Nature's Playgrounds: The Enchantments

Derrick and I managed to scored Enchantments core zone permits for six, but unfortunately none of our friends could make it, so we set off just the two of us. Having done this route before, we had a better idea of what to expect and made it up Asgard Pass without much issue.

Ready to go

Blue water of Colchuck

Culchuck Peak

Dragon's tail and the lake

Taking a breather on Asgard

This sign may bit a tad bit misleading

Once in the basin we wandered for quite a while trying to find the ideal campsite. Eventually we headed down the trail towards Perfection Lake. We thought we could take a short cut to Crystal Lake by skirting around the west side of Perfection Lake. It was going well until we were just about 20 feet above the lake when we started to get cliffed out. Maybe with fresh legs and no packs we could have made the final descent. But the steep drop down was a little too much after a long day. We headed back up to the ridge above Perfection, found a pretty sweet site and watched a lovely sunset.

We got cliffed out just near the center of the photo

The next day we headed back up the trail a bit to climb Little Annapurna. It was a fun straight forward scramble up big solid rock. Once on top we were treated to stunning views and lounged for a while taking it all in. Afterwards we headed back down, grabbed our packs and went to check out Crystal Lake.

Inspiration Lake

Looking towards Little Annapurna

The "stone henge" of Little Annapurna

Needle-like spires down below

The Teanaways

Derrick on top of the world

A beautiful basin

Good times

Looking back at witches tower

Dropping back down to Inspiration

Crystal Lake

Sprite Lake

Leprechaun Lake

After relaxing there for a while, we headed to one of our favorite campsites near Lake Vivian. We enjoyed the site, went for a brief swim and then watched some ominous clouds begin to roll in. As it begin to get dark the thunder and lightening began. It was near enough to be impressive, but not so close that we were worried.

Lake Vivian

Derrick's tent trench

Waterfall campsite

The next morning we had planned to climb McClellan, but lowering clouds started to deter us. We decided to have a relaxed morning, explore Temple Lake and then go spend a night in Leavenworth.