Day hike of the enchantment trail from stuart to snow, also summiting little Annapurna and Prusik Pass.
Road going up is kinda bumpy and annoying but nothing gnarly. I think almost any car can make it.
TH to Colchuck is easy, rockier and steeper after the turn off up.
Colchuck to Aasgard Pass was not as miserable as expected. There is a pretty easy to follow trail, plenty of cairns. I actually chose to stay just off trail as I prefer hands on scrambling than loose sandy trail. Ran into mountain goats halfway up. Tons more at the pass and in the core. It is a steep climb so allow plenty of time. It’s a slow mile.
Aasgard to Little Annapurna. I just went straight to Lake Isolation and went for a swim. Slid down the snow into the lake, jarringly cold but semi refreshing. After that I just made my way up Annapurna off trail as it’s not hard to figure out a way to scramble up it. Have to cross some snowfields to make it up but they were easy enough. Summit was a nice wide area with cool rock formations. Great views around and of the rest of your long day ahead.
Little Annapurna to Prusik Pass
Went down the more official way to connect back to main trail. Off and on snow here on the main trail. Coming down to Inspiration there was a steeper snowfield with almost like a Bobsled ramp to glissade or try to walk down. I preferred to glissade as that’s easier to control and control speed than trying to walk and falling at an accelerated rate of speed. Wasn’t too bad. Then I went for another swim at Lake inspiration and filled up water. Headed towards Prusik pass. The hike up to it from perfection Lake is much easier than coming from Leprechaun. Way more obvious from that side. I went down to Lep and it was harder to follow and more scrambly. Got the classic Gnome Tarn picture and was on my way down.
Leprechaun Lake to Snow Lakes was some of the toughest trail. Very scrambly and rocky. This made this section much slower going. A couple more dangerous spots but overall it was fine.
Snow Lake down to TH was pretty cruisy. Goes on for awhile but it was pleasant. More open and better views than expected. Much prefer over switchback forest trails of the west. Didn’t see the bear at Nada I was told about.
Overall, I would say don’t underestimate this hike. It’s beautiful and amazing but the miles are slower going than they look on the map. Many obstacles and rocks to deal with. I started around 8:30am, finished at 9pm. There were many parties that I past on the way down that I’m guessing finished closer to 10 or 11pm. I took 13 hours total but that is including Little Annapurna and Prusik which were worth it to me, but makes a long day even harder. I drank a total of probably 5 Liters, my body probably would’ve preferred more. Water sources throughout of course. Saw tons of people on a Friday which took a little away from the experience but it makes sense why it’s popular. It was over 100 degrees in leavenworth but since the stuart range is so high, it didn’t feel close to that but there isn’t much shade in the core. Mosquitos were pretty terrible throughout. I got tons of bites, mostly on my shoulders for some reason lol.
Stats:
20.1 Miles
5,700 feet gain 7,800 feet descent. Your body will feel that descent because again it’s a rocky rugged trail for most of it, not smooth dirt lol.
YouTube Video @ https://youtu.be/PfxugoPf-ws
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