Northwest Livin': Enchantments

Last year on a kayaking trip in Washington, my boyfriend Drew and I discovered an intriguing trailhead leading to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. I put it on my wish list for another day. With summer coming to an end and my birthday around the corner, I decided it might be a good opportunity to do some research. I stumbled upon some stunning photos of the Enchanted Lakes Basin. I learned that camping is very restricted in this area because of the fragile ecosystem and concern for the mountain goat population. Without a permit from the annual lottery in February, the only option is to show up at the ranger station the morning you want to start hiking and get lucky enough to draw some slots from a cancellation or the 5 person/day lottery.

Drew said he would do whatever I wanted for my big day, so bright and early the morning of Sept. 10th we were standing outside of the Leavenworth Ranger Station with our name in the lottery. The ranger said, "Okay, who is feeling lucky today?" I said, " I am! I am!" and ran up to draw a name out of the pot. I had a little spaz attack when it read: Christie - party of 2!

Wahoo, three nights in the Enchanted Lakes Basin! Awesomness. We were ecstatic as we drove up Icicle Creek and 8-mile road to the Stuart Lake Trailhead. We had our gear packed in no time and headed up the trail to Colchuck Lake. We had 4 days to hike the 18 mile loop up to 7,800 ft. through the Enchantments and back down through the Snow Lakes zone. From here on, I'll let the pictures tell the story because it was so incredible I could barely put my camera down . . .