Creaky Knees
New member
Had an invite from a long lost cousin (Rhett) who had an extra pass to hike the Enchantments on June 25-29. I snapped at the opportunity having never hiked in the Pacific Northwest. The Sunday before I left, I got a call from him that someone had backed out and offered it to my son (Keith) who goes to the U of O in Eugene (the kid has never turned down a hiking opportunity) I was happy to leave the swampy northeast on Tuesday, despite an unexpected night at ORD due to flight issues. Got into Portland with enough time to swing down to Eugene and then take the 7 hour drive to Wenatchee for the evening at Rhett's sister's house.
On the morning of the 25th, we met up with Don, Clyde and Dave (the tour director) in Leavenworth. After doing car transfers, the 6 of us left the Creek Trail parking area late morning and meandered up the trail to Colchuck Lake. We left just a few sprinkles to clearing skies and just a few mosquitoes. When we got to Colchuck, it was mid-afternoon and there was some significant debate on whether we should attempt Aasgard Pass that evening. Common sense got the better of us and we camped at Colchuck for the night. With not much to do, we hit the sack early. Got down to below freezing that night so the snow firmed up nice for walking on the next day.
Headed up Aasgard Pass the following morning (2200 feet in less than a mile) and dropped into the Upper Enchantment bowl. Set up the tents, got some lunch and headed up Little Annapurna. We spent well over an hour on Little A with little or no wind, bright sunshine taking in the sights and getting a glimpse of Ranier through some haze. While I took lots of pictures, I knew that they would not reflect the grandeur of the scenery so I let the views burn into my memory as much as they could. The spires shooting out of the gorges with precariously placed rocks on the top were amazing. On the way down, Rhett and Dave started boot sliding, when Keith and I introduced them to butt sliding which was much faster and clearly more fun. Back at camp, the mountain goats were watching us nearby with curiosity. No bugs that whole day. We had dinner and crawled into the tents a little later than the previous evening.
While it got below freezing that night again, when the sun started hitting the tents, the temperature became unbearable inside. We knew that it was going to be a light day, so we took our time. After breakfast, we headed down to the lower bowl, snapping photos of the surrounding peaks and mountain goats with their little ones. After passing Inspiration Lake, we took a leisurely packless side trip to Prusik Pass for some more outstanding views. Met a couple of climbers on the top of the pass looking interested in playing on Prusik Peak. The temp had gotten into the 60's. We came back, walked a half mile or so down to Perfection Lake for a very long lunch. We were savoring not having to deal with mosquitoes, so we were taking our time expecting to get hammered when we got to our final destination at Nada Lake. But we continued our leisurely walk down and stopped by Lake Viviane. Spent about an hour there and the sun was so direct that I decided to change and go for a dip
Well, since there was ice still on the lake, dip is probably the wrong term. I spent 2 seconds diving in and 20 seconds turning around, swimming and getting out but needless to say, I was cooled down. We dropped down the steep ledges and took more time going past the Snow Lakes (boy was that water clear). We made it to Nada to very few bugs, had dinner and turned in for the evening.
We got going early the following morning (sunny again) for the remaining 5+ miles out because we had a dinner planned in Leavenworth with all of my extended family from WA. About half way down the trail, there were a couple of large fir trees with huge gouges out of them 5-20 feet off the ground where falling rocks had come bouncing by cleaning the bark straight off. At the end of the trail, there were about 20+ switchbacks that helped us drop the 3500 feet that we needed to lose that day (that would be a different trail in the Whites) We were out by 10, visited the local KOA campground for an expensive shower and had a wonderful lunch with the family.
Along the trail, we were passed by some hikers doing the 19-20 mile loop in a day. I probably could have done that, but with the scenery as beautiful as it is, I am not sure why anyone would want to rush the trip. It was a great trip with great company, no bugs and great weather.
We drove back to Portland, my son got on a bus to Eugene and I hopped on a redeye and came back to more swampy weather in the Northeast (when is it going to end?)
Other than United having significant mechanical delays on 2 out of 4 legs, it was a perfect trip. I would recommend it to anyone that can find the means to do it. I am already starting to scheme as to how I make a return trip.
Respectfully submitted; Creaky Knees
On the morning of the 25th, we met up with Don, Clyde and Dave (the tour director) in Leavenworth. After doing car transfers, the 6 of us left the Creek Trail parking area late morning and meandered up the trail to Colchuck Lake. We left just a few sprinkles to clearing skies and just a few mosquitoes. When we got to Colchuck, it was mid-afternoon and there was some significant debate on whether we should attempt Aasgard Pass that evening. Common sense got the better of us and we camped at Colchuck for the night. With not much to do, we hit the sack early. Got down to below freezing that night so the snow firmed up nice for walking on the next day.
Headed up Aasgard Pass the following morning (2200 feet in less than a mile) and dropped into the Upper Enchantment bowl. Set up the tents, got some lunch and headed up Little Annapurna. We spent well over an hour on Little A with little or no wind, bright sunshine taking in the sights and getting a glimpse of Ranier through some haze. While I took lots of pictures, I knew that they would not reflect the grandeur of the scenery so I let the views burn into my memory as much as they could. The spires shooting out of the gorges with precariously placed rocks on the top were amazing. On the way down, Rhett and Dave started boot sliding, when Keith and I introduced them to butt sliding which was much faster and clearly more fun. Back at camp, the mountain goats were watching us nearby with curiosity. No bugs that whole day. We had dinner and crawled into the tents a little later than the previous evening.
While it got below freezing that night again, when the sun started hitting the tents, the temperature became unbearable inside. We knew that it was going to be a light day, so we took our time. After breakfast, we headed down to the lower bowl, snapping photos of the surrounding peaks and mountain goats with their little ones. After passing Inspiration Lake, we took a leisurely packless side trip to Prusik Pass for some more outstanding views. Met a couple of climbers on the top of the pass looking interested in playing on Prusik Peak. The temp had gotten into the 60's. We came back, walked a half mile or so down to Perfection Lake for a very long lunch. We were savoring not having to deal with mosquitoes, so we were taking our time expecting to get hammered when we got to our final destination at Nada Lake. But we continued our leisurely walk down and stopped by Lake Viviane. Spent about an hour there and the sun was so direct that I decided to change and go for a dip
Well, since there was ice still on the lake, dip is probably the wrong term. I spent 2 seconds diving in and 20 seconds turning around, swimming and getting out but needless to say, I was cooled down. We dropped down the steep ledges and took more time going past the Snow Lakes (boy was that water clear). We made it to Nada to very few bugs, had dinner and turned in for the evening. We got going early the following morning (sunny again) for the remaining 5+ miles out because we had a dinner planned in Leavenworth with all of my extended family from WA. About half way down the trail, there were a couple of large fir trees with huge gouges out of them 5-20 feet off the ground where falling rocks had come bouncing by cleaning the bark straight off. At the end of the trail, there were about 20+ switchbacks that helped us drop the 3500 feet that we needed to lose that day (that would be a different trail in the Whites) We were out by 10, visited the local KOA campground for an expensive shower and had a wonderful lunch with the family.
Along the trail, we were passed by some hikers doing the 19-20 mile loop in a day. I probably could have done that, but with the scenery as beautiful as it is, I am not sure why anyone would want to rush the trip. It was a great trip with great company, no bugs and great weather.
We drove back to Portland, my son got on a bus to Eugene and I hopped on a redeye and came back to more swampy weather in the Northeast (when is it going to end?)
Other than United having significant mechanical delays on 2 out of 4 legs, it was a perfect trip. I would recommend it to anyone that can find the means to do it. I am already starting to scheme as to how I make a return trip.
Respectfully submitted; Creaky Knees
