Dragontail Peak Triple Couloirs TR - complete version

Planned on heading up to the North Cascades for the Nooksack tower on Saturday morning but the weather seemed flaky and the forecast was for seasonally cold temps. Looked like the weather might be "marginally"
better on the east side of the crest so we set off at about 10:30 Saturday Morning. Took I90 to Blewett pass hoping to avoid the exodus of RVs from the rain drenched Puget Sound area heading up 2. The plan worked but we
burned a hour stopping at every gas station and truck stop we ran across looking for a Hank Williams Jr. Greatest Hits tape. We had to settle for Johnny Cash...
 

The weather didn't look too good as we crossed Blewitt on 97. Snow mixed with rain and dark clouds seemed to dampen our spirits but as Ring of Fire blared through the car the sun popped out! It still looked bad as we looked toward Stewart and the enchantments. Rolled into Leavenworth about 3pm after wasting some more time picking up some food for the climb (Summer sausage, cheese and tortillas). It was reasonably nice (weather-wise) in Leavenworth. It never ceases to amaze at why the vast majority of people go to Leavenworth. The whole fake Bavarian theme is disconcerting. We picked up a permit for Colchuck lake thinking that Dragontail may be the best target since its position usually allows some better weather than Stewart. I had done some other routes on Dragontail so I had my eye on the Triple Couloirs route. Since the weather was supposed to be marginal and cold I figured that it might be worth a shot. We rolled into the parking lot at about 4:30 thinking we could then make our way up to the lake. We were greeted by a steady rain. All hope was not lost however since we could still see occasional patches of blue to the North and East. The rain stopped about 6:30. We could still make it up to the lake but neither of us wanted to take the chance on it raining in the morning and turning around and walking back in the rain again. After some debate and discussion we decided to sleep in the parking lot and see what the weather looked like at 3:00 AM. After a few shots of Jameson Irish whiskey and some summer sausage and cheese we hit the sack.
 

After waking up at 2:30 AM I could see all the stars! The weather had cleared. Trying to wake my partner was too no avail, it was even harder trying to convince him that I didn't roll my watch forward.  We on the trail by 3:45 and at the lake by 6:00... The dawn was clear and it was cold. Frost covered all the footbridges on the way up the trail and my hands were very cold. It was surprising how early it got light (about 4:30 we turned off the headlamps). I could see clouds trying to seep over the cascade crest to the west but on this side of the mountains it looked clear as a bell. Dragontail was impressive and it looked like all the Couloirs were filled in! The lake had a thin sheet of ice over it and snow still encircled the lake but the trail was in great shape. We put our crampons on at the west side of the lake and made our way to the first "Hidden Couloir." The snow was nice and hard and by 7:30 we were making our way up the steep chute. We were in a canyon of granite. The walls were remarkably smooth, most likely from rockfall that hammered the sides of the couliour over thousands of years. We could see the evidence of this in the middle of the chute where the snow was turned brown from the expended missiles. The coulior was mostly about 50 degrees with some 70 degree bulges here and there. We took the opportunity to place running anchors wherever the rock showed weakness. We hugged the walls as we simul-climbed hoping to find protection and to stay away from the occasional small rocks that would whistle within a few feet of us.  The coulior was about 30 feet wide and continued up and around a corner out of sight. After climbing for a couple of hours we came below the exit  gully into the second coulior. Just as we were pondering the moves up some verglassed rock a mass of stones same rumbling down our proposed route. I was standing down the hill and my partner was placing a #1 below the exit gully. A rock the size of a watermelon exploded off of the wall next to him and then the shrapnel spread out and down the hidden couloir hissing and buzzing as it went by. Needless to say this didn't embolden us to begin the 5.8 moves on marginal protection up this gully. We decided to continue up the hidden couloir. As we climbed higher the rock fall ceased.

We made it to the top of the first couloir and then moved out across the North face. Colchuck lake shimmered in the sun 2000 feet below us. A iceberg floated lazily out in the middle of the lake being pushed by some light wind that had just come up. Looking to the west you could see Stewart Lake and farther to the west some black clouds coming our direction. The summit of Mt. Stewart was now buried in the clouds. My partner continued to lead across the Northface (going too far as we would later discover) following a right trending couloir. The angle here was about 45 degrees with a cliff all the way to the Colchuck glacier terminus below us. We saw a glimmering in the sun ahead of us and discovered a picket laying beneath a headwall. We continued up a 60 foot section of mid 5th class rock in our crampons only to find that the gully we were following ended. We could look straight down into the ballbearing amphitheater and across to Serpentene Arête.
We now stood on part of the Backbone ridge. Pulling out our Beckey topo I realized that we needed to go straight up at the end of the hidden. This was not apparent when we were there but from where I stood I could see the prominent "Fin" of
backbone ridge and knew that the 3rd couloir had to be behind it. We had a discussion on whether to drop into the amphitheater and climb the Wickwire northface route or retrace our steps. It was now 2:00 PM. I decided that 10 pitches of belayed rockclimbing in mountaineering boots might take longer than I would like so I began downclimbing and leading out onto the Northface. The climbing was exhilarating and steep, a mid 5th class traverse. I realized too late that all I had were two cams that I had cleaned coming up on my harness. I placed a good number 2 halfway out and continued across and climbed over a rock rib, my crampons screeching across the rock. My partner was getting uneasy since he thought we should do the Northface variation and was unconvinced of my theory of where the 3rd couloir was. I told him to hang tight until I could find a spot for my #1. I could see a good spot full of dirt and moss so I clawed it out with the pick of my x15. I popped in the #1 and belayed Jesse up and over the numerous ribs on the face. Without stopping at the belay he continued across the face and in two more ropes we were at some steep and exposed climbing that looked like it might lead to the 3rd coulior.
 

The next pitch was probably 5.7, which is always a bit different in crampons and boots. The rock was nice and solid. The next pitch actually had some water ice that you could plant a tool into as you wedged your right foot into a crack. That pitch brought us to a nice gravel ledge beneath a gendarme at the top of the second couloir. The third couloir now lay in front of us. It was now 4:00 PM... we had wasted almost two hours exploring the northface of Dragontail. The climbing up the 3rd couloir was straight forward 50 degree snow with some ice bulges to 60 degrees. Colchuck lake was now getting smaller as I looked down between my legs. The iceberg had now lodged itself onto the west shore. The wind had now picked up and snow was falling at a good clip. The summit of Colchuck peak was now enveloped in dark clouds. Grey mist swirled around us as we climbed up towards what appeared to be the summit. We finally topped out of the couloir and realized the true summit lay to the east. The skies were growing more gray and visibility was down to about 100 yards. We climbed along the ridge crest for a ways and then up a small snow bowl to the true summit. The time was now about 6:30. I had been up on top before but the weather was better and you could actually see. After getting everything into our packs we made our way down the south side of the peak. There were no foot prints and we realized that we may be off route. The sky cleared for just an instant and like an epiphany I realized that we were headed straight for Ingalls creek on the wrong side of the mountain! We burned some more of our diminishing thigh muscle climbing back up to the col that separates Dragontail from the witches crag and dropped into the dark mist. This was somewhat uneasy since we couldn't see very far at all and the slope seemed steeper than the 30 degrees that the guidebook promised. Looking at the snow closely I could see what looked like old boot prints that had filled up a few days ago. This was comforting and convinced us that we were on the right track. Going down another thousand feet brought us out of the fog and we could see Asgard pass! We were home free now. We descended quickly on the snow all the way to Colchuck lake.
 

We only met one other group camped at the lake. They were doing the standard route up Colchuck (which looked like it was in great condition too.) It was 9:30 by the time we got around the lake and hit the trail down towards Mountaineers creek (which is the longest 1.5 miles in the Cascades). We were back at the car by 11:00 PM after several stubbed toes. My feet were hammered after wearing the mountaineering boots all the way back to the car. I decided to drive back after celebrating the 4th with the locals at a bar which ended up being a mistake. Going through Tumwater canyon I hit a large rock in the road and cracked my alloy wheel. The granite wasn't through with us yet...   After changing the tire in a dangerous blind spot at 1:30 in the morning I limped the car back to Seattle on the donut spare. Fell into my bed and girlfriends arms at 4:30 AM - I knew there was a reason why I drove home. We missed the fireworks in Seattle but had some of our own on Dragontail.