When we arrived in Leavenworth this spring, it was the first time either Liz or myself had ever seen the town, the Stuart Range, or the Cascades. A dry ski season had left us with strong legs, weak butts, and a voracious appetite for climbing. With only our bicycles for transportation our appetite was indeed larger then our ability for those first few weeks. Slowly we worked our way into the season with short trips up the Tumwater and Icicle canyons, the packs on our backs were heavily laden with gear. Hobo’s Gulch, Clem’s Holler, Castle Rock, Pearly Gates, we methodically worked our way up the road, each ride a little farther, each climb a little harder. After a while we wised up and put some slick tires on our bikes and threw down some dough for a couple of B.O.B. trailers to get the gear off our backs and save our asses some unnecessary pain. We’ve come a long way since those first weeks of this human powered season, our cycling has become more efficient, faster, and more pleasurable, and our climbing has improved in the same ways. Not only the physical nature of our trips has increased though, the mental toughness required to undertake a multi night adventure in this style is demanding. Should either of us be hurt or otherwise compromised, we’re a long walk and ride from town. The more we’ve become accustomed to this risk and accepted its many challenges, physical and mental, the more successful, exciting, and purely awesome our trips have become. On our most recent bicycle-powered excursion into the Stuart Range, we wanted to push the envelope even farther by undertaking a committing alpine climb, from town, all human power, in one day. We aimed high, and were rewarded with one of the finest climbs, and most rewarding experiences of the summer. Continue reading “Dragontail Peak, Serpentine Arete”
