The Enchantments — Saturday, Jul. 2, 2011

Central Cascades > Leavenworth Area

Key GPS Coordinates Stuart Lake Trail head (47.52754, -120.82082) Snow Lakes Trail head (47.54430, -120.70992) I went to Enchantments for a 3 day, 2 night trip, with an amateur backpacking group of friends. We went with minimal gear (no showshoes, crampons, rope). Thankfully one of us had a long ice axe. Day 1 - We started at 12:30PM at Stuart Lake TH and it took us 6.5 hours to make it to the base of Aasgard Pass. We spent the night on snow there. Several of us took 50+ pound packs, which reduced our speed significantly. Day 2 - We started at 11:30AM and it took us 7 hours to make it to the top of Aasgard Pass. Roughly a little more than halfway up we ran into an alpine wilderness club who was trying to dig though the snow to find a missing women who had slipped and fallen into a moat around a boulder. We later found out that she fell into an underground creek and her body was recovered at the bottom in the evening. My condolences to her family. Yes you can kick in footholds as we did, but if one of them happens to breaks and you fall, you will be in a very precarious position. The lakes are about 80% frozen, but you will be able to get water from them. You will be able to find water after the summit. Day 3 - Started at 6:30AM and hiked 13 hours to Snow Lakes TH. I am no expert, but I would highly recommend the following equipment to safely make it through Aasgard Pass: -Rope -Crampons or microspikes, regardless of the time of day -Ice axe and trekking poles -Snowshoes probably not needed, though it is easy to fall through the snow -Gaiters (unless you like wet boots) Please be safe (unlike us) and look up proper climbing techniques and equipment!