On a four day backpacking trip you can take day trips from camp to explore over a dozen crystal clear lakes, summit surrounding peaks, and camp at an alpine lake of your choice! We hope to inform, inspire, and empower you to get outside and see this world, while doing your part to respect and protect the lands beneath your feet. Our first time, we were lucky enough to score camping permits and spend a few amazing days in this slice of paradise. https://linktr.ee/kraig00:00 Hiking Aasgard Pass in the Enchantments4:29 Leavenworth Bavarian Village5:46 Hiking Guide and Behind the Scenes The Snow Lake trailhead is off of Icicle Creek Road and has a decent parking lot. However difficult the climb up the pass, you will be rewarded with a campsite within the core zone of the Enchantments, next to the lakes with the highest elevation along the trail, surrounded by granite and lichen-covered rocks. After you finish your hike, its time to celebrate! Day 4: Hike out through Colchuck. You should try taking them on a couple easier backpacking trips first to see how they do. To do the car shuttle, you will need to first drop a car off at the Snow Lakes trailhead, then gather at the Stuart Lakes Trailhead to begin your hike. Almost immediately beyond the lake, the trail becomes littered with large boulders and scree, making a bit of route-finding a sudden necessity. Our personal recommendation for the best time to hike the Enchantments is September. One of Washingtons best hikes, the Enchantments absolutely lives up to the hype (and its name!). February 1, 2022. YouTube, Travel Guides, Gear, & FAQs. They only give out one permit per zone per day, with up to 8 people per permit. - Stock Photos provided by our partner Depositphotos, Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Hi yall! They also make some amazing meat and veggie bars. After our experience hiking The Enchantments and experiencing a few mishaps, we have a few tips that will help ensure your trip is a success! While its entirely possible to hike the trail in a single day (remember, weve done it! Sign up for our newsletter and well send you insider information and helpful tips about hiking, camping, and all things outdoor adventures! We saw tons of people doing this, but make sure you get a very early start so you can finish before dark and also have time to enjoy it without rushing. I did this as a thru hike in September, the trail was harder than I anticipated. Bear hangs are not recommended, as there are not good trees to implement a proper bear hang to keep food away from wildlife. Our personal recommendation for the best time to hike the Enchantments is September. The trail down to Inspiration Lake is steep the first taste of the downhill you will encounter on the remaining trail. The trail down here is long, but if you can remember to enjoy the continued beauty, it will make the rest of the trip less painful. Enter: Christie, our Enchantments savior. You can also choose an alternate leader. Whether hiking the Enchantments is on your bucket list or you just learned about the hike, keep reading to get a detailed rundown of the hike, getting permits, route options, and tons of tips for the trail. Youre all packed and now its time to start the hike! Redwood National Park in California - (https://youtu.be . Are you planning on carrying them the entire way? Hiking with music can be fun but it is good practice to use headphones so that other hikers dont have to listen to it. Heres a quick rundown of each one! Arrive by 7:30 AM to enter the walk-up lottery. by Craig Romano . We were so thankful we brought layers as we froze during the hike. With your permit you will receive special parking permits for each of the trailhead, allowing you to park in designated spots for permitees. July and August are the most popular months, but we loved seeing the larches change colors at the end of September (even though the weather was riskier!). Another good spot to check out is Yodelin. Their eagerness to lick salt can greatly damage the terrain and vegetation, so it is important to use the wilderness toilets when possible, and if not, to urinate on rocks to prevent damage to alpine vegetation and erosion. Can you drive to the enchantments? Depending on snow conditions, you may also want to bring gaiters to protect your boots from getting filled with snow. Best 2-Person Tents for Camping & Backpacking, 17 Best Hikes in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, Dispersed Camping: What is It & How to Find Dispersed Campsites, 25 Hiking Lunch Ideas to Keep You Fed on the Trail, Cracker Lake Trail Guide for Glacier National Park, Tips for Eco Camping: A Guide for the Environmentally Conscious Camper, navigation: physical map, phone* with offline maps downloaded (or both), layers (here is a great resource if youre wondering, sun protection: sunscreen, hat, sun glasses, water bottles and bladder for your Camelbak, way to purify your water (we used our Grayl water bottles on this trail and they were fantastic! No clue if this is beneficial but it does feel like it's getting easier. To day hike in the Enchantments, only a NW Forest Pass is needed. We hope you snag a permit! But one of the places that would undoubtedly make the list is The Enchantments Wilderness Area. Mile 6: Once you pass Colchuck Lake, you will have to ascend Aasgard Pass before finding the next campsites near Isolation and Tranquil Lakes. The first frost usually comes in mid-October. More than a dozen high alpine lakes carved in granite. After getting b, Our beautiful home in Mrida! And if we were to backpack again, wed love to spend one more day out there so we had more time to explore and to have an extra day in case the weather was bad. Colchuck: One of the most popular day hikes in Washington is Colchuck Lake. Since youll be at a higher elevation, the nights may get cool. This is a helpful article as I plan my permit asks and hopeful my hike. The Whole Core Enchantment Loop Stuart Lake Trailhead to Snow Lake Trailhead:Approximately 19 miles6,000 ft gain and 7,800 ft loss, Snow Lake: Snow Creek Trailhead to the Upper Snow Lake Dam6.5 miles (one way + another 1.5 miles to the far end of the lake)3,800 ft elevation gain. An irregular pond due to its shape, not because of the presence of a real leprechaun, Leprechaun Lake sits under the steep ridges of McClelland Peak. There are usually more people present than permits, so they have to draw names, which occurs at 7:45 AM. The best times to hike in the Enchantments are lake summer and early fall. They can be overly friendly, to the point of dangerous, and often follow visitors in an attempt to lick up salt from human urine (delightful, huh?)! Turn left onto Icicle Creek Road. At risk of sounding entirely cliche, this place is absolutely enchanting. A hike through the Enchantments is a very strenuous hike. Bonus: during the tail end of the month and into October, the foliage turns to a beautiful vibrant yellow-orange! Were talking beautiful wilderness full of clear alpine lakes, granite rocks, and vistas of sharp peaks. To visit the Enchantments, you can either thru-hike the entire distance as one long day hike, or you can backpack and complete the hike over the course of multiple days and nights. We lived in Leavenworth for a while, and have been lucky enough to hike in the Enchantments a few times, and each experience has been pretty different. 208SX by Green Trails Maps . : 1312 ft. the enchantments hiking washington day hike Toilet paper must be disposed of properly! We had to go about 3 mph in the van (not joking lol! Day-to-day, the weather can be unpredictable. If you were to ask us what we think is the most beautiful place in the world, youd probably get a long silence as we racked our brains where to even start?! While we recommend bringing everything from our backpacking packing list, there are a handful of items that were especially nice to have with us! Talk about timing! When to go: The Enchantments overnighting permit season extends from May 15 to October 31st, but the trail is frequently covered by snow both early and late in the season. Due to the fragile environment and increasing popularity of hiking the Enchantments, a wilderness permit is necessary to camp overnight from May 15 through October 31. Try this 20.5-mile point-to-point trail near Leavenworth, Washington. Then, youd likely get a long rambling list of epic places weve been or those were itching to visit. Eightmile/Caroline: There are two lakes you can access with this permit: Eightmile and Caroline. I know prime time for the Enchantments is late September, when the larches are out and the lakes are all melted, but there's something sort of magic about the place under snow, too. Nestled in the Cascade Mountains, the Enchantments is full of alpine lakes, rocky peaks, larches, mountain goats, and incredible views. This website contains affiliate links from websites such as Amazon.com, Booking.com, and Rentalcars.com. Hiking up Aasgard Pass means that the remaining 13 miles of trail are generally downhill. Your email address will not be published. If you have more time, you wont get bored spending more time in this beautiful area! The trail through the Enchantments is also very rocky and uneven, further increasing the difficulty of the hike. Once you reach Colchuck Lake, the trail proceeds around the edge of the lake, passing by the campsites until it crosses the boulder field on the other side of the lake and then begins the steep passage up Aasgard Pass. When is the best season to go? The mountain goats in particular are habituated to visitors. Permits and permit information is available on the Recreation.gov Portal. Dont worry, not all hope is lost. The maximum group size is 8 people. There are two starting points to choose from, both just a 30-minute drive outside of town, making this one of the best hikes near Leavenworth. Hey everyone, I have a 5 night hike in the Core Enchantment zone starting September 30. Continue reading. MapThe trail is fairly obvious in spots, but as we mentioned earlier, sometimes you encounter rock scrambles and finding the right path can be hard. Inspiration Lake is tucked away in a pool surrounded by steep granite on three sides. Hiking poles are a good idea to help with the change in elevation and also for balance on the steep and rocky terrain. But we couldnt miss the opportunity to go, so we committed to the permits and figured we would make it all work. The Enchantments are one of the most enchanting (sorry, we had to!) Read More. For a challenging side adventure, there is a trail that branches off near Perfection Lake and heads up Prusik Pass. If you do not have prior wilderness backpacking experience, first try some shorter trips to learn how to pack, improve your fitness level, and practice backpacking skills. This is actually the highest elevation point on the entire trail, so from here, the rest of the hike is mostly downhill. This lake is one of the most dramatic lakes in the basin, as it is set in a deep basin below Prusik Peak and above the ridge towards Snow Lakes. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. living on the road in ourself-converted sprinter van! Check out our 37 favorite hikes in Washington! HeadlampsHaving a headlamp is not only one of the 10 hiking essentials, but is especially important if you plan to hike for sunrise, or just have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. As for toilet paper, Leave No Trace says use only plain, white, non-perfumed brands. The lakes clear, blue (and freeeezing cold!) It is one of our favorite Washington memories and we cannot wait to experience it again someday! Note: Winners are drawn at random, so it makes absolutely no difference when you apply, as long as its within the application period. When to Hike The Enchantments The Enchantments overnighting permit season runs from May 15th to October 31st, however the trail is frequently covered in snow both early and late in the season. The Enchantments hike is a difficult to strenuous trail, and I will be the first to tell you that I did not train enough with weight for this trip. You'll need that chill hike day, because you will have just come over Aasgard Pass at 7,800 feet. Wildlife sightings are extremely common while hiking the Enchantments, including mountain goats, marmots, deer, picas, and the very occasional black bear. Mid-July through early October is the best season for hiking the Enchantments. The elevation gain and loss are large, meaning that you will be working hard at most points during your hike. Toughest thing I have done. Mile 4: There are many campsites at Colchuck Lake around mile 4 from the trailhead. and permits are also a little easier to come by. The Snow Lakes trailhead is 4 miles down this road on the right, a signed parking lot immediately off the road. From websites such as Amazon.com, Booking.com, and vistas of sharp peaks no clue if this actually... Core Enchantment zone starting September 30 I comment plain, white, brands... Itching to visit this place is absolutely enchanting 7:30 AM to hiking the enchantments in september the walk-up lottery visitors! Guides, Gear, & FAQs so from here, the rest of month. From here, the rest of the downhill you will have just come over Aasgard at. By Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Hi yall packed and now its time to the..., as there are many campsites at Colchuck Lake not recommended, as there are more! 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