So this whole thing started when my friend Bean asked me if I was interested in going on a backpacking trip with him and some other friends this summer. I said that sounded fun and we began to discuss possible destinations. He mentioned that he had heard the Enchantments was a really cool place to backpack and I agreed that it was a stellar place having been there on several climbing trips before. Finding a time that worked for everyone wasn't easy but we finally had some dates and Bean sent in the application for our permit. It seemed to take an extra long time to find out if we were in, but finally word came back. We were approved for July 6-9
th 2009. This was exciting news and preparations began in earnest for an epic adventure.
Our group was composed of Bean and
Mookie, two friends who grew up together and two other friends they knew from college Chris and Conner and myself. I met all of these guys through my wife and have gotten to know everyone pretty well. I think going to Beans bachelor party camping/rafting adventure was the turning point in getting to know
everyone better. I
wasn't just Julie's husband anymore, but also the guy who told the rafting guide who was being a jackass to us to simmer down.
Mookies parents have a vacation house in Leavenworth and they were kind enough to let us stay there. We decided to stay there the night before the trip so we could get an earlier start and the night after so we could just relax and not have to drive back to Seattle exhausted and dirty.This turned the trip into six days and five nights away from my family. It wasn't an easy task, but my wife Julie was understanding enough to make arrangements to make this work.
Chris had plans in eastern Washington so he decided to meet us in Leavenworth. The rest of us piled into
Mookies rig and hit the road about 11:30 am on Sunday. When
Mook put the Willie Nelson CD in I knew it was going to be a good trip. There is nothing like Willie Nelson on a road trip. Sunday night was dedicated to getting gear and packs figured out. We hit South a fairly new
Mexican restaurant in Leavenworth. I had the
carnitas and it was quite good.
Monday morning go time. We got up around 8:00 and then hit
Krystals for some
mandatory bacon before heading off to Snow lake
trail head (elevation 1300ft). It was perfect hiking weather. Nice enough for shorts, (or a kilt) but not too hot when we finally got going about 10:00.
Highlights of the first day included helicopters flying supplies to the construction workers at Nada Lake all day. Not exactly the wilderness experience we had hoped for, but we were soon past this and pushing on. I was taken by surprise when we crossed the dam between the two Snow Lakes and the water was running 3-4 inches above the dam. You would not want to fall here!
So we found a nice campsite on the SW side of big Snow Lake and called it good for the day. We were promptly greeted by swarms of hungry mosquito's. Good thing we had plenty of deet. The hike had gotten us pretty sweaty and Chris, Conner and myself decided to jump in the lake for a quick swim. It was pretty frigid but felt good nonetheless. Since it was already 4:00pm and not really that warm to begin with getting warmed back up was not easy. Good thing I belong to the Polar Bear Swim club.
After tossing and turning most of the night I finally decided to get up at 5:30 and get some coffee going. I had my coffee ate breakfast and took a bunch of pictures while waiting for the rest of the crew to get up. Finally I decided I should just wake them all up at 7:00. So I did my best impression of Luther from one of my favorite movies from the 70's the Warriors. Clanking pots and pans together...warriors come out to play... warriors come out to play....warriors come out to plaaaaaaaaay! I got a big kick out of this and the funniest part was none of them had seen the movie before!
So the plan for day 2 was to get higher up into the Enchantments proper, find a nice campsite and bask in the ambiance. By 9:00 we were on the trail. So far we had seen no one else with the exception of construction workers at Nada lake. We ran into 2 trail runners doing the loop from Stuart Lake TH to Snow Lake TH. They were feeling good and we stopped and chatted with them for a bit. We were quite impressed with the footwear selection one of them had on. Lime green Crocs! If that wasn't cool enough, he then proceeded to pull out a big block of melted together chocolate covered espresso beans and break off chunks of it with a rock to share with us. Croc guy you are my hero!
As we continued on the trail began to get steeper and rockier. There were sections where it wasn't really a trail so much as a path up the rocks that we were following. We met our first mountain goats just before Lake Vivian. It was official, we were in the Enchantments! From here the trail got even steeper and more treacherous. There was one section that was a rock slab with water running over it making it very slick. At this section there was re bar that has been embedded in the rock every step of the way so you don't plummet down the slab. This is not hiking for the faint of heart!
We decided we would stop at Leprechaun lake if we could find a good campsite there. We found a side trail that took us to a peninsula where we were practical in the middle of Leprechaun lake. There was an established camp site here and we decided to stop. This is the most beautiful place that you could imagine. Mountains, rocks, snow, and lakes in every direction. At 6875 ft it was considerably cooler here. We set up camp and then lounged around for a while playing one of my favorite games. Sun comes out, get hot and lose a layer, sun goes behind a cloud, get cold and add a layer, repeat.
After eating and resting for a while we decided to go for a little recon hike. We hiked up to Sprite Lake 6900 ft and then a little further on almost to Perfection Lake. I didn't really want to go too far as we had left our packs back at camp and without the reassurance of having emergency supplies I get a little nervous. There were several sections of the trail that were covered with snow and we got in a little practice walking with our ice axes.
The next day Wednesday we woke up to a beautiful morning. It definitely felt warmer than it had been. We all quietly began making breakfasts and getting ready for our summit bid. There was a definite anticipation in the air. What a great feeling to be up in the beautiful mountains, with good friends and going on an adventure! Little Annapurna may not be the largest or most difficult climb in the world, but it is the 75th highest mountain in Washington and that is saying something.
The route from Leprechaun lake to Little Annapurna is amazing. We passed by Sprite Lake, Perfection Lake and Inspiration Lake. At Inspiration Lake we ran into a herd of 8-10 mountain goats. From here we pushed on to a level tableland where we could clearly see our route. We traveled cross country and began picking our way up the NE ridge following the path of least resistance. We hit a short section of snow near the top but it was pretty easy to negotiate. The actual summit block looked just like a castle fortress. For the next half hour we relaxed took photos and enjoyed summit treats. There is something about being on a mountain that makes Walkers shortbread cookies and dark chocolate taste better. I think it might be the butter!
The decent went smoothly. We avoided the rock and plunge stepped in the snow where we could. There were really no good glissades which was a little disappointing. On the way back to camp I took side trip up to Prussik Pass with Conner and Bean. It would have been fun to tag Enchantment Peak as well but it wasn't to be. My knee was really hurting by this point and I was concerned about hiking out the next day.
When we got back to camp it was clear that we had been discovered. There were goats swarming our little peninsula. It is a well known fact among climbers that mountain goats crave salt and will lick your urine up with no shame. I have seen this behavior before so I wasn't too concerned about it at first. However they began to get very aggressive to the point where we could not even go without them charging at us. This accumulated with Conner actually getting rammed by one of them. While he wasn't seriously injured we began to realize this was a pretty serious problem. We all began to hang close together at out camp hoping they would go away. Instead they began to walk in circles closer and closer to us and one particular goat "Billygoat Gruff" was acting like he wanted to charge at us constantly. What in the heck was going on? Was he offended that we had marked his turf? We ended up hiding in our tents with our ice axes ready in case of goat attack!
The next morning I awoken by the sound of goats wandering through our camp. I don't know if it was the fact that I needed to pee, or the thought that I wasn't going to be able to brew up my morning coffee but I snapped. I put my boots on, jumped from the tent with my ice ax and began cursing and wildly throwing rocks at goats. At one point I began quoting the lyrics of "Hit Em' Up" by Tupac Shakur. We'll bomb on you N-bombs, you think you the mob? We the fucking mob! This strategy worked as long as we kept throwing rocks when they tried to come back in our area. We were able to break camp... and I got my morning coffee.
This was a very wierd experience. I don't go into the mountans to confront or threaten the wildlife. I really feel that in this instance we were left with no other choice. In the future if I am camping in Enchantments I will be sure to use the outhouse for #1 as well as #2 and not pee on the ground anywhere near my campsite.
The hike out was not nearly as bad as imagined. We said goodby to the goats and to the Enchantments. As soon as we got back to Leavenworth we went straight to Heidelburger for a hot sack of grease and milkshakes. Such a fun trip!
