THE ENCHANTMENTS | 10-14 SEP

*Post written approximately six months later, so details are a little fuzzy.

DAY 1 | SNOW LAKES

The morning of the hike finally arrived. We had spent the previous night at a house in Leavenworth, thanks to the generous offer of a woman Tiffany and Trisha had met on trail months earlier. It was a cool morning, having rained most of the night. As we packed our gathered our gear and made our way out of the parking lot, a rainbow appeared overhead. A beautiful start to our hike into the Enchantments.

Our goal for the day: Upper Snow Lake. With two full days to explore the Core, we wanted to find a campsite as close as possible to the climb that separates the Snow Zone with the Core—8 miles and approximately 4440 ft of elevation gain. The trail gets started right away with elevation gain, taking you up more than 20 switchbacks and 800 ft in the first mile. While it is the longest way to enter into the Enchantments, it is gradual, with many opportunities to take a more leisurely pace between climbs and boulder scrambles. The trail moves through lush, humid forest to open landscape along talus slopes.

Trisha, Barbie, and Tiffany breaking above Nada Lake.

Finally, we reached spillway between Upper and Lower Snow Lakes. We made our way along the banks of Upper Snow looking for a campsite that would fit four tents. It seemed as though each site large enough to fit four tents was already occupied. Unsure of where the last site was, two of us hiked ahead without our packs. We eventually found the perfect spot, somewhat secluded among the trees, with views over the lake.

DAY 2 | LOWER CORE

Cold mornings, fog, and sun slowly creeping across the mountain tops and blanketing the lake with a golden glow. The temperature change was almost immediate as the sun hit my face while eating breakfast on the beach. There is such a struggle to leave the warmth of a sleeping bag, but it is so worth it to see the sunrise. I have learned that waking up early and watching as the forest comes to life for the day is one of my favorite times. Even in the busiest of places, such as Glacier or Yosemite, it feels as though you have the mountains to yourself.

We started later than expected the first morning, unsure of what to expect from the climb up to Lake Viviane. All I remembered here was how terrible it was. While it wasn’t fun, it was much better than I expected. It is a steep climb, just over a mile, crossing granite slabs and following cairns as you scramble uphill. While finding the cairns is quite easy, it can also be misleading. A ranger stated that they often have to knock down cairns that people have built creating different routes. We ended up following one of these on our way back down to camp. The route was sketchy in a number of places and definitely made me nervous at least once. On our second day up to the Core, we made sure to take note of where we went wrong and landmarks to look for on our way back down. The second descent to Snow was much easier.

Lake Viviane. The larches were just starting to turn.

Leprechaun Lake

Perfection Lake, with Little Annapurna in the distance.

We ate a late lunch at Inspiration Lake before turning around and heading back to camp.

DAY 3 | UPPER CORE

Goats! A welcome site on the second day in the Core. The previous day we had only seen one, right before we made it to Lake Viviane. Today that was going to change. It seemed as though there was a goat around every corner. By the time we passed Sprite, we had seen at least a half dozen, including this dirty fellow below.

Knowing what to expect from the climb to Lake Vivian, as well as taken many photos on the way to Inspiration Lake, we started the day earlier. Our goal was to make it as far as we could into the Upper Core, while still taking our time and enjoy the landscape around us. Past Inspiration Lake, a short scramble takes you up Snow Creek to what we called the Upper Core…or the moon. The landscape changed and it was like walking on a different planet.

Crystal Lake

DAY 4 | THE TRIP OUT

The day had finally come. It was time to pack up and hike back down from our camp at the edge of Upper Snow Lake. Downhill, so it should be a breeze, right? As much as I dislike uphills, the never ending descent from Upper Snow is hard on the knees and ankles. About 2-3 miles from the trailhead it started to drizzle, bringing the hike full circle to day one. But, we made it.