The Enchantments — Monday, Jul. 11, 2016

Central Cascades > Leavenworth Area

My daughter, son and I did the one-day hike on Monday, July 11th. The WTA description of the hike is very good and there is a ton of information on-line about it so I won't add much. I just wanted to update conditions: Hiking up Aasgard Pass, there was little snow: just two small fields to cross but not a problem with just hiking shoes. Once on top of the pass, I was surprised at how much snow was remaining. Most of the Core Enchantment Zone remains covered in snow. {I checked the "intermittent snow" box not because I consider there to be intermittent snow up there -- it was fairly constant -- but because it was not difficult to cross}. We decided to not even try Little Annapurna because of all the snow. However, again, it was not difficult to hike up there. We just hiked in our hiking shoes. And, it was not difficult to locate the trail or at least follow the route others had already successfully taken. Some of the lakes are basically still completely frozen (near the top). Naturally, the further down in elevation you go, the less ice remains but there's still quite a bit of ice left in several of the upper lakes. From the time we left the Stuart Lakes Trailhead until we got to the Snow (Lakes) Zone (above Upper Snow Lakes), we saw no hikers/backpackers but seven mountain goats. From Snow Lakes on, there were tons of people. The water across the dam at Lower Snow Lake was running about one to three inches deep. We all kept our shoes on and didn't mind getting our feet wet to cross the dam. One thing that I don't recall reading on the WTA website was a description of the trail through the forests. This is not a hike to take if you can't lift your feet! The portion of the trails through the forest is full of roots and ruts. Also, there were probably twenty trees down across the trail. None presented a major problem but as those who have hiked this before in one day know, by the end of the day, even crossing downed trees gets a bit more difficult!