Story and Photos by Mike Matson

OUR TENTS ARE pitched on the east shore of Leprechaun Lake, amongst granite boulders and patches of weather-stunted tamarack trees, the alpine larch known for its autumn display of brilliant golden needles. We enjoy a quick dinner before climbing into our sleeping bags and enjoying a deep sleep. In the morning, we’ll be backpacking on the Enchantment Lakes trail, which snakes through 19 miles of some of the most ruggedly beautiful terrain Washington state has to offer.

So popular with backpackers that a strictly enforced permit system has been established to limit the impact of users, the Enchantments has become one of the most coveted backcountry treks in the Northwest. Lucky enough to score a permit, we’ve come to sample this spectacle of pristine meadows, sparkling alpine lakes and glacier polished rock.

In the morning we spread out on the trail, each of us finding our own pace, moving slowly through the basin, past icy cold waterfalls and an endless series of rock cairns, the small stacks of stone marking the trail where it crosses the smooth granite. This is our time for reflection and for absorbing the scenery. The sun is shining under cloudless blue skies and I can’t keep my camera in my pack because everything here is worth a picture. I find myself imagining this place before the trails were established, the peaks had been climbed, and the glaciers had melted away.

Although the Enchantments Basin was first discovered and named in 1908 by A.H. Sylvester, it was the Leavenworth couple Bill and Peg Stark who truly exposed this place to the outside world. Starting in 1959, the Starks made annual trips into the basin, giving names inspired by Scandinavian legends to many of the features in the basin. With each step I gain more insight into the excitement and awe these pioneers must have felt in those early years. I wish for their perspective, but content myself with the present, knowing this is still a place only a handful of people get to experience each year.

Upper Enchantments

As we climb higher into the basin, each successive lake is more frozen than the previous one. The landscape is devoid of trees, becoming an abstract patchwork of rock and snow with ribbons of running water. At 8000 feet, spring thaw has just reached the Upper Enchantments in this first week of July.

We pitch our tents at a crossroads, a site perched between two seemingly different worlds. Behind us to the north are 10 rugged miles of trail and a beautiful wilderness. Above, the Lost World Plateau beckons. It’s a cold and barren landscape so recently released from the icy grip of the Snow Creek Glaciers that not even the hearty alpine larch trees have established themselves in the sandy soil. The ice-choked waters of Tranquil and Isolation lakes fill the valley floor. Rising early to overcast skies, my mind is filled with mixed emotions on the last day of our trip. Breaking camp and moving quickly to stay warm, we quietly make good time over the plateau. Promises are made to return with more time to climb peaks here—the gentle, beckoning Little Annapurna and the fearsome Dragontail—because this is the only way we can let ourselves leave.

Sad to leave such a beautiful and otherworldly setting, we pick our way down Aasgard Pass. The trail drops 2200 feet in less than a mile. We pass two hikers near the top of the pass moving fast with light packs, avoiding the permit system by racing the 19-mile trail in a single day push. Imagining the challenge that lies ahead of them, I’m happy to be in the slow lane with time to savor what is around us. Even so, I know it has already passed too quickly.

When You Go

Getting There

Drive Hwy 2 to Leavenworth. At the western edge of Leavenworth turn south onto Icicle Creek Road. Drive 4 miles up Icicle Creek Road to the Snow Creek parking lot on your left. For the Mountaineer Creek/Colchuck Lake trailhead continue another 4.5 miles (8.5 total from Hwy 2) up Icicle Creek Road and turn left on Road 7601 at Eightmile Creek. Drive 4 miles up this dirt road to the trailhead.

Permits

Because of the popularity of the Enchantments a strictly enforced permit system is in place. Permits are required for overnight trips between June 15th and October 15th. Applications for permits are accepted on or after March 1st for the upcoming season. Permits cost $3 per person per day. Twenty-five percent of the permits are held for a daily lottery at the ranger station at 7:45 a.m. Day use permits are free and are available for self- registration at the trailhead. A Northwest Forest Pass is also required for parking at the trailhead. To obtain an application for a permit contact the Leavenworth Ranger Station (509-548-6977; www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/passes/enchantments)

Northwest Travel July/August 2007