The Enchantments

Friday, August 5th was the most brutally beautiful hike of my life! My sister Mel and her husband Braxton thru-hiked The Enchantments Trail in the premier Alpine Lakes Wilderness of the central Cascades. The rugged, rocky 19 mile trail boasts 5,000 feet of elevation gain (aka uphill) during the first 6 miles, and 7,000 feet of elevation loss (aka downhill) over the remaining distance. At least 3 or 4 miles of the route are navigated by line-of-sight cairns rather than an actual boot path. It is a beast of an epic day hike, and we were nervous and excited to take it on. We estimated that it would take us about 12 hours to complete the full 19 mile trail.

This hike was a long time coming for me. I first visited the Enchantments area of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in 2019 when I ran the 4.5 mile trail up to Colchuck Lake, and I have dreamed of it ever since. My next foray into the Enchantments was in 2020, when I ran 7.5 miles of the Snow Lakes Trail on the opposite end of the Enchantments Trail. Then last year, in 2021, I was all geared up to run-hike the entire 20 miles when car trouble en route to the trailhead put the dream on hold for another year. When Mel and Braxton moved to Washington this summer, the stars finally aligned for this hike to happen at long last!

Before our thru-hike, there were only seven miles in the middle section of the trail that I hadn't seen before. Those seven miles hold the real magic of what's known as The Core Enchantments, where otherworldly clear blue lakes, white boulders, rushing streams, and breathtaking vistas all combine into a place that is utterly enchanting. I was ready to see it at last!

This website was a huge help to me in preparing for the trail itself, and I studied it several times before we embarked: How to Hike the Enchantments in One Day: A Step-By-Step Trail Guide

*FYI: this is a long post. It took great effort to narrow it down to 100 pictures from this epic adventure, and it took nearly as long to sort pictures and write the saga as it did to do the actual hike! I divided this post into sections to make it more organized:

I. Preparations

II. Colchuck Lake

III. Aasgard Pass

IV. The Core Enchantments

V. Descent to Snow Lakes

VI. Nada Lake to the end

I. Preparations: 

At home I carefully assembled my food and gear, packing lots of extra granola bars to supplement my "real food" as needed throughout the day. I brought at least 5,000 calories with me because I didn't know how much I would need to eat while hiking all day long. As much as I love trail running, long hikes are new to me. Maybe I should say because I love trail running, I have little to no experience with long hikes.

The night before our hike, Mel, Braxton, and I stayed in a hotel in Wenatchee, WA so we could be closer to the trailhead. We ate a divine dinner at India House in Wenatchee and then tried to get to sleep as early as possible in our respective hotel rooms. Friday morning, we left Wenatchee at 4:30am and drove the 30 minutes to the Snow Lakes (lower) trailhead, where I parked my van. I hopped into Mel and Braxton's SUV and we drove another 30 minutes up the rutted forest service road to the Stuart and Colchuck Lake (upper) trailhead, arriving just as the sky was lightening up with a predawn glow. 

As we were driving to the upper trailhead, I realized two things almost simultaneously: I forgot my trekking poles in my van, and I forgot to display my America the Beautiful parking pass! Ridiculous! I felt so irresponsible! Two things that I had purchased especially for this trip and I forgot them. Thankfully I had parked on the side of the road since the parking lot was full, so the likelihood of being checked for my pass was low. Plus, I was never sold on the advantages of trekking poles and only bought them for this hike because I read so much about how helpful they are on this trail for so many people. I was kind of glad that I forgot them because I really don't like having my hands full while I'm on the move--courtesy of my inner trail runner. Mostly I felt silly for forgetting two of the main things that I got specifically for this hike!

At the trailhead, we used the vault toilet, prepped our daypacks in the chilly gray morning light, and were hiking by 6am. 

THE FOOD: I packed over 5,000 calories so I could have options depending on how my palate and stomach fared on our all-day trek. During our 13 hours on the trail, I ate: a handful of Chex cereal, 3 granola bars, 1 liter (2 packets) of Skratch hydration powder, 1 pouch of Skratch energy chews, 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 turkey wrap, 1 baggie of cherry tomatoes, some carrots, 5 golden Oreos, and most of the peanut butter pretzel nuggets. Plus 2 liters of water. That's not quite half of what I brought. I felt well fueled and my tummy stayed happy.

The GEAR: This is everything that went in my daypack, minus my 2.5 liter water bladder. It fit snugly into my little pack, and was heavier than I expected, but I don't skimp on nutrition and safety gear when I hit the trail, so it was worth the weight. And a little 15 liter daypack really can't weigh enough to be uncomfortable anyways, so it was fine.

India House in Wenatchee is possibly the best Indian food in the state. Jeff discovered this gem years ago while he was at a teaching conference in Wenatchee, and it is easily one of my favorite restaurants of all time. Nirvana, Daal, and Makhani chicken with aromatic rice and naan filled our bellies most pleasantly. I've only ever done takeout at this restaurant, so it was fun to have our food served family style in cute little pots.

Sitting in my hotel bed eating instant oatmeal at 4am. Bring it on! For the record, Jeff was going to come on this hike, but he's been rehabbing an ankle sprain all summer, and spending 12+ hours hiking on a rocky trail didn't seem like the best way to get his ankle back to full power, so he stayed home with our kids like the superstar father that he is.

II. Colchuck Lake

The first four miles to Colchuck Lake were all uphill, and we stopped a few times to take in the view as it unfolded behind us. A teenage black bear gave us a bit of a shock about a mile or two down the trail, but he was too busy foraging to bother us and we snuck past him quickly. Our inner calm soon returned and we were back to drinking in the early morning glory of the central Cascades. The rising sun turned the mountain tops gold, giving us a thrill with every glance.

The weather was absolutely perfect. We couldn't have picked a better day to do this hike. It was in the low 50s/high 40s when we started hiking at 6am, and by the end it was only in the mid 70s. I agonized over what to wear on the hike for weeks beforehand because what's on my body can make or break a mountain adventure. Thankfully my lightweight long sleeved merino shirt and "trail tight" leggings (from Eddie Bauer) worked perfectly. I wore a rain shell jacket during the first two miles or so before I warmed up enough to shed it, and didn't need it again for the rest of the day.

We reached Colchuck Lake around the 2 hour mark, right on the pace I was hoping for to complete the hike in 12 hours. We paused to admire the crystal clear blue of Colchuck Lake with Dragontail peak reflecting in its smooth surface. Then the real work began. The trail grew increasingly rocky as we circled Colchuck Lake, and soon we were boulder-hopping as we approached the base of the climb to Aasgard Pass. 

Trailhead pic at 6am: bright eyed at the beginning and ready for an adventure!

Mel and Braxton are such a fun adventure couple. I love them, and I loved spending all day hiking with them.

Mel and I shared all the pictures we took during the hike, and it was a novelty for me to have pictures with myself in them that I did not take!

Sisters at Colchuck Lake. Colchuck Lake gets even more beautiful when the sun is higher in the sky, but we didn't have time to sit around and wait for that to happen--we needed to get up and over Aasgard Pass before the sun crested the mountain ridge!

My happy place. I didn't even have to balance my phone and set a timer for this picture--Mel snapped it in five seconds.

That reflection! I could stare at it all day!

Circling around the far end of Colchuck Lake--I wasn't kidding about the massive boulder scramble. That's Mel with the red pack and Braxton in the plaid shirt way up ahead. Braxton was so patient with Mel and me and our slow rock climbing pace.

The cairns in the boulder field were massive! More like rock pillars--I don't know how anyone hoisted those big rocks up into a pile atop boulders.

Glancing back at Colchuck Lake before heading away and up Aasgard.

III. Aasgard Pass

Aasgard Pass is the portal into the Core Enchantments, and it is no joke. The ascent is 1.3 miles with a massive 2,200 feet of elevation  gained over that distance. That's a 30% grade! From the bottom, it looks like a giant pile of rocks. The entire climb is rocky--some boulder sized rocks to hop between and navigate on all fours, some smaller rocks that slipped out from under our feet as we scrambled up the steep incline. We were on all fours more often than not as we slowly made our way up. This section was marked by cairns, which was tricky since as rock piles themselves, the cairns often blended in with all of the other piles of rocks. 

We wended our way slowly, slowly up the steep rocky pass, pausing frequently to rest and locate the next cairn amidst the rocks. It took us nearly 2 hours to climb up to the top of Aasgard Pass! Two hours to cover 1.3 miles. There's nothing quite like dear ole Mother Nature for dishing out a massive dose of humility. We saw our first mountain goat partway up. He was perched on a rock, placidly chewing on something and enjoying the view of pristine Colchuck Lake below. 

While climbing Aasgard, I started to question my normally dependable Garmin GPS watch, because when I glanced at it after ten minutes of upward climbing effort, it had barely tracked .01 of a mile. I knew we were going super slowly, but it was extremely disheartening to see the slowness displayed real-time in numbers. We later learned that my watch was accurate; we were just THAT SLOW going up Aasgard, haha. Braxton, who is likely part mountain goat, would hike way up ahead and then wait for Mel and me to catch up. Several false summits later, we finally crested the final ridge of Aasgard Pass. Hello, 360 degree VIEWS! Braxton and another mountain goat were waiting for us. 

That "V" in the mountain shadow is Aasgard Pass.

The slow scramble begins.

Taking a breather and admiring the jagged mountain shadow on Colchuck Lake.

Braxton up ahead.

Our first mountain goat sighting of the day! We ended up seeing at least one goat per mile straight through the core Enchantments. They were so quiet and at home, not startled in the slightest by the steady stream of hikers walking through their living room.

Mountain goat selfie!! Can you see his smiling lips? I swear, the goats had smiley lips.

Smiley lips and cute fuzzy round cheeks while chewing. 

A picture of me taking a picture--well played, Mel!

Goat profile. He had a pretty good view. His profile also kind of looks like a unicorn.

Lake, mountain shadow, goat, cairn.

Mel, climbing: somehow it got steeper the higher we climbed. My hands lost a few layers of skin from gripping rough rocks while climbing Aasgard, and I had to be a little dainty with my right hand to protect my still-injured and blackened finger.

Dragontail Peak stayed just as impressive as ever on our right the whole way up Aasgard Pass.

Colchuck Lake kept getting smaller and smaller. We almost made it up to the top of Aasgard before the sun crested the ridge. Almost! There's an actual smidgen of a trail in this picture, and I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Resting on a rough rock perch at a false summit--almost there! In addition to the rocky 30% grade we were climbing, the air got noticeably thinner as we ascended up past 8,000 feet above sea level.

It's hard to see, but we climbed right past a darling skinny waterfall that was rushing downhill.

Time to get out our hats!

Those tiny people in the middle distance show the vast scale of this climb.

Mel, almost there!

Victory! Now, only 13 miles to go! Hah. My watch barely hit 6 miles when we reached the top of Aasgard Pass. I knew the hardest climb was behind us, but having 13 miles left after that climb was daunting. 

Group picture at the top of Aasgard Pass. We celebrated a bit, rested a little, and then continued onward into the Core Enchantments. We actually got kind of cold in the thin chilly mountain breeze up there and didn't stop for very long at the top of Aasgard.

The Strava segment of Aasgard Pass, showing the mileage, elevation gain, and grade. This info made me feel better about how slow and hard that climb was.

IV. The Core Enchantments

The Core Enchantments were my main reason for doing this hike, and I had mentally budgeted extra time for this 8 mile section of the route so we could fully admire the many clear lakes and sweeping vistas. Turns out it was a good thing I was expecting it to take us a while to get through this area, because it was snowier and rockier than expected. So not only were we moving slowly as we admired the scenery, we were also held up by the terrain. We ended up having to slip-n-slide across several snowy swaths and pick our way across lots of rocky areas. We even sat down in the sopping wet slushy snow and glissaded down a particularly steep snow-covered slope! 

The white rocks and snow scattered among the pristine clear lakes, backed by a jagged mountain skyline in every direction had us in awe the whole way though. As we progressed through the Core Enchantments, Mel and I kept marveling that the scenery wasn't getting old; there was always something new and different to see around the next bend. The trail began as sparse snowy subalpine tundra up high near Aasgard and as we slowly descended, it got greener with more waterfalls and streams feeding the lakes.

The lakes we hiked past in the Core Enchantments had mystical names: Tranquil Lake, Isolation Lake, Sprite Lake, Lake Olrun, Lake Sigrun, Brisingamen Lakelets, Inspiration Lake, Perfection Lake, Leprechaun Lake, Lake Viviane. I didn't think to look at my map to learn the lake names until we were at about Sprite Lake, but after that we had fun tracking our progress lake by lake on the map and seeing which lake was next. 

We did our only mid-hike toilet stop along this section of trail. It was an open air toilet with a square wooden lid, and it was absolutely foul, with big fat flies swarming and the waste container was borderline too full for comfort. Mel and I took turns guarding for each other because the toilet was very out in the open. Eek!

After that unpleasant experience, we filtered some cold water from a nearby rushing mountain stream. When I dug out the pieces to my water filter, I was dismayed to discover that I had left the actual water filter at home somehow. Thankfully I was able to use Mel's filter, but I felt so dumb for forgetting the filter! It was tricky getting enough water into the filter pouch, but eventually we figured it out and filtered several liters of cold snowmelt. I know that water filters are reliable and hikers use them all the time, but it was still super scary to take that first sip of filtered creek water! I have zero interest in ingesting Giardia! 

Later, when I was unpacking after the hike, I discovered that I did in fact bring my water filter; it had just shifted to the deep dark depths at the bottom of my pack and I didn't find it. Another bumbling Shaina fail of the day! Hiking buddies are great for lots of reasons: company, safety, and gear-sharing.

We took a LOT of pictures in the Core Enchantments. 

Mountain goat!

Sometimes there was an actual trail, but often there was just more rocky scrambling with distant cairns to point the way.

Sometimes it was hard to tell if we were looking at a lake or just a really big puddle of melted snow.

The snow crossings were so slick! Braxton loaned me one of his trekking poles for the snow. (That's some random hikers in this picture, for scale. I was not taking pictures while trying to remain upright on the slippery soft snow.)

Rocky, rocky, rocky. This is not a running trail. If I were to attempt a run-hike on this trail, I'd be lucky to run for 40% of the time. We were passed by close to a dozen trail runners before Aasgard Pass. I gave them lots of well-wishes for their ankles as they trotted past.

We glissaded down that steep snow slope (in the middle of this picture), keeping to the side so we landed in the rocks instead of in the lake. My bum was numb and soaked after that slide!

Reflection.

It started getting greener, and I had to get out my bug spray.

Look! An actual trail path! Luxury.

After all of the ruggedness that came before, this small waterfall into a clear pool seemed so tame and civilized, haha.

Skirting another lake.

Stream crossing! I wasn't exactly graceful, but I also didn't fall into the water either. I believe this was Snow Creek, which eventually led us to the Snow Lakes (consisting of Upper and Lower Snow Lake).

Braxton, following Snow Creek. (More accurately: Braxton, looking at Snow Creek while waiting for us to catch up.)

V. Descent to the Snow Lakes

This was a tough section in a different way than Aasgard Pass. The trail was all downhill, but it was an exceedingly steep downhill, and it wasn't much of a trail--it was a whole lot of climbing down rocks and steep boulders, following cairns again. I was in awe of the sheer quantity of cairns--what a job that must be for the forest service, rebuilding the winter-toppled cairns every summer!

It was slow going through here. We stopped at a slightly less steep spot to sit and eat a meal--I'd call it lunch, but I was eating almost constantly for this whole hike (minus the Aasgard climb), so who knows what meal it actually was. When we were halfway done with our snack-meal, a large mountain goat approached us from behind and we decided to get out of his way. The mountain goats weren't exactly menacing or scary, but they were still wild animals and we didn't want to get too close. Every time we tried to take an actual break and sit down to rest on this hike, something pushed us to keep going: cold wind, mountain goats, or the need to make sure we reached the car before sunset.

At this point I was pretty tired from our early wake-up and 8+ hours of hiking, so I ate my energy chews--basically caffeinated gummies. They perked me right up and even kicked a slight headache I felt coming on. And bonus, the gummies tasted far better than the nasty energy gels that I've slurped down like slugs in the past. 

Also at this point, our conversation kept coming back to how far we still had to go, speculating on what that exact distance could be. Our AllTrails map said this trail was 20 miles long. My watch was still reading almost a mile short of that based on our location. Braxton's phone said we had hiked nearly 2 miles more than my watch reading, and Mel's device was somewhere in the middle of the two. Once we hit the crossing near Lower Snow Lake, though, I knew how far it was to the parking lot (7 miles) because that was where I turned around when I ran there back in 2020. We just didn't know how far away that was!

So we kept on going down, down, down several thousand feet of quadriceps shredding descent till we reached Upper Snow Lake.

Scramble time!

Our first glimpse of Upper Snow Lake! It was close to 2 miles of steep rocky downhill to get there from here.

We paused to eat for a few minutes, and my tired feet were so happy to have a break from holding my weight.

Trees were a nice shady change from the bald high country.

The colors of these lakes was unreal. The temptation to peel off my socks and soak my tired feet in that gorgeous cold water got stronger with every step. There were probably some evil water nymphs or creepy green haired murderous mermaids singing some silent siren call that I had to resist or something. The pull was strong! I resisted.

The causeway! 7 miles to go!

VI. Nada Lake to the finish

We were back in familiar territory for me. Since I did this section as an out-and-back run, I had traversed this part of the trail twice, and most of it felt quite familiar. The only thing that didn't feel familiar was how long it was. Walking 7 miles takes way longer than running it, even when it's all downhill, and my inner clock kept expecting us to be farther along the trail than we were. Plus, my feet really started hurting at this point. They were just plain old tired of being walked on all day, especially over all of the rocks, and they weren't afraid to complain. My legs were quite tired too, so I kept tripping on rocks and a few times I kicked large rocks super hard with my left foot as I tripped over them. After the hike, I had a purple big toenail from all the rock-tripping-kicking I did. I stopped and changed my socks with about five miles to go, which gave my feet new life for a few miles before the ache really set in hard.

Everything you read about this part of the trail warns about how LONG it feels. The rush of the gorgeous Core Enchantments is over, energy reserves are waning, and its a long quad-shredding downhill slog back to the parking lot. It was still beautiful in the trees, following the roaring Snow Creek, but we were definitely feeling the long day as we tried to pick up the pace. 

I was determined not to let physical discomfort ruin this hike, even at the bitter end, but by the last 2 miles I was beginning to hobble on my sore feet. My toes were hurting and both feet were begging to be done walking. It got to be kind of comical, how slowly I was walking. Braxton hiked on ahead and finished a solid 20+ minutes before Mel and me. I tried to get Mel to hike at her own pace up ahead if she needed to, but she stayed with me and my slow hobble. We were both so tired! Mel and I got a little bit silly in our extremity and joking and laughing with her got me through.

As I inched my way down the last few miles of trail, I thought of all the different ways this hike had humbled me. First, with the steep long grueling climb up Aasgard Pass. Then, with the massive sweeping views of gorgeous scenery. And again, with the sheer size and scale of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Also humbling were the many trail runners who passed us with their quads of steel during the first half of our hike. And then there was the crippling effect the rocky long trail had on my feet! I am a very fit person--that's not a boast, that's just a fact right now based on my daily activity level. I run 30 miles per week and do workouts and yoga and I know I am in excellent shape. But this hike was HARD! It was hard in a different way than a 20 mile run is hard. Aerobically, I was fine. It was my feet and legs that were toast. It gave me a lot to think about as I hobbled homeward. I was quite thoroughly humbled in a different way than usual, and it was kind of an amazing feeling! 

I can't explain it any other way: my prideful runner self always underestimates walking. In my mind, I said "well, even if it takes all day, it's still only walking, so it will automatically be less hard than running." But no, walking is hard, and hiking is even harder! It takes forever for one thing, and that time on my feet was the main thing that I was not prepared for. Possibly part of my problem was I was hiking in Xero brand hiking boots, which are a minimalist low cushion shoe. I got them because I love their lightweight, grippy, close-to-ground feel. But for an all-day 12+ hour hike, my feet craved a bit more padding.

When we got back to the parking lot at last, my watch read 19.19 miles and 13 hours, 8 minutes I kept my watch running for the entire hike, even during all of the stops but one. Turns out Garmin was pretty accurate after all.

Hello, Nada Lake!

Rainbow in the waterfall spray!

These fragrant beauties clustered all along the trail for a while. My online research has not yielded the name of this delicate little white flower.

Finishers' pic at the trailhead.

During the last half mile or so on the trail, a man and a woman hiked up next to us and struck up a conversation. They asked if we were going back to the upper trailhead after our hike, and if they could catch a ride with us. We agreed and they were so grateful. It was the easiest thing in the world for us to let them climb into the back of my minivan while we drove the half hour to the upper trailhead. It made me feel a little less ridiculous for coming to a rugged mountain adventure in a low clearance minivan, haha. Minivans have SPACE and seating! 

Actually, Mel drove my van up that bumpy road while I sat in the passenger seat and massaged my poor feet. Somehow I had no blisters or visible blemishes (beyond the purple bruised toenail), but my legs were so tired that when Mel offered to do the drive up that rutted forest service road, I agreed with a big yes please. The minivan was a rough ride, but we made it in the end and parted after a few sweaty hugs and triumphant grins. My quads were shot but my soul was full.

WE DID IT!!