The Enchantments Trip Report

“Three friends and I spent 5 days and 4 nights in The Enchantment Lakes area of Washington. It is a popular area (and one that's hard-to-get permits for). We eschewed the normal trail in (6.5 miles of switchbacks) for a cross-country route that not many know of...or are smart enough to avoid.

After climbing to the top of an old burnt out mountaintop, this was the view toward our desination. Our route was steep, rocky, brushy and totally obscure.

We spent the first night near the little dam between the Snow Lakes.

This is the dam between the two lakes, elevation about 4700'.

Tuesday morning was bright and warm and sunny, so we had good intentions of getting an early start. It was hopeless, however, as we had drank too much the night before and packing gear required constant battle with mosquitoes.


We eventually got to the Lower Enchantment Basin. We pitched tents at Leprechaun Lake, elevation 7100', and settled in. We were greeted by a mountain goat.

Wednesday was another awesome weather day so we headed out on a dayhike to the Upper Enchantments.

Here I am standing on frozen Gnome Tarn in front of Prusik Peak.

We headed for Prusik Pass, elevation 7400'.

Jim decided to head down to Shield and Earle Lake to do some fishing.

Gary, Mark and I traversed the slopes cross-country further into the Upper Enchantments.

A view of Little Annapurna

At the higher elevations of the Upper Enchantments, very little vegetation survives.

Heading toward Aasgard Pass and Dragontail Peak.

We reached the "end" of the Upper Enchantments, elevation 7813' ...

...and looked down on the blue-green waters of Colchuck Lake.

We spent one more day in the Enchantments, then headed to Snow Lakes where there was a breeze (this time) so the bugs weren't nearly so bad. We exited the same way we came in but managed to do it in less than three hours. An awesome trip with great weather and good friends!”

“wow those are great pics. i love the names of all the areas.
im glad you had a great time!!!
thanks for sharing”

“Whoa!

Thanks for the report and the pix's!

Nice job!”

“Kleetn- Very cool way to do a trip report!!! Loved the pics. Very, very, very neat!”

“Right on, Kleety! Looks to be a fine adventure. Amazing how that breeze can make or break the bug sitch.”

“Cool pictures, thanks for posting them!”

“Awesome pics! Sounds like it was a killer trip.. sweet!”

“hey kleetn
tell me about the permit system...do you still have to show up in leavenworth at 8am?
or can you call somewhere?
i'd like to go tomorrow, thursday”

“very nice, kleetn. those are some great shots.”

“T-bone:

I guess this is a bit late for your purposes (sorry, I was surveying in Idaho). The permit deal works like this: permits are required between 6/15 and 10/15. You can apply in advance for reservations for dates you want beginning March 1. It's $3 per person per day.

The walk-up reservation thing goes like this:
there's a 25% walk-in quota available at the Leavenworth Ranger Station beginning at 7:45 a.m. the day of the trip. A daily drawing will be used to determine which waiting parties receive permits. Permits are issued until available spots are filled. The same permit fee applies.

Thanks for the comments on the photos everyone. If anyone wants to view
the rest of my pics go for it. I took a bunch!”

“Ban Danadun!”

“Nice trip to the Enchantments Kleetn. Another way in is via Colchuck Lake, and up the rough trail/ no trail up Asgaard Pass. The photo of the goat on my photo page on Phil's photo site was taken in the upper Enchantments. Being there after the larch turn orange is a kick!”