creek Hut 2/28/14

We did something different for our first outing of the year.  We skied and snowshoed 4 miles in to a hut.  The huts are heated, have filtered water, kitchens, sleep pads and more.  You don't need to bring much in your packs.

 Mark, Scott, Dan, Mark, Chris, Dave, Andrew, Kyle and Doug

  Taking a break

 Copper Creek Hut

 Relaxing by the propane stove

Master Chef Scott cooking up a big tender roast, potato casserole, peas and onions!

The west side of Mt. Rainier as seen from a peak near the hut.

What a great sunset!

Lake Stuart and Horseshoe Lake 10/26/13

A bunch of the guys took advantage of another great forecast and went for a hike up to Lake Stuart and Horseshoe Lake.  They covered about 15 miles and 4,000 vertical feet.

 Ron, David F, Dennis, Dan, Pete, Jim, Todd and (David S)

Lake Stuart

The north side of Mt. Stuart

 Horseshoe Lake

So many beautiful places to see......so little time!

Mt. Aix 10/5/13

A few of the guys and their dogs took advantage of some great weather to climb Mt. Aix.  They took turns breaking trail through the fresh snow that was knee deep in places.

 Taking a break.

What a great view of Mt. Rainier!

Nearing the top.

Ron, Pete, Dan and Dave on the summit of Mt. Aix at 7766'.

Enchantments Traverse 9/14/13

After a weather delay, we were finally able to do the Enchantments Traverse.  We spent the day up in mountain goat country. That area is full of snowfields, steams, awesome lakes, granite boulders, slabs and peaks.  With our side trip to Little Annapurna, it ended up being an 18 mile hike.  The blisters should heal up in about a week :)

 At about 2 hours into the hike, we arrived at Colchuck Lake.  

A couple of hours later, we made it to the upper basin and started seeing mountain goats.

Then we ran into a few well-camouflaged Rock Ptarmigans.

 

We couldn't resist standing on the collapsed snow cave.

 Ron and Doug on top of 8,440' Little Annapurna.  Mt. Stuart and Dragontail Peak in the background.

Prusik Peak, Mount Temple and several of the alpine lakes. 

Little Annapurna as seen from Perfection Lake.

Some people say that this is the most beautiful place in Washington State.  We've been to some amazing places.  I can think of several that are close, but none better!

Goat Rocks 8/25/13

Emily, Ron, Nick, David, Dan and Doug arriving at Snowgrass Flats.

After setting up camp, we headed south to climb Mt. Gilbert.  Cispus Basin and the southwest section of Goat Rocks.

On day 2, we went north to climb Old Snowy.  Goat Lake and Mt. Rainier as seen from the Pacific Crest Trail.

A snowfield full of Watermelon Algae.

Wildflowers at Snowgrass Flats with Mt. Adams in background.

In addition to all the incredible sights, we got to pick sweet huckleberries all along the trail.  We just might have to plan another trip to this area!

Mt. Olympus, Blue Glacier 8/10/13

We made the long drive up to the northwest corner of the state to climb Mt. Olympus.  It is located deep in the Hoh Rain Forest.  The climb involves a round trip hike of 45 miles with an elevation gain of 8,000'.

There were huge, moss covered Douglas Fir, Cedar, Spruce and Hemlock trees everywhere.

Elk Lake at the 15 mile mark.

This cable ladder was put in place to help climbers cross an avalanche chute just before the camp at Glacier Meadows.

The Blue Glacier as seen from the lateral moraine.  The true summit is the farthest peak in the middle of the picture.  Snow Dome is on the right.

Doug and Dave on the summit in our rain gear.  It rained for about an hour when we first started up the glacier.  We had traveled and hiked way to far to turn around because of rain!  The sun even came out later that morning.

The view from the summit looking down on Snow Dome and the Blue Glacier.

 The lower part of the glacier is a square mile of hard ice.  It is covered with hundreds of small icy streams.  They usually disappear into a hole or crevasse on the glacier.  

It would have been easy to spend an entire day there exploring that part of the mountain.  We had to walk on the high spots to stay dry.

We made our way back down the moraine to Glacier Meadows where the biting flies convinced us to start the hike out to the car.  The next day, we stopped at the beach for a while and then started the long drive home.  It was nice to accomplish another climb that had been on our "to do" list for a while.