Amanda and Shiv Gourshetty
June 19-20
We started off from Stuart lake trailhead and made our way down the trail passing the Colchuck turn and continuing until Mountaineer’s creek. At first it seemed we found the trail but it quickly turned into a wetland and we escaped to the edge of the sloped forest. It’s likely this is all dried out by late season making this easier. Once we got through the forest we made it to the slide alders which were the worst part of the approach. Its is more like tree limb “whacking” vs bushwhacking. Finally, we made it out and onto the snow. We moved quickly as we heard the water flowing underneath.
The approach couloir is mellow at first and gets a little steep towards the top. I wouldn’t want to do this without an ice axe and crampons, especially if it were icy. As we finally made it up to the rock the lingering clouds finally began to clear out.
The first pitch starts with easy moves around an awkward tree. The next sections are all blocky easy climbing up to pitch 3. Almost all the pitches on this climb are short and likely could be linked in different ways. Pitch 3 followed ledges up and to the right until you reach a harder move over onto easy terrain.
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The upper sections were still a bit frosty. After some more moderate to easy climbing and we were at the final scramble. The summit was warm and sunny for a change. None of the climbing on the route felt harder than 5.6 and there was no one particular crux pitch but more a jumble of moves spread throughout.
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From the summit we continued along the ridge towards a snow patch that led down the backside of the mountain towards the back of Colchuck. The slope may not have been obvious if it weren’t from the footprints from the party the day earlier. We traversed the snow to the first rappel off a rock to a snow patch. At the bottom of the first rappel, we un-roped and walked down a bit to the second rappel station (climbers left). That rappel will lead you to the third rappel off a gear anchor. It appeared that someone had added some new tat to it recently and added a nut and it looked solid at the time. One more rap and we onto the snow and crossing toward the back of Colchuck. Once at the top of the glacier we were very excited to finally make out way back down to the lake. It was fun to reenter the Colchuck crowds after being alone on Argonaut. We then made the last slog out to the van. A fun adventure indeed!
~26 miles 7000 ft elevation gain roundtrip with 7 pitches of 5.6 or below climbing
(I forgot to turn off my watch until a little down the street hence the estimates )
