Friday, September 9, 2011

Monday, September 5, 2011 - Colchuck Lake to Tranquil Lake via Aasgard Pass


We started out early on Monday to climb Aasgard Pass (before it got too hot).  Here's a photo of me with the pass in the background:

It's rugged hiking.  Here's Mike above and Ken below heading up to the pass:

Colchuck Lake was still in shadows as we climbed:


And it got smaller as we climbed:

Still a long way to the top:

Alpine Scenery:


To the right of the pass is Dragontail Mountain :

As we climbed we had some spectators:

Onwards!

The lake got even smaller:

More rocks, more alpine scenery:

More alpine scenery:

More alpine scenery:

 To find our way up the pass we followed rock cairns built by volunteers (I worked on them for a week with the Washington Trails Association about 15 years ago) - you can see a cairn on the left side of this photo.  Here are Mike and Ken and a mountain goat (the goat is on the left):

More alpine scenery:

Almost to the top:

 Finally at the top!  Four hours later.  That's Dragontail in the background:

Through the snow:

Our campsite on Monday night:

Our campsite with the mountain goat inspectors (these are different goats than the ones that we saw on the way up Aasgard Pass):

Another view of our campsite (can you spot the goats?):

Some scenery while walking around on Monday:

Some scenery while walking around on Monday (that's Ken):

Some scenery while walking around on Monday:

Some scenery while walking around on Monday:

Some scenery while walking around on Monday:

Some scenery while walking around on Monday:

Some scenery while walking around on Monday:

Some scenery while walking around on Monday:

Some scenery while walking around on Monday:

Some scenery while walking around on Monday:

Some scenery while walking around on Monday:

Some scenery while walking around on Monday:

Some scenery while walking around on Monday:

Preparing dinner in the kitchen on the shore of Tranquil Lake (7,700 feet of elevation):

Eating dinner:

Here's our campsite - Ken and Mike (the smarter two of the three in the expedition) cut down on weight by sharing a tent and cooking supplies.  We settled in for a restful (but cold) night:


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