Enchantment Lakes
Oct 16, 2009
by
Seth
—
last modified
Sep 24, 2010 10:47 PM
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Enchantment Lakes
- Region: Central Cascades -- Leavenworth Area
- Agency: Wenatchee National Forest, Wenatchee River Ranger District
- Trails: Enchantment Lakes (#1553)
- Avg Rating: 4.52
- Why You Should Go Now
- Fall foliage
- Be Aware Of
- Water on trail
- Snow on trail
View of Aasgard pass from Colchuck lake - Photo (c) Seth Yates
I had hiked the Enchantments before, and could not wait to get back. Our group originally wanted to get the Enchantments loop in as soon as the permitting season ended, but since a few people bailed, we determined the remaining three of us would be able to hike the loop in a day. We packed one 40 liter bag with food and gear, and each had trekking poles. The ranger station was no help on being able to tell us trail conditions.
Coming in from Seattle and after sleeping in the back of our car Thursday night, we dropped the car off at the Snow Lakes trail head and hoped to catch a ride up to Stuart Lake trail head. After two guys named Chris and Dave offered to give us a ride up to Eightmile trailhead in the back of their truck (thanks guys), we only had 1 more mile to get to Stuart Lake trailhead. We left eightmile at 7:45am. The temp showed 42 degrees and there was a light layer of snow all the way up to Colchuck Lake. We started at Stuart Lake trailhead around 8am.
While hiking along the trail, the woods smelled like someone had baked apple pie or fall cookies. I guess that's why they call this area the Enchantments. Once we arrived at Colchuck Lake, the fall colors were in full effect, and the larches up on the mountainside were golden. It wasn't raining at all and we could see to the top of Aasgard Pass. The snow was a couple inches deep around the base of Colchuck Lake, and the loop around the lake was a lot more precarious than expected, especially along the boulder fields. There was a warm wind and the clouds above were moving quickly. Colchuck Lake was at a lower than normal level. Due to the snowy conditions on the trail, it took us much longer to get to the base of Aasgard than we had expected.
Going up Aasgard Pass wasn't so bad, trekking poles helped a little with stability. The upper half of Aasgard had a foot or so of snow. When we got to the top of Aasgard, visibility was good. We could see all the way to the lake below and the mountains off in the distance. The valley was still full of fog. The temp was 56 degrees, and it hadn't rained on us yet. It took about 2 hours to get to the top of Aasgard pass from the base, and we got to the top before 2pm. We had lunch at the top and experienced our first bit of light rain. On the Enchantments side, the visibility was not quite as clear.
In the Enchantments we experienced off and on light rain, and cloud cover with pretty good visibility. The larches were golden and it was very scenic since the whole area had a good dusting of snow. Along the trail, snow was moderate, the deepest parts coming to below our knees, but our hiking boots and gaiters sufficed for the most part. The hike was a combination of snow trekking and Rock walking. Snowshoes would probably be needed with another foot or two of snow.
After realizing that we'd need to book it to get to Snow Lake before dark, we picked up the pace. After leaving the Enchantments area, there wasn't really much snow on the trails. Just a light dusting on areas where there weren't rocks. We didn't encounter any ice. We finally saw some other hikers once we had reached upper Snow lake at about 6:30pm. The Snow Lake water level was quite low due to the repairs on the dam from earlier in the year (as noted from other trip reports).
The rain was off and on the whole way down, but we never experienced heavy rain. After dropping down the boulder field, it was too dark to see Nada lake. Car lights finally came in to view a couple hours later, and we made it to the car about about 10:20pm.
There was significantly more snow than we expected (would have been nice if the Ranger station knew a little bit more about conditions). So, our trek took quite a while longer than anticipated. But, we had a ton of fun and the weather and visibility held out for us.
Coming in from Seattle and after sleeping in the back of our car Thursday night, we dropped the car off at the Snow Lakes trail head and hoped to catch a ride up to Stuart Lake trail head. After two guys named Chris and Dave offered to give us a ride up to Eightmile trailhead in the back of their truck (thanks guys), we only had 1 more mile to get to Stuart Lake trailhead. We left eightmile at 7:45am. The temp showed 42 degrees and there was a light layer of snow all the way up to Colchuck Lake. We started at Stuart Lake trailhead around 8am.
While hiking along the trail, the woods smelled like someone had baked apple pie or fall cookies. I guess that's why they call this area the Enchantments. Once we arrived at Colchuck Lake, the fall colors were in full effect, and the larches up on the mountainside were golden. It wasn't raining at all and we could see to the top of Aasgard Pass. The snow was a couple inches deep around the base of Colchuck Lake, and the loop around the lake was a lot more precarious than expected, especially along the boulder fields. There was a warm wind and the clouds above were moving quickly. Colchuck Lake was at a lower than normal level. Due to the snowy conditions on the trail, it took us much longer to get to the base of Aasgard than we had expected.
Going up Aasgard Pass wasn't so bad, trekking poles helped a little with stability. The upper half of Aasgard had a foot or so of snow. When we got to the top of Aasgard, visibility was good. We could see all the way to the lake below and the mountains off in the distance. The valley was still full of fog. The temp was 56 degrees, and it hadn't rained on us yet. It took about 2 hours to get to the top of Aasgard pass from the base, and we got to the top before 2pm. We had lunch at the top and experienced our first bit of light rain. On the Enchantments side, the visibility was not quite as clear.
In the Enchantments we experienced off and on light rain, and cloud cover with pretty good visibility. The larches were golden and it was very scenic since the whole area had a good dusting of snow. Along the trail, snow was moderate, the deepest parts coming to below our knees, but our hiking boots and gaiters sufficed for the most part. The hike was a combination of snow trekking and Rock walking. Snowshoes would probably be needed with another foot or two of snow.
After realizing that we'd need to book it to get to Snow Lake before dark, we picked up the pace. After leaving the Enchantments area, there wasn't really much snow on the trails. Just a light dusting on areas where there weren't rocks. We didn't encounter any ice. We finally saw some other hikers once we had reached upper Snow lake at about 6:30pm. The Snow Lake water level was quite low due to the repairs on the dam from earlier in the year (as noted from other trip reports).
The rain was off and on the whole way down, but we never experienced heavy rain. After dropping down the boulder field, it was too dark to see Nada lake. Car lights finally came in to view a couple hours later, and we made it to the car about about 10:20pm.
There was significantly more snow than we expected (would have been nice if the Ranger station knew a little bit more about conditions). So, our trek took quite a while longer than anticipated. But, we had a ton of fun and the weather and visibility held out for us.
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View back down towards Colchuck lake - Photo (c) Rob Kilcup
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View of conditions in the Enchantments - Photo (c) Rob Kilcup
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Fall colors and scenery in the Enchantments - Photo (c) Rob Kilcup
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