Snow Lakes, The Enchantments — Saturday, Jul. 27, 2013

Central Cascades > Leavenworth Area

We were taking a break off the trail when I overheard a young lady tell her friend, as they passed us by, that she had chosen to backpack to Enchantment Lakes over taking a trip to Italy. We took a lot of breaks. This trail is very scenic and it is worth stopping to take it all in. Besides, we had a third wheel in tow and didn't want to get the little guy too worked up. I have never been, but Italy couldn't possibly hold a candle to this place. The Trip - Rolled out to Leavenworth Saturday morning, parked, crossed Icicle Creek and headed up the switchbacks. Already, the half desert, half forest landscape was a refreshing change of scenery from the mostly wooded hikes we are used to. Through the woods, across the creek and up to Nada Lake we went. There are plenty of nice camp sites at Nada Lake. There was a massive amount of water blowing out from the slope above Nada Lake. You could tell this wasn't a natural occurrence. I scramble across the rocks to get a better look. It was some variance of a damn with a single outflow pipe, controlling the water flow from Snow Lakes above. We finally made it to Snow Lakes after maybe 7-8 hours of being on the trail. You can tell this place is special and it just feels different than your typical alpine lake. The water is so clear you can see the little fish swimming, even from a distance. My Wife said the water reminded her of Maui. Camp sites near the damn are OK, but we found a nice spot about a 1/4 mile down the trail. The tent wasn't quite level, but wading into the lake was no problem and I had a perfect spot to pump water. We didn't earn any Boy Scout merit badges in our free time. Pump water, make dinner and it was time to lay down and give our backs a break. The next morning we were off to Enchantment Lakes! As we walked along Upper Snow Lake, the campsites appeared to get more and more choice toward the far end of the Lake. But these sites were all occupied, so I think we were lucky to camp where we did. We crossed Snow Creek and headed up the steep slope to the lakes. This hike sounds easy on paper; 3.5 miles and 2300' of elevation, with a 20 lb. pack (Wife left her pack at camp). No problem, right? Well, it got tough. My Wife is five months pregnant and scrambling over rocks really isn't her thing to begin with. But she toughed it out and finally the spectacular Lake Viviane came out. After gathering ourselves and reaffixing our jaws, we headed over to Leprechaun Lake. This lake has its own "WOW" factor, and is actually quite different than Lake Viviane. We headed up past the awesome little stream system that connects the lakes. I believe this is referred to as Sprite Lake, but it's not really a lake. Next up was Perfection Lake. This lake lives up to its name quite well. We refilled all of our water containers from this lake. The water tasted perfect. Isolation Lake wasn't too far from us, but after that, it would be another 400' of climbing to the Upper Enchantments. It was time to head back, as we needed to save some energy for hike back to camp. Back at camp, is was the same story as the night before; bathe, pump water, make dinner and rest. We left camp at 6:40 AM Monday morning. Made it to the creek crossing by 8:40 and first spotted the car parked on Icicle Road at around 11:00. The descent felt long. I was still standing 1400' above my car. We headed down switchback city and the car got bigger and bigger. We finally made it down at about noon. Damn, that car seat is comfortable! The Trail - Just look at the Green Trails map. You are heading up a massive valley with huge peaks on each side. By the time you reach the Upper Enchantments, you will be higher than most of these peaks! The trail start out with switchbacks that gain 1000'. The switchbacks are more walkable than Mount Si. The trail then heads straight up into the valley. Some parts are pretty mild and some are fairly steep, but everything up to the creek crossing is "walkable". The creek crossing is more than half the way to Snow Lakes. From here, the trail is pretty easy going for 1/4 mile. Then the trail goes to work, gaining 400' in short order up the right side of the valley wall on rocky terrain. The trail becomes a very gradual incline followed by dead level. There's Lake Nada! Savor the stroll along the lake, because the trail is going back to work on you. The rough and rugged 600' sun drenched slope on the right side is what you have left to get to Snow Lakes. Enjoy! There is a concrete damn separating Lower and Upper Snow Lakes. The trail along Upper Snow Lakes is kind of long but nice. The trail crosses Snow Creek and heads up and up and up to the Enchantments. Many sections require some low level scrambling. Trekking poles helped coming down, but were more of a hindrance going up. The goats - Our first encounter with a goat was at Nada Lake. A big ass goat just popped out in front of us, right on the trail. I read the stuff about what to do if you encounter a goat, but this was real! We locked eyes and eventually he trotted up the rocks a little ways and looked back at us. It was like he was there for the sole purpose of greeting us and posing for pictures. We didn't see any more until the Enchantments. We were scrambling around this "rock" between Lake Viviane and Leprechaun Lake when a goat kind of pinned us on a ledge. There was nowhere to go and there wasn't room for the three of us. We had to scare him off. There were more goats around the lakes; baby goats, big goats, medium size goats. I think you just have to ignore them. They ain't going to do anything. Right? And the rule about staying 50 yards from them? Ya right. They were popping up right by us. Back at camp that night, I was laying in the tent and Tiffanie is reporting to me "Duane, the goats are back!" Two adult goats and two babies (kids) were milling around our camp. What a trip!