1 post tagged “dragontail peak”

On Saturday, I summited Dragontail Peak (8840'+).  Obviously, it's been an incredibly slow year in terms of mountaineering, but I finally have something to write about other than rants against the telcos.  After being an instructor for a basic climbing class in the Spring, I took some time off for family, barely staying in shape to attempt Mt. Rainier via the Emmons route last month.  Unfortunately, I tweaked my knee a couple of weeks before I was to make that attempt, on (of all hikes) Mt. Si.  The injury wasn't particularly obvious at the time, but the pain got worse as time went on, and it was one of those things where it wasn't caused by one big event.  It was probably caused by descending too fast having not been out on the trails for a good couple of months.

In any case, I made the hike up to Bandera Mountain last week with a couple of friends from out of town, and although the knee was painful, I decided it was good enough to make the attempt on Dragontail as long as I took it easy.

We got to the trailhead at about 10:00 on Friday and proceeded to set up tents for the "nap" until 4:15.  By just after 5, we were on the trail.  The first part of this climb is along the same trail that one takes to Colchuck Peak.  Just about 8, we met up with the other half of our team, which had spent the night at Colchuck Lake thanks to their backcountry camping permit.

Being my first "real" climb of the year, I was really apprehensive in some ways.  I kept thinking that I'd forgotten some vital piece of gear or that I wouldn't be prepared.  And of course, in the back of my mind was the constant thought that my knee problems only really seemed to kick in on descent.  So what if I made it up to 8840' and couldn't come down?

On the other hand, it felt great to be climbing with these guys again, especially once we slogged our way up the loose scree and rocks of Asgaard Pass.  Once at the top of the pass, we hit a snowy bowl and gaitered up, switching the poles for ice axes.  We also filtered some water.  As it turns out, my paranoia about supplies was a good thing, because I even packed the water filter.  Considering the heat, there was no way we could have had enough water without it.  I polished off about 7 liters during the day.

Surprisingly, I didn't really feel tired at any time during the climb.  The snow was welcome relief for feet, and the climbing continued steadily.  The nice thing about this route was that we were able to climb in shade all the way up Asgaard Pass, taking the heat only after we got into the snow bowl.  We made the col and then scrambled up a few more rocks to the summit after taking a quick break.  We made the summit at about 12:30.  It was a clear, beautiful day, and aside from a little smog or smoke from fires, we were able to take in a gorgeous panorama that included Mts. Rainier, Adams, Baker, Stuart, and Glacier Peak as well.

Those of us who had overnight permits then continued on to climb Witches Tower, and one of them soloed Little Annapurna as well.  I was a bit jealous, but soon put that aside as I concentrated on the descent.

Now the descent...  and the big question of the knee.  As it turned out, I was able to descend with just a constant pain throughout the afternoon.  It never really got terrible, but neither did it totally go away.  I took it very easy, and I have to admit that it was due to this slow pace that our descent took just as long as the ascent, which, I'm sure, was frustrating to the others.

Sadly, I even got to practice my ice axe arrest as I slipped while plunge stepping down the bowl, and then later, again, when I let a glissade get just a bit out of control.

Strangely enough, the knee actually seemed to do better on rocky steps than descending along the trail.  I made some adjustments to how I used the poles and that also seemed to help.  Coming down Asgaard, the main challenges were the loose rock and the overbearing sun.  The temps got up over 90 F in Leavenworth, and while it probably wasn't that bad up in the mountains, it sure felt that bad...

The only other challenge along the way was the bugs.  The mosquitos were out in force, and no amount of bug juice solved the problem entirely.  We all ended up with our share of bites.

We made the car at just after 8 PM, which seemed like forever, but at the same time, I kind of had a feeling it was take that long given my knee.  It was about the same as we'd taken on Colchuck last year, though that involved some crampons and hard snow up the very steep Colchuck Glacier.

All in all a great climb.  At this point I only have one other climb planned for the rest of the season, but maybe that will change.  Who knows...