The Enchantments: Hello again!

Hello all! After a long hiatus spending my time back in Iowa making music and riding my bike, I was finally able to embark on another fantastic hiking adventure. My close friends Josh and Aida, who previously spent a day with me on the PCT, were lucky enough to score a permit for the Enchantments. Not only did they invite me, but they invited 3 other close friends, Jenna, Matthew, and Kylie.

The Enchantments are located in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, only a short drive from the PCT. You can either thru-hike the entire trail, roughly 21 strenuous miles with lots of elevation and technical sections or do as we did and hike in from the trailhead, camp, and do some day hiking. This allowed us to have a more relaxed pace and really enjoy just being out there!

Day 1: The first day on the trail started off chaotic for myself. We had decided to spend the night prior in Leavenworth, WA so that it would be a 15 min drive to the trailhead, instead of 2.5 hours from Seattle. Once we got to the motel, I was double checking all my gear and realized I had forgotten a small bag containing essential gear such as a first aid kit, microspikes, my Garmin, and a few other important items. So, the following morning I got up at 5 AM, drove back to Seattle to get my gear and then had to catch up with the others who got on the trail just as I was arriving to Seattle. Catching up to them proved to be quite a fun challenge. I felt like I was on the PCT again, hiking only about 20 miles away from where the actual PCT was. I caught up to the group shortly after lunch and then we encountered our first lake. I forgot just how peaceful it is. One final push and we would be at our base camp for the trip, Snow Lakes. We did have to cross an overflowing dam...but that made settling into camp that much more rewarding.

Day 2: Although I knew it was going to be cold this time of year, it was far colder that I was expecting. Thankfully I had packed extra layers but the wind was pretty constant in the mornings and the evenings. It was nice leaving my tent set up and being able to just pack my bag with the bare essentials for the day. This was something I only did once on the PCT during our hike up Mount Whitney. Our plan was to hike from the Snow Lake zone into the Core Enchantments zone. This would be roughly 6 miles round trip. We would be expecting snow which was a big reason I had to go back to get my microspikes.

The first 2 hours were not too strenuous. However, it quickly became clear we were going to be ascending in elevation fast. That meant we would be hiking on rock faces and doing light scrambling. Thankfully there were plenty of rock cairns for us to follow since there was no dirt trail. Although this required significantly more effort, the change of terrain kept things interesting. We were all very thankful we didn't have to carry tents and sleeping gear up.

We finally got to Lake Vivian and it was well worth the hike. We were surrounded by huge vertical rock faces, some of which were completely covered in snow. The lake was crystal clear and easily as blue as the sky. Since it was mid June, there was still huge slabs of snow and ice in the water. Due to the remoteness of where we were, the icebergs in the water looked pristine. We were about out of time but decided we had just enough time to push to the next lake, Leprechaun Lake.

The next stretch to Leprechaun Lake would get technical. As soon as we crossed the waterfall that was flowing out of Lake Vivian we ran into a patch of snow that was steep enough that we opted to put on our microspikes. Unfortunately, we were late enough in the afternoon that the snow was fairly soft resulting in melted slushy conditions. However, the spikes did provide some extra traction which we were thankful for. This section was then followed by a rather exposed steep slab of rock. Trail crews had drilled in pieces of rebar to provide some traction. Even with this, I think everyone's heart was racing a little. After these two short sections the final push was fairly easy. A few more easy snow sections and we would arrive at Leprechaun Lake.

We were rewarded with one of the best views yet. Yet another lake that you could see straight to the bottom of with the mountains towering in the background. This is what we had set out to achieve and we couldn't have been more happy. We spent some time taking pictures and taking it in and then headed back down the mountain. With all the excitement and many less breaks needed, we managed to make it down in almost half the time! We were all exhausted and ready for dinner before turning in for another cold night.

Day 3: We got up and slowly broke down camp, realizing that we would have to go back to the rest of society later that day. On the contrary, the excitement of getting to town to shower and eat real food was enough to drive our pace up and we made decent time getting down. We got to the parking lot and everyone was relieved, but not before one last surprise. While the guys had gotten to the bottom of the trail, the girls had encountered a bear and were held up. It was a decent sized brown colored bear. While grizzly (brown) bears are not common in the area, it is possible to have a brown colored black bear. Unsure of their best move, they made the smart choice to wait it out and eventually were able to hike on. What a way to end the trip!

Even a 3 day trip is enough time to clear your mind of all the unnecessary thoughts and drama found in our everyday lives. As someone who did this for five months, it was special for me to share this experience with new and old friends. I was able to witness them going through the same thoughts and actions that I did. I am hoping to take more trips like this in the future, both by myself and with those close to me.

Until next time!

-Pickle