Weekend 7 (Sunday): Dragontail, Enchantment Lakes Hike

Deciding to push the limits of "hardcore," I planned the epic weekend of epic weekends. Beginning at 6am on Sunday morning, I was halfway through it having knocked out the Whidbey Island tour on the previous day. Within a few hours, I would be hitting the trail with Jared (the madman) on a trek up to Dragontail, a jagged knife edge peak, exposed on either side by thousand foot drops into the void.

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The trip was approximately an 11 hour trip per the guide book, and we needed to be out by nightfall, as we did not have a camping permit for that area. Within the past years the forrest service made these permits a requirement to camp in the lakes region. The permit season begins in May, and the permits sell out by February. Ridiculous.

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Having been there, I can understand the need for permits... The beauty I witnessed there is like nothing I have ever seen before. To be honest I am no where near qualified to even write about this place... it is simply too large to describe. Single pictures cannot capture the scale of the park. On this trip alone, I took 17 panoramic photos, more than all of my previous trips... combined. It is easy to see how such a place could be overrun by outdoor enthusiasts.

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From Trails.com:

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Dragontail’s name originated from the miniature rock needles on the thin “tail” of the crest southwest of the summit. The second-highest peak in the Stuart Range, its Serpentine Arete is one of the most famous climbs in the Cascades. Popular with climbers because of its accessibility, good rock, and impressive appearance, Dragontail is also remarkable for a non-technical approach, without ropes and protection, to the same aerial vistas. While the north face is noteworthy on the approach, the northeast face is less noticeable because of its orientation toward the broad couloirs leading to Aasgard Pass. It is from the east that the scramble route is achieved, but only after reaching the plateau of the Enchantment Lakes basin. Dragontail can be scrambled in a single day as an ultra-strenuous marathon if you are traveling light and fast over Aasgard Pass. But to savor the full, exalted experience, take 2 days and camp in the upper Enchantment Basin, or take several days and bask in the divine ambiance of this exquisite area. On a more leisurely trip, the approach to the Enchantments can be made from Snow Lakes. Some scramblers complain about the Snow Creek Trail—too many miles to accomplish the elevation and when you get to the eastern basin there are too many people. Aasgard Pass is a shortcut to the Enchantments: notorious not only for cliffs and slick boulders, but also for sudden summer storms that can dump snow any time of year. Finally, when you get to the Enchantments, the people are everywhere anyway. Yet Aasgard Pass is the shortest distance into the Enchantments, and the only feasible route for a single day scramble. If you plan to camp overnight, be sure to plan several months in advance to get an overnight camping permit. A wilderness permit for day use is also required. Because day use permits are more plentiful, the single day method requires less planning; but it also requires considerably more stamina.

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Highlights:

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1.) The approach to Colchuck lake... seeing the peak I would be on top of within a few hours.

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2.) Arriving at Colchuck lake and taking in the electric blue waters as we stopped for lunch.

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3.) Aasgard pass. 2,000-some-odd feet in approximately a mile. It was a beastly scramble that topped out with views of the enchantments, Colchuck lake, and the peak where were headed.

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4.) Picking out a scramble route out on a section of rock where no route was thought to exist.

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5.) Reaching the top of the new scramble route faced with a 40 foot zone of rock where it was no longer a scramble and absolutely necessary to have ropes and protection to safely climb any higher.

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6.) Climbing higher anyway.

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7.) Sitting on a knife edge, 3 or 4 feet wide, shaking from adrenaline, taking in the single greatest view I have ever seen and knowing that I was one of the small group of people who had ever gotten to the top of that particular rock (certainly in the manner in which I did...i.e the stupid way).

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8.) Getting to the bottom of Aasgard Pass with ZERO knee pain... god bless hiking poles. The was the first time I had ever used them, and I won't do distance hiking again without them.

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9.) Hiking the remaining 8-ish miles out of the wilderness in the dead of night discussing the Milgram Experiment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment) and what horrible tricks our minds would be playing on us if we had been walking solo through the same woods.

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10.) The crystal black night sky, a swimming pool of stars so bright that they could nearly light our way.

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We returned to the cars at 11 PM that night, some 13 hours after hitting the trail, exhausted but thrilled with the accomplishment.

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Pictures:

The destination...

Sweet little waterfall.

Looking back from Colchuck to where we came from.

Pine tree and cones in front of Aasgard.

Refilling the water supply before hitting Aasgard in the face.

Looking back on Colchuck. So nice.

The ridgeline to the right of the snowfield is Dragontail. I was on top of the 3 point from the farthest point to the right in this picture.

From the scramble looking out on the Enchantments.

You know what they say about playing with altitude...?...

KNIFE EDGE... though this picture doesn't really show it as well as I had hoped.

From the edge out across the valley. Lake Stuart is in the bottom right corner.

Oh... the exposure!

Panoramic from the top.

My nalgene suffered a fate that I did not... and lived to hold water another day.

The climbers (the two spots in the bottom right-ish of the picture) really put the ridge enormity into proportion.

What would an entry be without a flower shot?

Looking back having just descende Aasgard.

Sunset over a mirror pool.