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October 2008: Through-hike in the Enchantments

“The Enchantments” refers to an alpine valley in the Washington Cascades near the town of Leavenworth. The high valley contains spectacular lakes and granite formations, and is well-known for its larches, which produce brilliant fall colors. Due to the popularity of this area, camping and hiking are regulated. Permits are required for overnight camping, and are generally reserved well in advance for summer weekends. Day hiking is not restricted, but a $5 trail permit is required (and can be purchased at the trailhead).

Two trails provide accessto the Enchantments: trail 1553 from the Snow Lakes trailhead or trails 1599 & 1599.1 via Colchuck Lake from the Stuart Lake trailhead. One-way distance from one trailhead to the other is 18 miles. Because this is such a long hike, most parties camp overnight or hike only a portion of the trail. A through-hike can require up to 14 hours depending on the strength of the party and the amount of time spend enjoying the sites. The trailheads are about 8 miles apart by road, so a through-hike requires 2 cars to shuttle between trailheads or some other plan to return to the starting point.

More information about the Enchantments can be found at the WTA Website. A WTA article on larches can be found here.

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It was a clear, sunny day and the fall colors, while not at their peak, were spectacular. We elected to ascend via Aasgard pass and return along the Snow Lakes trail. This would put the climb behind us quickly, and we would be in the valley before lunch. We left the Colchuck parking lot (3,475 feet) at 7:00AM; it was barely light enough to alk without headlamps. It was also cold (about 25 degrees). Because the Colchuck trail is north of Aasgard pass and Dragontail Peak, it remained in shadow for our entire ascent (and most of the day). We could see the sun on the peaks above us, but did not emerge into sunlight until we reached the top of the pass.

The trail to Colchuck lake starts as a gentle grade which steepens after crossing the stream about 2.3 miles into the hike. After 4 miles we reached Colchuck lake. The increase in elevation (2,200 feet) and lack of sunlight made it cold enough that we had to keep moving to stay warm.

Aasgard Pass rises steeply from the southern end of Cochuck Lake, following a corridor between rock faces to the east and west. The trail ends about two thirds of the way around the lake. We continued traveling, following cairns and a climber's track over boulder fields and through the brush until we reached the base of Aasgard Pass. About half way up, the slope is broken by a rocky outcropping housing a few larches. A stream flows down the west side of the corridor; the climber's track passes to the east (left) of the outcropping

We began our climb on the rocky slope beside the stream on the west (climber's right) side of the corridor. The stream, which begins as a series of cascading falls near the top of Aasgard Pass, was frozen solid; crossing was tricky. After crossing the stream, we worked our way to climber's left to pass between the rock outcropping and the east wall. After passing the outcropping we worked our way toward the center of the corridor and began the scramble up the final slope to the top. The top of Aasgard Pass is an easy class 2+ scramble (requires some use of upper body), but on this climb it was tricky because many of the rocks were covered with frozen water. At about 11:30 we reached the top (6.1 miles; 7,814 feet) and broke out into the sun; it was immediately warmer (40's or 50's).

After warming up at the top of Aasgard Pass we spent about 2 hours working our way down through the lakes, larches, and slick rock that comprise the high valley of the enchantments. There was a fresh dusting of snow, and the smaller lakes at the top had a thin layer of ice on top. As we hiked lower we moved into the larches, which were bright yellow, just beginning to turn orange. We ate a late lunch at the low point below / east of perfection lake (8 miles, 7,063 feet), leaving around 2:00PM to begin our descent.

The descent to Snow Lakes begins at Lake Viviane (8.8 miles, 6,700 feet). We had one minor detour as we followed a side trail to toilet hidden in the rocks overlooking Snow Lakes. After regaining the trail, we descended steeply for about 1.2 miles to upper Snow Lake (10 miles, 5,475 feet). The trail improved at this point, and we picked up our pace for the long walk to the parking lot (18 miles, 1,336 feet). The Snow Lakes trail is long, and a bit of a slog, but it was very pretty in the fall colors.

A few things we learned

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