The Enchantments live up to their name. One of the jewels of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in the Cascade Mountains in Washington, the Enchantments boast dozens of pristine lakes surrounded by numerous craggy peaks. Because too many people damage the fragile ecosystem of the area, camping requires winning the permit lottery...and the odds aren't good. Without a permit, the best option for seeing the core Enchantments involves hiking 20+ miles in a day. According to my Garmin, the route involves nearly 6000' ascent and around 8000' descent. Punishing hike, but so worth the struggle.
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| Colchuck Lake with views of Dragontail, Aasgard Pass and Colchuck Peak |
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| Larches just beginning to turn near Colchuck Lake |
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| Reflection of Aasgard Pass and the peaks |
We started from the Stuart Lake Trailhead at 6:00am, hiking under the stars until sunrise. A 4-mile hike leads to Colchuck Lake, with views of Dragontail Peak, Aasgard Pass and Colchuck Peak.
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| Colchuck from the south end |
After hiking around Colchuck, we headed up the rocks to Aasgard Pass. The rock scramble up Aasgard is a challenge, with 2000' elevation gain in around 1.5 miles. But the views at every step help.
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| Dragontail Peak with larches |
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| Cairns mark the trail throughout the Enchantments |
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| Colchuck Lake from the rock scramble to Aasgard Pass |
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| Waterfall on the way up to Aasgard Pass |
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| Peak to the left of Aasgard Pass |
Near the top, we stopped at Tranquil Lake, an initial glorious intro to the lakes ahead.
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| A little yoga at Tranquil Lake seemed appropriate |
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| Tranquil Lake |
After a few moments soaking in the view from Aasgard, we made our way to our favorite lunch spot at Isolation Lake.
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| Aasgard Pass |
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| Isolation Lake |
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| Leaving Isolation Lake |
From Isolation, the trail winds past numerous crystal clear lakes and streams, with views of Little Annapurna, McClellan Peak, Prusik Peak, The Temple and more. (This is a rock climber's paradise.)
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| Probably Crystal Lake |
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| Perfection Lake |
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| Prusik Peak |
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| Probably Lake Viviane |
We saw a bit of wildlife along the way, from a pine marten at Colchuck to goats at the top and our chipmunk friend.
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| Pine marten |
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| Goats with Little Annapurna in the background |
We hiked the exact weekend that we hiked Enchantments last year. But autumn is taking its time this year, and the color difference was striking.
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| September 24, 2021 and September 23, 2022 |
In spite of good intentions to shave an hour or two off last year's time, we dawdled in the lakes taking photos and found ourselves mid-afternoon with nearly 10 miles of punishing downhill to go. Thank goodness for headlamps! Snow Lake has dropped even lower than last year, but Nada Lake was just as peaceful as I remember. Once dark descended, we hiked along Snow Creek to the trailhead, counting all 24 switchbacks after the parking lot came into view.
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| Snow Lakes from above |
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| We did see a little color, but not like last year |
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| Snow Lake |
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| Nada Lake |
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| Nada Lake |
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| The adventurers: Jamie Gunter, Nicole Skeem and me |
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