A strenuous hike up Aasgard Pass to the impressive peak rising 3300 ft above Colchuck Lake.
We started from the Lake Stuart trailhead at 7am. Though there were no down trees on the trail, the trail to the lake is still rugged and makes for a slower hike. Colchuck Lake is stunning with its emerald color! Dragontail and Colchuck rise sharply above the lake, giving a breathtaking view.
The trail gets worse as we circle around the lake, and lots of social trails make the navigation frustrating. You will need to hop over boulders to reach the start of the climb up Aasgard Pass. The pass itself is just endless scree on granite slabs and can barely be considered a trail. Going up was fine, but going down felt like forever.
After ascending Aasgard Pass, the views get better! High Sierra scenery comes into view. The blue tarns and lakes set against granite made me feel like I was on a different planet.
We didn't find the final ascent to the col just below the summit difficult. We carried crampons but crossed the snow traverse in mountaineering boots without them, partly because it was already 2pm and a solid boot track was carved in the snow. The Mountaineers website rates this as a T5 scramble, but when we did it, it was 99.99% a walk up, with maybe 3 airy moves at most on the summit block.
We enjoyed the view from the summit for a while and started descending. We glissaded the snow slope below the col. It was fast at first but got slower quickly. Then we began our long slog back to the car, arriving at 10pm and making the whole trip an unexpected 15 hour day.
