Given the choice I decided to come up the Snow Lakes trail as it offered more camping options considering my late start due to that work thing. I hit the trail at 1:30 PM in 90+ heat. For those not in the know, the initial part of this hike is up the old Icicle Burn and consists of 20 or so switch backs until you reach a level stretch. The first camping opportunity comes up along Snow Creek in a cedar grove; I've not camped there but it appears to be quite nice. Then you'll negotiate another 38 switchbacks to Nada Lakes. There are a few campsites just after crossing the bridge. I found all the camps deserted at Nada but continued on as I was making good time. I arrived at Snow Lakes and was disappointed to see that the FS has already dropped the water level 8 or so feet. All the campsites at Snow Lakes were also deserted which I found rather surprising. I decided to head on up to at least Lake Vivian and took about an hour to negotiate the slab rocks and steep trail which is still very well marked. Arriving at Lake Vivian I found it too to be deserted. Now, the biggest surprise of all; there were very few mosquitos compared to the last time I was up here when swarms almost drove us out. I did not apply any bug repellant this entire trip and did not use a headset! There are some green eyed flys that bite hard but they are slow and easy to kill; present them with an arm and kill em when they land. Now comes the most scenic and enjoyable part of the hike up to Leprechaun Lake where I found no one camping. The place was literally deserted - don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining just surprised. I decided to keep trucking to the high Enchantments as I was making good time and there was still a lot of daylight to burn. When I reached the high basin I stopped and set up camp for the next three nights.
The next morning there were some campers across the little stream from me and I learned later that they'd come up Aasgaard Pass arriving around midnight. The climb up Little Anapurna was pretty straight forward. You just keep going straight up and occasionally you'll find a cairn. No need to set foot on snow this time of the year to make this summit. Then it was down the west ridge to the col between the little peak below Anapurna and the south ridge of Dragontail. The col was full of summer snow and a very easy walk over. I went up on snow as far as I felt comfortable without crampons and then hopped onto rock. About 100 feet below the ridge I traversed over to an exposed rock finger and found the going rather easy (upper class three scramble) mostly on rock to the ridge. The rest of the way to Dragontail was a walkup. Occasionally stick your head through the notches for some amazing, amazing views. The Dragontail summit is rather small; actually it's really just a small point above a little platform. The views from up there are stupendous. I could see Adams, Ranier, Glacier, Stewart, Colchuk, and Baker on an awesome, windless, clear day.
This was my best experience with the Enchantment Lakes as the temperatures were mild, there were relatively few biting insects, the fish were cooperative, and the night time and morning temps were comfortable.
Given that I had never stopped at Nada Lakes except to take on water I decided to stop there on the way out to prolong my wilderness experience. That place actually has a lot going for it were it not for the fact that it is just a teaser for the high enchantments. When I left there Friday morning there was not one, single campsite available! Ah, the weekend. Glad I don't have a day job.
There were absolutely no trail issues - no mud, no snow, no difficult crossings, no blowdowns. Only minor problem was the wildflowers appear to have peaked out for this season.
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