10/1, Thursday, 中秋. Due to the extreme popularity of the Enchantment Lakes, we decided to take Friday off. This time, I decided to tackle Little Annapurna, and go in and out from Colchuck, so no need to deal with car shuttle. Around noon, after the latest forecast told me "widespread haze", I almost bailed out. Fortunately, my hiking buddies are more determined. Three of us met in Bothell at 6pm. Camped along Icicle Road, the same spot we camped in June. There was a car there already, but no tent. My two hiking buddies also slept in the car. I had the camp area to myself. Full moon was bright enough that I could set up my tent without headlamp.
10/2, Friday. Up at 4am. Packed up. Arrived at Stuart Lake TH (~3400') at 5:10am. Breakfast, bathroom, wilderness permit. Started hiking ~5:50am, with headlamps on. We were obviously not fast, were passed by at least two parties. Sun rose on our way to Colchuck Lake.
Going around the lake took awhile. Saw a couple of larch trees (only ~5600'). After most of the boulder hopping, took a longer break at the southern shore of the lake. All was still in shade.
Going up Aasgard Pass in the shade is good, because it's steep. It's the west slope, so morning is good. The snow and ice of last weekend had all melted. Took an half hour break at the pass (~7800'), to dry our sweat. No wind at all. Warm.
Isolation Lake is probably my favorite here. This year, less snow and ice, so not as dramatic. Still gorgeous. This time, we took the middle stretch between the lakes. Taking many photos, slowly moved on. The next pair of lakes have no names.
There's no obvious trail to Little Annapurna. Cairns here and there, totally unnecessary. The slope is gentle, choose any path. An easy scramble.
The top is practically flat. You can probably camp here if there's snow. A little bit of snow on the upper reach, which I filled my water bottle. The very top (8458') is a few boulders. I couldn't find a registry here. Can see Rainier (hazy) to the south, jaggard peaks on both sides of Crystal Creek. To the north is the Enchantment zone, but couldn't see the lakes, until you go down.
Back to the main trail. On the way, good view of Crystal Lake. Met two young rangers with a shovel. They are on a 4-day shift. We continued downhill to Inspiration Lake, where Y decided for a swim, and V and I walked around to Perfection Lake. ~7100'. Larch is more consentrated here in the lower basin. 3 of us regrouped and hiked back out ~3:30pm. I wanted to be back at Aasgard Pass by 5pm, so we could have ample day light going down the pass. We were back at the pass ~4:45, and took the last long break, and headed down at 5pm.
Going down is worse than going up. I took a wrong boot path and had to scramble down a big rock with water running over it. Dangerous. Need to keep south (left) first, and then keep right. Towards the bottom, need to keep left again, cross the creek. Otherwise, too bushy. Eventually down at the Colchuck. Going around the lake, we lost the main trail a couple of times, in the dark. It's a problem near camping area: too many side tracks. Once we left Colchuck, all was smooth, just the 4 mile trail felt a lot longer in the dark. Met the last backpacking going in at 9pm!
We reached the TH shortly after 10pm. The parking lot was bustling with people and cars. A couple of tents in the full parking lot. Quite a long line of cars already lined up the road. Drove by Snow Lake TH, also full and spilled out. On the drive back, I couldn't keep awake. Back at home at 1:30am!
According to V's Garmin In-Reach, we had hiked 16.58 miles, 6786' elevation gain and loss. Intense!
