Dragontail Peak

Jason and Taylor had been eyeing Dragontail Peak for quite a while, and yesterday we finally made it happen—with Taylor's friend Jackson (from UCSC) joining us for the adventure. We were incredibly grateful to have a cozy place to crash at Rachel and Jim Clifton’s house in Leavenworth. Their home made the perfect basecamp after our late arrival from hiking Hibox Mountain the day before, and before our early start the next morning.

We set off from the Stuart Lake trailhead, made our way to Colchuck Lake, then climbed up the infamous Asgard Pass, and finally pushed on to summit Dragontail Peak. From there, Taylor and Jackson kept up the momentum, running and hiking all the way through the Enchantments—covering 21 miles and about 6,600 feet of elevation gain.

Meanwhile, Jason and I descended back down Asgard Pass since we had left one of the cars at the trailhead—a 15-mile day for us, though somehow, we ended up with more elevation gain (6,800 feet). A wrong turn partway down sent us climbing again for a bit—oops. Though our route was shorter, it took us significantly longer. Navigating the steep and loose terrain of Asgard Pass on the descent took a lot of time and caution. We ended up hiking into the night, which was definitely fits into the category of type two fun. 

All in all, it was a challenging, beautiful, and unforgettable day in the mountains. What an AWESOME (in every sense of that word) adventure!

treats for the trail (Abba, we took this picture in your honor as we know you love these!) 

Colchuck Lake 

across the snowfield going up to Dragontail Peak 

Mountain Goat Video 

it doesn't get much better than this... 

a view from Dragontail Peak 

Taylor said this blessing to me before we left each other. There's nothing quite like having him say this back to us after having said it to him for two decades now and then to think about the words so deeply when we were hiking in the dark later that night: "may he guide you through the wilderness."  Giving praise to God that He does indeed guide us through the wilderness! 

back down Aasgard--oh the adventure and tired legs that lay ahead

after we got off the trail for a while on Asgard Pass- I was hugging the cairns :) 

sunset over Asgard Pass 

Even with two river crossings and a few times that we had to check the trail as we had gotten off track, let me just say that while we were slow and steady, we were a good team navigating the dark.