April 25, 2008, Colchuck Bail

Hoping to beat the hot weather forecast for the weekend Mike and I left Seattle Thursday night aiming for Colchuck Peak. Aside from some minor rout finding issues at the Monroe Taco Bell we arrived at Icicle Creek without (much) incident. After a solid two and a half hours sleep we sorted gear and began hiking. About 2/3 the way up the road there was enough snow to skin. Occasional glimpses through the trees and clouds of Stuart, Colchuck and Dragontail propelled us on. By the time we reached Colchuck Lake skies were clear, and although it was an incredibly beautiful day, it was warmer than we had hoped. We met a solo climber returning from the glacier where he had not liked conditions. On the way up above the lake we encountered variable thickness wind slab on solid crust. A couple of inches of new snow on top of that was getting thick in the sun. While discussing options at the top of the moraine one of the couloirs on Colchuck€™s north buttress slid, billowing white dust and spewing debris onto the glacier below. We agreed it was time to head down. A ski cut couldn€™t budge anything but the thin layer of new snow. We enjoyed some fun turns back to the lake, found a flat rock platform, constructed lay-z-boy chairs, ate lunch, and proceeded to fall asleep in the sun. After napping the trees below the lake proved to be surprisingly fun skiing as the thick snow wasn€™t too deep and the crust below was solid. There were a few minutes of confusion when we stopped to check the map and make sure that we didn€™t come out below the creek crossing€¦ Apparently the €œnice people€ at Green Trails forgot to re-orient the north arrow on map 209S (The Enchantments) when they rotated the map 90 degrees from the usual format to fit the range in one sheet. So the north arrow is pointing directly east! For some reason the return hike to the car was a lot longer than the approach hike even though we skied every last inch of snow on the way down. So we didn€™t reach our goal, but it was still an incredible day in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It definitely beat going to work.