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Enchantments (double) Traverse, WA

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

… continued from – Day 1 – Permit lottery and getting to Snow Lakes
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trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles

Day 2 – Snow Lakes to Aasgard Pass. And back.

The Enchantment Lakes …

… (are) located entirely within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Leavenworth, Washington in the United States. The Enchantments is regarded as one of the most spectacular locations in the Cascade Range. …

Dawn broke clear and calm. But I did not get out of the tent early, fearing mosquitoes. It’s buggy close to these lakes, even in August. Climbers told me that mosquitoes chase them all the way to the windy summits.

Once on foot, I needed to keep moving briskly to stay ahead of the bloodsuckers. The scenery was gorgeous, though.

This was the only time I got my feet wet all day. (Lucky, I thought, considering I was trekking ‘alpine lakes’.)

The many waterfalls are impressive.

But for me and most, the highlight are the high, stark lakes. And craggy ridges.

I hiked directly to Aasgard Pass. Then — for FUN — returned by scrambling off-trail high above the regular route.

Surprisingly, I made even better time on the return trip … and suffered no roadblocks … until this point …

I tried descending to the far side of the lake and walking the shoreline. It would not go.

Rather than backtrack I scrambled up the cliff. Not too smart. I was lucky I didn’t splash down in the cold lake.

From there it was an easy out back down to my tent. The double traverse took me about 10hrs walking.

See all my photos from this adventure.

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Hiking the Enchantments in Autumn (PHOTOS) is highly recommended. The Larch are golden. And there are NO BUGS.

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The most unusual thing about the Enchantments are the tame mountain goats.

In recent years, they have become a little too friendly with people, in some cases acting aggressively. These are large, powerful animals, and need to be treated with caution. Enjoy them from a distance and don’t encourage them. They are also very attracted to human urine; please use the toilets where provided, or urinate into gaps between boulders or other places that will prevent them from pawing up plants and soils …

I got plenty of closeup video of the beasts.

Posted in Fauna, Flora, alpine, photos, video | Comments Off

Golden Larches, Alpine Lakes, WA

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

The Golden Larches hike in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Washington, was picked a Readers’ Choice for the Pacific Northwest by Backpacker magazine.

Good call.

The larches are gorgeous in the Fall.

And, just as important to me, the horrendous mosquitoes of Alpine Lakes Wilderness will be gone by then.

One warning comment on that post:

… a great destination, but after 5 miles in, just before the serious climb begins, is a rather treacherous stream crossing …

details on Backpacker

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Suicide Rock, Idyllwild CA

Friday, May 13th, 2011

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

In lovely Idyllwild, California, I inquired at the Ranger Station for the best hike in the area.

They recommended Suicide Rock, Deer Springs Trailhead … just a mile away.

6.5 miles round trip
2000 ft elevation gain

Lovely. A relatively easy day hike.

I did see one snake of indeterminate make and model. (A hiker told me that he had seen a Rattler about a year earlier on this same trail.)

more photos

Check Local Hikes for more information.

You can continue to the summit of San Jacinto Peak from that same trailhead.

What is this, by the way?

Posted in Flora, alpine | Comments Off

hiking Maroon Bells Loop, Colorado

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles

• 28mi (45.1km)
• moderate difficulty
• free backcountry permit
• 4 passes all higher than 12,000ft

For years I’ve wanted to get to this, one of the most photographed idyls in the Rockies.

The Maroon Bells is a mountain in the Elk Mountains that consists of two peaks, South Maroon Peak and North Maroon Peak, separated by about a third of a mile.

… about 12 miles southwest of Aspen. Both peaks are counted as fourteeners …

The Maroon Bells 4 Pass Loop starts here, high at 9580ft (2920m), mostly above the treeline.

The wildflowers were still quite good mid-August.

As usual in late afternoon in the Rockies, weather was iffy.

It was an emergency tent site I finally found just at dark. Happily, next morning dawned brilliantly clear:

Early morning I crossed pass #1: West Maroon.

En route to Pass #2: Frigid Air:

The trails are fantastic, … aside from one much cursed section I called THE QUAGMIRE. Once you reach the biggest waterfall on the Crystal river, the track disappears into a bog of mud and fallen trees.

Who’s responsible?

Here I am cleaning my shoes (deliberately) on a creek crossing.

When I met an oncoming hiker who had heard about THE QUAGMIRE, he decided to bushwhack on the opposite side of Crystal river. It couldn’t possibly be worse.

See the next high pass?

That’s #3, Trail Rider.

It was a long, exhausting climb. Yet gorgeous.

Hikers on Trail Rider pass:

The vistas of Snowmass Lake on the other side were all that was keeping me going.

Tenting is super popular at Snowmass. I decided to carry on until dusk, approaching the 4th and final pass. …

Next morning I was up at first light, first human at pass #4 Buckskin. It was just me and the mountain goats.

I’ll always remember the big open vistas of the Maroon Bells. And the wildflowers.

Highly recommended. One of the best hikes in the world.

see the rest of my photos

Posted in Fauna, Flora, alpine | Comments Off

Beartooth High Lakes, Wyoming

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

35mi (57km) on the Continental Divide

This lollypop loop circuit, as recommended by Lonely Planet Hiking in the USA, starts and (supposedly) finishes at the Island Lake trailhead on the intensely scenic Beartooth Highway, an access to Yellowstone National Park.

The wildflowers here in early August are insanely great.

Unfortunately, the horseflies and mosquitoes are insanely awful. Fish food, I guess.

For all the wildlife in nearby Yellowstone, I was surprised to see nothing larger than this marmot. … Perhaps the mosquitoes drove them out.

The High Lakes hike is aptly named. You trek from one remote lake to the next. With all the granite, at times it reminded me of the Sierra Nevada.

You are going to get your feet wet, for sure. But normally there is a way across the widest streams.

Many love this wilderness for the remote tenting options. Set up wherever you want.

Lonely Planet rates this adventure easy-medium, the worse misranking of any hike in the book. It is correct here:

… Waymarkings and signposts are unreliable. …

The Beartooth High Lakes circuit is very challenging due to the many rocky and wet scrambles. The snow that stays into late July. The lack of signage. Trails that often fizzle out completely.

In fact, I’d not recommend you try it without a good topo and GPS. One lake looks like the next up here.

Here I am wandering out through charming alpine meadows, looking for a good spot to leave a Summit Stone.