I was able to score last minute permits for the Enchanted Valley thanks to someone cancelling and it was hands down one of the best backpacks I've done in Washington.
We stayed 2 nights in the Valley, saw 4 bears and a ton of Elk. Pay attention when walking around at night, we had a bear sleeping 50ft from camp that we walked up on while going to stash our bear cans, and there was also a small herd of Elk sleeping nearby. Bear poop everywhere!
The trail is wet, muddy mess with some pretty big blow downs in the first 5 miles that now have a lot of gross social trails going around them. Some jerk hacked away at the ferns and other foliage along the trail for MILES and it was an ugly scene, LEAVE YOUR MACHETES AT HOME AND LEAVE THE TRAIL WORK TO THE PROFESSIONALS. This person clearly has no grasp of LNT policy.
Some other things to comment on - you NEED a permit to camp ANYWHERE along this trail as it is in the National Park. We passed multiple groups that were backpacking that very clearly did not have permits to be out there as they were asking us where the next campsites were and how far everything was. Also, dress for the conditions and know how long its going to take if you're hiking all the way into the Valley. It took us 7 hours to get in, 8 hours to get back to the car. This isn't a trail I would want to night hike just due to the number of sleeping animals on trail. We hiked out in pouring rain and passed sooo many people wearing cotton T-shirts, no rain gear, poor shoes. I can't imagine they had a very comfortable night.
Also - If anyone finds a brand new 16oz Nalgene with a pretty Orca sticker on it, please message me! It must have fallen out of my pack during a break between Pony Bridge and O'Neil Creek.
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