22 miles of hiking • 7000' elevation gain • 2 nights
Coming from Portland, the scale and ruggedness of the central Washington cascades are overwhelming the first time you see them. They are jagged and looming and give a sense of grandeur that you don't get anywhere in, say, Mt. Hood National Forest.
Twelve of us met up at Lake Stuart Saturday with the intent to day hike into the Core Enchantments Sunday. Only eight of us chose to hike up and down Aasgard Pass in a single day, but it was well worth it.
Aasgard Pass was extremely difficult. I had a harder time going up it than my winter trip up Mt. Saint Helens with a snowboard on my back. It was immediately obvious that while I may have well developed sloggin' muscles, my full-body-scramblin' muscles are lacking.
The view from the top was well worth it, though. A mountain goat was waiting for us at the top, chewing on some greens and otherwise being photogenic. We needed to hurry to get back down to Lake Stuart before dark, so we only had about 30 minutes to hop around a few different lakes before beginning the descent.
We forgot headlamps back at camp, and my wife Christy hurt her knee on the descent. We had to hike by the light of my iPhone the last two miles through the dark, which was incredibly stupid and also kind of exciting.
The fly fishing at Lake Stuart was stupendous. Hungry 12" cutthroat trout were everywhere, and a caddis fly hatch made fly selection simple. I had my fill of delicious trout for all but a single meal. My tenkara fly fishing rod has long past paid for itself with the 140+ trout I have caught with it (not all kept obviously!).
Wonderful trip.
Chris
September 7, 2011
I'm not sure what it is about Aasgard that makes it so difficult, but I know what you mean. I kept scratching my head after it took almost 2 hours to ascend 2000 feet and 1 mile. For real?