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June 1-7, 2017, Random areas

6/1/17
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Posted by sam18802 on 6/8/17 4:14pm
Figured I would just compile the trip reports into one and with the warm weather and melting snow, some of this may no longer be useful anyway. I knew all of the built up energy I had spending the past year on the East coast would boil over by the time this trip started, but I had no idea where that energy would lead me to. Plus, given the amount of snow out here the possibilities were pretty much endless. So here it goes:
June 1: Little Annapurna and the Core Enchantments- I'm not sure what the count is now for how many times I have visited this area, but they still ever cease to amaze me. Started on the Colchuck Lake trail at 630am to meet up with a friend at the Lake, which was still largely covered in snow and ice. We contemplated heading up Colchuck instead, but I had yet to ride down Little Annapurna and decided that this was going to be a "warm up" trek...just for kicks with no expectations since weather started as rain, turned to sleet, then snow and then clear skies for an entire 10 minutes! Was able to skin easily from the top of Aasgard Pass to Little Annapurna just as clouds parted and even though the snow was soft and wet, it was still a great way to kick the trip off!
June 2-3: Eldorado Peak- The first time I made it out to Eldorado was in August two years ago. I had since long thought of how incredible it would be given an opportunity to snowboard off of the infamous knife edge and was not disappointed one bit! Boulder field was patchy snow and consistent snow starting just before the basin area. I can imagine the boulder field is likely more melted out five plus days after, but there were no signs of open crevasses this trip except just below the knife edge itself. A long day hike for turns, but still by far worth the effort. (Startup time was around 4am June 3 after sleeping in the parking area. Tons of people on the mountain!)
June 4: Wing Lake- The goal was to ride down Black Peak again, but the melting snow and warm weather made me decide otherwise. Plus, I had mistaken the great people I was supposed to climb and ride with to be moving ahead of me, and in a frantic rush to catch up I eventually found out it was not my group, so I opted to skin to Wing Lake for some pics and turn around. Also, I did note some pretty sizable slide activity when I made it to Wing Lake, so turning around seemed like a much better idea rather than continuing.
June5-7: Snow Dome, Mount Olympus- This wasn't even intentional really this time, but after hauling the rock board for Fourth of July weekend last year, I figured that the weather window and snow coverage alone would make a return trip much more worthwhile. Plus, I figured there was no way to find out what I could have done better without giving it another try. The issue last year was primarily weight alone, so this time I only brought bare essentials to avoid severe blistering, general discontent, etc. I also found that trying to carry all of the gear in last year to Elk Lake on day one was a mistake last year. Granted, with zero interest in any kind of true summit bid, there was less gear involved so I'd say this was a healthy mix of carrying bare minimum and saving energy from the 18 mile approach to Glacier Meadows. Started at 5pm for the nine mile approach on day one, very early start on day two to Snow Dome and Crystal Pass and then back to the Ranger Station same day so I only had to mentally prepare for a nine mile hike out on day three as opposed to fifteen. Since the weather for the rest of this week has turned out to be pretty bad, I can at least be (mostly) satisfied with these small trips before heading back to the snow-free hills of Pennsylvania! Patchy snow just above Elk Lake, with consistent snow roughly a half mile before Glacier Meadows. Lateral moraine was partially melted out, so I wasn't spared the annoying loose rock down to the start of Blue Glacier


Another Olympus pic with the rock board. Time for a new setup I think.

Eldorado environs

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june-1-7-2017-random-areas
sam18802
2017-06-08 23:14:44