Days 17-18: Leavenworth and the Enchantments

After our restful evening in Boise, the two of us fueled up with fancy French pastries and then took a casual drive all the way up to Wenatchee. We did stop on the way to have a hot lunch by the Columbia River - Glenn obviously felt tempted to climb the rocks by the roadside - but we kept on keepin' on, knowing that the next day would be maybe the biggest of the trip.

After picking up some burritos from a Salvadorean place in downtown Wenatchee, we met up with dear friends Ethan and Marika. Our plan was to pound those burritos, pile into the car, and drive up to a trailhead just outside Leavenworth. There we'd rendezvous with Molly and Chase, close college friends of Ethan and Marika, and the six of us would find some dispersed camping. We needed to sleep just a few hours before an epic hike of the Enchantments Traverse, a 17-mile near-loop trail passing a number of peaks and lakes universally praised for their beauty. Normally, access to this area is controlled by a mega-popular lottery; our plan was to bypass all that by doing the whole damn traverse in one long day. For that to work, we needed to get a super early start - so our friends had scoped out some National Forest sites that we could squat on for free before our 4am alpine start.

The only problem with our plan, it turned out, was that hundreds of other people had the same idea. In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have been surprised - it was likely the last nice weekend of the year, weather-wise, and the last season that day use in the Enchantments area would remain unpermitted, so people had packed in to take advantage.

We started our hike with the stars still bright in the sky and trekked up to the first stunning alpine lake. Marika asked us where we thought the path might lead and unbelievably, it led up very formidable and vertical route called Asgard Pass. From the far side of the lake you could just barely see people as they made their way up the rocks, so it looked like a great many ants making their way up an anthill! 

                                                                                                             Asgard Pass 
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When we reached the top of Asgard Pass we took a break overlooking more beautiful lakes. From there it was mostly downhill and yet there was still a very long way to go. Each time we reached a new ridge or area, there seemed to be even more breathtaking views. As Ethan kept saying, we were gobsmacked!  A consistent and strong pace was set as much as we could amidst many people. Wonderful conversations were had throughout the hike, and Cassie was glad that there was a lot of checking in on each other's needs and wellbeing. Other highlights included seeing mountain goats, including a parent & kid who were completely unflappable to the gaggles of people hiking past. 

On the hike, Glenn was able to check out many cool rocks that looked like exciting climbing! Although he tried out a few of the climbing opportunities, we were on a hiking mission, so we left many intriguing rocks for next time. Here's a photo of Glenn gleefully catching up after one such climbing detour:

We hiked and hiked and hiked some more. The landscape slowly changed from hiking on entirely rocks back to hiking in the forest, for which Cassie's knees were grateful. We had aimed to finish the hike before dark, and as we descended the final mile or so of switchbacks, the sun was descending. Some needed headlamps to finish out the hike, and by the time we were at the parking lot, you could see some stars again. It had been a 13 hour day on the trail, so it was sweet relief to finish the hike. We shuttled the cars, got ourselves back to Leavenworth, which happened to have a boisterous Octoberfest in progress, but being hungry and tired, we found a pizza place without a wait and got to relax with pizza and good company. We went back to Ethan and Marika's place that evening and all went to bed pretty immediately. Phew!

Our Enchantments Hiking Crew! 💛