Witch\'s Tower - Enchantment Lakes - Parade Route - Day Hike 8/26/2008
Trip: Witch's Tower - Enchantment Lakes - Parade Route - Day Hike
Date: 8/26/2008
Trip Report: Had a Monday off, and so decided to take a short, easy scramble to the top of the Witch's Tower in the Enchantment Lakes area. I'm still nursing a fractured left clavicle, sustained as the result of a nasty bike crash four weeks ago, so I wanted to keep things mellow. Nothing wrong with the legs, though, so I made good progress up trail and down, completing the mini-tour in about seven hours C2C. I wanted to snag Little Annapurna as well, but after topping out on W.T., some shit weather rolled in, including a bit of frozen precip, so I started back--too bad, though, because halfway down Aasgard, the sun came back out and started laughing at me.
Here are a couple of summit shots from the Tower. Once in the Upper Enchantments, the climb goes really quickly thanks to a snow-filled gully just to the left of the peaklet (not shown). Fortunately, I packed the aluminum 'pons for my running shoes, but a pair of stout boots would also have sufficed for the short 200-300-ft slope, which never exceeded 45 degrees or so, and which took me to the base of the tower in about 15 minutes.
..And another Summit shot. W.T. offers some tremendous views of the area--as good as those from the summit of Prusik. Ejohnson and I did the W. Ridge a few years back, and the Tower is a good place from which to view that other popular route...
Coming down, I opted to try a scramble along a series of ledges just the opposite side of the snowslope (climber's left). The descent was really the highlight of the hike, as it involved alot of poking around, getting cliffed out, up-scrambling, more poking around, etc.--just the sort of thing that might have been annoying anywhere else, but in the Enchantments, bordeom is never an option. Finally, I began to notice a few cairns scattered about, and all too quickly I found myself back at the lakeshore. Taking note of the worsening weather, I hoisted a hood, cranked the toonz, and bolted for Aasgard and a highly enjoyable dirt-ski back down to Colchuck Lake. This shot is from one of the curious, perfectly flat living-room-sized ledges that you find a couple hundred feet above the lakes on the connecting ridge between Dragontail and L. Annapurna--perfect for a rogue bivy!
Essential Gear for solo afternoon trail dashers: The 2GB Zen Stone, with rubberized protective bra. She'll take everything you can dish out then come up laughing.
--cheers.
Gear Notes:Crampons speed things up but are not really needed as there are numerous snow-free route options. Running shoes, a light shell, snax, toonz, and you're there.
Approach Notes:No more snow along the way. Shocking lack of same on Colchuck Col! Perfect time to grab a hike in the area, although things are bound to improve as the larches start to catch fire in early Autumn.
