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Phlox
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Joined: 25 Jun 2007
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Location: Seattle, WA
Phlox
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PostTue Sep 04, 2007 11:00 pm 
After several years of hearing about the Enchantments and seeing all of the amazing trip reports and photos, I finally had my chance to see them in person this weekend! The Lottery Jon and I decided to try our luck with the permit lottery, awakening at 4am (ouch!) Saturday morning and hitting the road to Leavenworth at 4:30am. We arrived at the ranger station at about 6:40am (not too much traffic that early!)- there was one other couple parked out front. With an hour until the lottery, we hit Starbucks and returned at around 7:20am- by then there were 30 or so people out front waiting for the ranger to show up. At 7:45am, the hopefuls assembled in front of the steps as the ranger explained the procedures. She asked one person from each party to tell her which zone they wanted and how many were in their party. To my surprise, only 4 parties (including us) were trying for Enchantments permits- there were 4 parties wanting Colchuck, 2 wanting Snow Lakes, and 1 wanting Lake Caroline. The Snow and Caroline parties were told to go into the station and get their permits. The rest of us filled out lottery slips. First was the Colchuck lottery- one of the four parties got the one available permit. Then the Enchantments lottery- we were not one of the two parties picked. Bummer. We were told there were one Colchuck and one Enchantments permit that had not been picked up yet, as well as two unclaimed Snow Lakes permits. Well, of course, the Enchantments permit was picked up before 9am- Colchuck was still available, though. Though we'd hoped to camp in the Enchantments, camping at Colchuck with a day hike up Aasgard seemed a good alternative. At 9am, there were three parties trying for the permit- we were not the one picked. Bummer. The ranger told us and the other party that the two Snow Lakes permits were still available. After some debate (did we really want to go through Snow Lakes, after hearing all the negatives about that route? should we do our back-up plan- the Chatter Creek loop- instead?), we decided to take the permit. I really wanted to see the Enchantments, and we would at least be able to day hike up there on Sunday. Day 1- Upper Snow Lake With all of the lottery business, we didn't hit the Snow Lake trail until 10am- at this point we'd already been up for 6 hours! I distracted myself on the beginning switchbacks by calculating what our odds had been of not getting a permit to either the Enchantments or Colchuck (1 out of 3). The trail up was not as bad as feared- luckily, we were in shade for much of the way, and the creek was very fast and pretty. We took our time heading up, and wound up passing and being passed by a group of eagle scouts who were headed up to build 2 new toilets at Lake Vivianne. I did not envy them carrying all that extra weight! At about 5 miles we reached pretty Nada Lake, and at 6.5 miles or so, the Snow Lakes. We wanted to camp as far towards the end of Upper Snow Lake as possible to shorten our hike up to the Enchantments the next day. We arrived at a nice campsite at about 3:30pm and relaxed the rest of the day. The evening was cool and pleasant, with tons of stars.
Day 2- Lower and Upper Enchantment Basins and Little Annapurna We awoke early enough on Sunday to catch the fiery sunrise over Snow Lake.
After breakfast, it was time to hit the trail up to the Enchantments! The trail up to Lake Vivianne is strenuous and requires (for me anyway) the use of hands in some spots, but it was not as difficult as I had feared. Of course, this was on a clear, dry day- I imagine it would have been a different story on a wet or icy day- those rocks must get slippery! This is what much of the trail looked like:
After an hour and a half, we reached Lake Vivianne. All I can say is, Wow! eek.gif So pretty.
We continued our traverse through the lower basin. What a beautiful place!
Little Annapurna soon came into view.
Eventually, we reached the rocky upper basin. Also incredibly beautiful, but more austere. We both agreed that we liked the lower basin a bit better (but really, this is like debating one's preferences for a da Vinci versus a Michaelangelo).
Soon we reached the top of Aasgard pass, where we had lunch. Great views from here!
After lunch, we decided to head up Little Annapurna. After making my way part way up the boulder field, I ran into a path marked with cairns. The trail was steep and I was feeling the miles and the effects of the strong sun. Soon I lost the cairns, but just kept making my way up. Don’t get too close to the edge- it's quite a drop off! I kept thinking I was near the top, but the summit is rather deceiving- it's a lot farther away than it looks! Eventually I made it to the summit plateau. Jon had been enjoying the view for a good 20 minutes. What a view it was! You could see all the way to the Columbia River Gorge to the East, even better views to the north than from Aasgard, and south into the Teanaway and even Mount Rainier. It was neat to see Navaho Peak and the Three Brothers, where we'd hiked a couple of months earlier- we were thinking that if we could go back in time we could have waved at ourselves!
After not enough time up there, it was time to head back down. It was already 3:30pm, and we figured it would take us at least 3 hours to get back to camp. All that downhill was tough on the knees and feet. Even though the elevation difference between Upper Snow Lake and Little Annapurna was only 3000 ft, our GPS told us we had gained almost 5000 ft. Either the little ups and downs added up or our GPS was inaccurate. In any case, my body felt like it had descended 5000 ft! Back at camp, I soaked my tired feet in the icy water- ahh. After dinner, hot chocolate with bourbon, and some Rummikub, we were more than ready for bed! It was a cloudy night, so no more star viewing. Day 3 - Back to the trailhead
On Monday we again awoke early, had breakfast, broke camp, and were on the trail a little before 9am. Going back down the Snow Lake trail was worse than hiking up. For one thing, we were in direct sun for much of the route and it was a lot hotter. And the downhill just never seemed to end. Until finally it did. Anyway, the hike out was pretty uneventful. About a mile from the trailhead, a guy hiking in front of us told us that there was a rattlesnake on the trail that had just crawled into some rocks next to the trail- if you see some bark and sticks on the trail, they're his attempt to let people know to be careful. Anyway, we were back at the car a little after 1pm, stopped in Leavenworth for some Mexican food, and battled the traffic back to Seattle. The Enchantments were great, and I can't wait to get back- next time maybe in Larch season! Stats: Total Mileage: 26 miles Total Elevation gain: 9400 ft (according to our GPS- not sure I believe it)

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Tom
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Joined: 15 Dec 2001
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Tom
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PostTue Sep 04, 2007 11:12 pm 
Nice sunrise pics. up.gif

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Dayhike Mike
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Joined: 02 Mar 2003
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Dayhike Mike
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PostTue Sep 04, 2007 11:18 pm 
Glad you got up there...it truly is a treat to visit. smile.gif

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke "Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
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Mark Griffith
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Joined: 14 Mar 2005
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Location: Issaquah
Mark Griffith
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PostTue Sep 04, 2007 11:24 pm 
Beautiful shots of sunrise at Snow Lake. I really enjoy that walk up the granite rock from above Snow Lake to Vivianne, though going up Aasgard is really hard to beat. Coming down from Snow Lake through the burn zone and the switch backs is hot hot hot, the only thing that makes that last bit bearable is knowing you can take a dip in Icicle Creek at End.

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Matt
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Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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Matt
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PostTue Sep 04, 2007 11:59 pm 
Glad you were able to get in, even with the permit difficulties. Actually, I think everyone should approach the Enchantments via Snow Lakes at least once, because it really does give you a feel for the different alpine zones, from Nada to Snow Lakes, to the lower basin, to the upper basin, each is quite distinct. Gorgeous sunrise picture. I also like the composition of the pic of the hiker (in an orange jacket) at Aasgard Pass.

“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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seawallrunner
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Joined: 27 Apr 2005
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seawallrunner
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PostWed Sep 05, 2007 12:18 am 
gorgeous, gorgeous images and colours! I can't decide which of the two orange-hiker shots I like better - the landscape one which reveals the immensity he is communing with; or the vertical one, which reveals the peaks above him well done!

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Phlox
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PostWed Sep 05, 2007 11:42 am 
Thanks all- it certainly doesn't take much effort to get some great shots in such a beautiful place- just point and shoot!

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Spotly
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PostWed Sep 05, 2007 2:46 pm 
I enjoyed your write-up and those pictures are awesome.

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