The Enchantments Traverse
August 26, 2023
Preface
Featuring high granite spires (that I will one day climb), larches that turn golden in the fall, and lakes that redefine the concept of serenity, the Core Enchantments area is one of the most beautiful places in Washington. Because of this immense beauty, it is also one of the hardest places to get an overnight permit. According to the US Forest Service, 36,827 people applied for permits, but only 2,528 permits were awarded – less than a 7% chance.
My friends and I applied for Core permits 3 years in a row with no success. In 2022, however, we did score some last-minute, canceled permits to the Eightmile / Caroline Lake area and had a blast. Unable to get overnight permits again in 2023, we decided to hike the 23-mile-long route in a single day. This isn’t a novel idea; if you choose to do this hike, you will quickly realize what I mean. With hundreds of people showing up on the weekends, day hiking is an established method of seeing the mountain goats, tall peaks, and sheer beauty that the Core Enchantments area offers. While certainly not an easy hike, my friends and I, along with hundreds of others, were not about to let the permit system stop us from enjoying nature.
Trailhead Tribulations
On Friday, my friends and I got off work around 4 pm PST and left once we packed up. Located just outside Leavenworth, the trailhead at Snow Lake is a 4.5-hour drive. Our original idea was to camp at an established campground and wake up early enough to drive back to the Snow Lake trailhead for the shuttle service, but when we arrived at 10 pm, it was a madhouse. With one spot left in the main parking lot, we decided to park on the road instead, hoping to have more room. Rather than going to an established campsite, we just car camped at the Snow Lake trailhead, figuring that if it was hard to find a spot the night before, it would be impossible to find one in the morning.
After 5 hours of intermittent sleep, we woke up around 4 am, ate breakfast, brushed our teeth, and got ready for the hike. I carried 6 liters of water (2L in Camelbak, and two 2L water bottles), a ham and cheese sandwich, a PB&J, some trail mix, a few Cliff bars, and some powdered electrolytes with caffeine for extra energy. The shuttle was scheduled to pick us up at 5:15 am. I chose the shuttle service that had the earliest time available, Leavenworth Shuttle. Despite my concerns about booking online, they turned out to be real and communicated effectively amongst the 5 am chaos, with at least 5 other shuttle companies trying to find their clients simultaneously. My only complaint was that the people in the backseat, despite having an extra seat, refused to move over to make room for my friend, and the driver did nothing to help. Even though he paid the same price, he had to sit on the floor for the entirety of the 30-minute car ride. We arrived at the Colchuck Lake trailhead around 5:45 am, and it was a zoo, hundreds of people shining their headlights, all getting ready to do the same hike.
It felt like a weird, unorganized race with no starting gun and no victor - yet the feeling of competition was still in the air.
Colchuck Lake and Azgard’s Pass
The first leg was a 3-mile hike with ~2,000 ft elevation gain to Colchuck Lake. Still dark, we started the hike with our headlamps on to guide us. After an hour, the sun peeked over the mountains, and we put the headlamps away. We hustled to the lake, hoping to put some distance between us and the masses, and made it there in less than an hour and a half. Around 7:30 am, we took a break to catch our breath and admire the beauty of Colchuck Lake.
The early morning light sparkled across the calm, dark water and framed our next objective, Azgard’s Pass. The hardest part of the hike, Azgard’s Pass, stands tall and guards the entrance to the Core Enchantments area. It’s only a mile, but with nearly 1k ft elevation, it’s no joke. There have been numerous rescues on this pass over the years. Taking breaks every other switchback, we huffed along the loose rock and steep trail. As the air became thinner, my heart beat faster, and my lack of training became evident. My buddy slipped and cut his knee, but despite the large amount of blood, he assured us he was okay. After patching himself up, we trekked on. We crossed a creek and continued up the Sisyphean Trail. After 2 hours, we reached the top. We took a break to snack on our sandwiches and enjoy the view of Colchuck Lake from above. My buddy had mango sour patch kids that hit the spot – we joked that they were healthy since they were fruit-flavored. As we snacked and regained our strength, we rejoiced. We were finally in the Core Enchantments.
The Core Enchantments
At the top of Azgard Pass, we were greeted with tall, granite peaks (Dragontail Peak, Witch’s Tower, and Little Anapurna) and beautiful alpine lakes (Isolation Lake, Tranquil Lake, and Lake Reginleif). The beauty of the core, not to mention the exerting nature of the pass, was breathtaking. Within the first 15 minutes of hiking through the Core, we saw at least 4 mountain goats. I had to keep telling myself to look down so I wouldn’t trip because I kept staring at the jagged peaks and picturesque surroundings. Because the Core area is only 3 miles long, we tried to enjoy it as much as possible, while still remembering we had much further to go. We saw hikers swimming and hanging around the lakes, but decided to swim at one of the lower lakes (never happened) to avoid wasting time and hiking 12 miles in wet clothes. The next time I go, I’ll bring a change of clothes and enjoy those lakes a little more.
We took a break at Inspiration Lake, where I found inspiration in my trail mix, and watched the fish gulp flies floating on the water. Besides the sporadic breaches, the water was still and calm. After our break, we continued the trek and passed more parties swimming in the cold, alpine lakes. We linked up with a group of guys from Georgia, probably in their early 30s, who asked me about one of the mushrooms I had found. “Is that one edible?” one guy asked. I didn’t know, but we started chatting. Turns out they had seen the Enchantments on an Instagram post and decided it would be the perfect spot to get together and have a guys’ weekend. A lady passed us going the other way and said, “The best part is over.” Which is quite a statement to tell a group of people enjoying a beautiful hike on a gorgeous day, but she was right, and we didn’t realize it. We had cruised through the Core in less than 2 hours. We took our last break at the top of Lake Viviane and scoped out our descent.
The Descent
The descent from the Core was steep and involved sliding on our butts down some rocks. After a mile downhill, we were on flat ground again. We still had about 10 miles left, but were making great time. We had lunch at Upper Snow Lake around 1:00 pm. As the water level lowered incrementally, stadium seating formed in the mud around the lake and made a perfect spot to sit, eat, and swim. The lake was beautiful, but not comparable to the lakes in the Core. While we had planned on swimming here, we ultimately decided to save the swimming for the river at the end of the hike. The notion of not wanting to hike in wet clothes thwarted our plans again. I ate my PB&J and the rest of my ham sandwich and listened to some Grateful Dead. My buddy was anxious to get going, and I joked with him, saying, “Yeah, sure! Just after this song is done!” The song was 18 minutes long and bought me some much-needed rest time.
Once we started hiking again, I saw more mushrooms along the trail - always a welcome sight. We hiked through the trees and down to Lower Snow Lake, where we saw our friends from Georgia taking a dip. We told them we decided not to swim there either and kept going. After Lower Snow Lake was 6 grueling miles of switchbacks directly in the hot sun. We paused occasionally to eat some fresh Thimbleberries and hydrate, but we all just wanted to get to the car. As we powered through the final stretch, hardly anyone talked. Our patience wore thin, and we began to resent the trail runners passing us with smiles. The trail felt endless until finally, we saw the car from above, 2 miles out. We continued the descent and eventually reached the bottom around 4:30 pm. Before crossing the final bridge, we stopped and washed off in Icicle Creek. Freezing and running fast, the water soothed our muscles as dirt, sweat, and blood washed away.
Conclusion
Whether it’s 18 or 21 miles, the Enchantments Traverse is one of the most beautiful hikes in Washington, but this beauty comes at a price. It took us nearly 12 hours to complete the hike and, by the end, we were spent. If I do the hike again, I would start at Colchuck Lake again but go up Azgard Pass through the Core and then back down Azgard Pass – maybe even climb Prusik Peak or a different objective? I absolutely would not go up the Snow Lake way. I can only imagine how grueling that way is going up if we suffered that much going down. The popularity of the traverse makes sense, but the number of people on the trail takes away from the experience. I felt like I was running a marathon in a zoo. After the hike, we grabbed a nice German meal in Leavenworth (I recommend Andreas Keller Restaurant) and drove home to avoid camping again - it probably would’ve been hard to find a spot anyway during peak season. We made it home around 10:30 pm and had Sunday to rest before returning to the corporate ennui.
