The Enchantments
Larch season was upon us, and there is arguably no better place to see them than in the Enchantments. With sun in the forecast and the larches near their peak, Mike, Brian, Joe and I coordinated on a single day through hike.
We planned to be on the trail by 5 AM, so I car camped at the Snow Lakes trailhead, as we would use my vehicle at the end of our hike to shuttle back to the Stuart Lake trailhead. After a surprisingly restful night, I was picked up by my friends at 4:30 AM and we drove over to the Stuart Lake trailhead, where we headed up the trail in darkness.
Before long, we were at Colchuck Lake, just in time to catch the sun casting first light at the top of Dragontail Peak. We skirted the lake, navigating the boulder field and then began our climb up to Aasgard Pass. Without snow on the trail, we made good time up to the pass, stopping occasionally to catch our breath and take in the scenery. Clusters of beautiful yellow larches were sprinkled across the landscape, standing in sharp contrast against the pale gray granite of the mountain backdrop.
We met a solo hiker on the way up who we spent much of the day leapfrogging and at the pass, we met two trail runners who took some photos of our group.
We took our time through the core zone, meandering through the lakelets and stopping frequently for photos.
We stopped for lunch on the southwest side of Inspiration Lake. Unlike my previous through hike, we didn't see any mountain goats near the lake or anywhere else along the trail.
After Nada Lake, we began our descent down the Snow Creek drainage, encountering some backpackers coming from the opposite direction. The miles flew by and we were soon at the switchbacks. We made quick work of the descent, arriving at the Snow Lakes trailhead by 6 PM. I drove the group back to the Stuart Lake trailhead and we headed into Leavenworth for burgers and beverages.
Starting elevation: 3,418 ft | Elevation Gain: 4,904 ft | Distance: 19.7 mi Equipment: poles