The Enchantments — Friday, Sep. 5, 2025

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

Oh, how wonderful to receive an invitation to join a group of hikers for their “annual” thru hike of the Enchantments. And yet, the date selected turned out to be one with very poor air quality due to ongoing wildfires and wind patterns (the day before our hike, Leavenworth recorded 100°F and an AQI above 150). Only slightly deterred, we agreed to continue with the hike, but to frequently assess conditions along the way and pivot if necessary.

Our boots hit the Stuart Lake trailhead at 4:10 a.m. with moderate smoke and a light dusting of ash being illuminated by our headlamps. Following a slow and steady pace and taking plenty of breaks, our group reached Colchuck Lake in 2 hours, the base of Aasgard Pass at the far end of the lake in another hour, and crested the top of Aasgard Pass in 2.5 hours. The thought of hiking Aasgard Pass was a little intimidating to this first timer, but the climb wasn’t too bad. For me, the keys were a steady pace, wear gloves and use your hands when you can, don’t use poles (to keep your hands free), follow the cairns, and stay to the left when in doubt (e.g., go left of the grove of trees, left of the main creek, etc.).

While the smoke was moderate in the Colchuck basin, the air quality improved significantly at the higher elevations and was not too bad in the upper portions of the Enchantments core. However, during our descent we started to encounter smoke at Lake Viviane and the smoke continued to the Snow Lakes trailhead. While the smoke was never judged to be bad enough to discontinue the hike, we all agreed that we could feel some irritation in our lungs and eyes.

Following reports of the Enchantments being overwhelmed by careless hikes, I carried an extra plastic bag on this hike with the intention to collect trash along the trail through the Enchantments core, except that I never found any trash. Kudos to those hikers that were practicing Leave No Trace principles by packing out their trash and always staying on designated trails.

Final numbers: 20.1 miles, 5300 feet elevation gain, 7100 feet elevation loss, and 14.0 hours on the trail with 10.4 hours moving time.