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hiking the Enchantments, WA

trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles

Day 1 – Permit lottery and getting to Snow Lakes

The Enchantments Traverse is one of our best hikes in the world.

Many call it the best hike in Washington State. High praise!


A.H. Sylvester who explored the area for the forest service in the early part of the 20th century, was so impressed with the chain of high alpine tarns and lakes that he named them the ‘Enchantments‘.

Super popular, you need a Permit to camp anywhere near the Enchantments.

Applications are accepted online from February 28 through March 20 for the following summer. A lottery decides the lucky few. (The website also provides a way to decide permits later in the year as cancellations occur.)

As I had none, I tried for the “Walk-in” Permit available 7:45am each morning, excluding Sundays, at the Ranger Station in Leavenworth. Hiking solo, I felt my odds were pretty good.

Unfortunately, my name was not drawn.


Other hikers explained that I could get a Permit for Snow Zone (still available) and day hike the adjacent Enchantments. That’s what I did.

It’s cheap: $5 per person per day (per day, not per night) which funds the on the ground management of the permit area, plus a $6 per permit fee, which funds the reservation system.

From the Snow Creek trailhead to my campsite was less than 6mi, less than 4000ft elevation gain, so I didn’t start until late afternoon.

Snow Lakes Trail #1553

I found it quite a mellow trail to get up to elevation. Certainly easier than the dread Aasgard Pass alternative.

I hung my bear bag almost over the water, lifting it up there with a long branch.

Fishers should bring a rod. The trout were jumping. Washington State license required.

Everything was set for a BIG day on the Enchantments Traverse next morning. …

See all my photos from this adventure.

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Many avoid the Permit hassle doing the Enchantments as a long day hike. I’d say starting at the Snow Lakes trailhead, hiking down and out Aasgard Pass to the Colchuck trailhead, is easier than the other way around.

The two trailheads are miles apart so you’ll have to hitchhike unless you stash a mountain bike at the far end. Or have two vehicles.

… read on – Enchantments (double) Traverse, WA

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Louse Canyon, Owyhee wilderness

By Tim Neville / New York Times News Service:

Louse Canyon is among the most inaccessible places in the West

… It was day three of a four-day, nearly 50-mile exploratory hike through Louse Canyon in the Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness Study Area of southeastern Oregon, and there was no doubt we were getting spanked. …

About 350 air miles southeast of Portland, the West Little Owyhee River, a rarely visited tributary of the better-known Owyhee River, has cut a squiggle of a gorge through sandy expanses of sage and rye. The canyon is surely among the most inaccessible places in the West.

At its loneliest, the nearest human living under a proper roof is about 24 hours away by four-wheel drive, then horseback and foot. This cool crack in what is known as ION country, where Idaho, Oregon and Nevada collide, is so deep in the back of beyond that it sits in a different time zone from the rest of the Pacific Northwest. …

read the trip report on Bend Bulletin – Exploring Owyhee’s untouched wilderness

Very cool.

(via Meanderthals, again)

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best hikes Asia – Hong Kong

by site editor Rick McCharles

I’ll be hiking in Asia for about 2 months this Fall.

Where should I go?

Hong Kong is my home away from home in Asia. I’ve hiked there before …

Tim Cheung just posted the best article I’ve seen yet on hiking Hong Kong:

… Tourism campaigns for Hong Kong rarely champion its hiking trails and yet 300 kilometers of designated trails, varying in length and difficulty, traverse the territory and many locals hike religiously.

To really experience Hong Kong get out to one of the four major hiking trails: the MacLehose Trail, Wilson Trail, Hong Kong Trail or Lantau Trail.

read more on CNN International – Top spots for hiking in Hong Kong

Dragon's Back Trail

(via Meanderthals)

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bike hike Vimy Peak, Waterton

Rachel Tynan is a hiker who loves Waterton National Park in Alberta, as I do.

She posted at terrific trip report on their scramble of Vimy Peak:

Mt. Vimy is one of my favourite mountains in Waterton as it is the one you always see from the town site. I went online to get information and they SAY it’s a 4 mile bike ride to the trailhead and a 3 mile hike up with the last mile being a scramble. Let me warn you now, they are WRONG! …

… on the Wishbone Trail you can walk or bike this trail for approximately 4 miles (6.5 km) where you will encounter the Vimy trail which is a steep trail up a valley and onto the mountain. …

… about a mile to climb. There is no trail, you have to create your own. By this point I was so tired and had been stopping every 5 minutes, I really didn’t know how I was going to scramble up this steep peak. But we took our time and up we went! …

read the full trip report – Hiking to Mount Vimy Peak in Waterton, Alberta

I’ll be headed to Waterton in September to complete the Triple Crown. Just watch me.

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Golden Larches, Alpine Lakes, WA

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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world’s lightest 4-person tent

Myriam Guillot and Jacky Boisset from France are Adventure Racers. Here’s their home made, minimalist 4-person tent used for emergency shelter from weather and bugs.

Click PLAY or see it on YouTube.

They just might need this protection at the World Championships in Tasmania, starting Oct. 31st, 2011.

It weighs less than 1Kg (2lb 2oz). Jacky plans to further reduce weight by switching from aluminum poles to carbon fibre.

For information, contact Jacky via myriametjacky.com

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GearJunkie/YogaSlackers – Expedition Idaho documentary

Captain JASON MAGNESS put together a superb documentary on the ups and downs their team experienced at our week long expedition Adventure Race, a MUST SEE …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Read more on GearJunkie.com – Expedition Idaho: 4th place for Team GearJunkie/YogaSlackers!

See more photos and videos from ExpID.

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Expedition Idaho Race wrap-up

by site editor Rick McCharles

Race Director Dave Adlard impressed one and all with his passion and tireless effort to make the inaugural ExpID a success.

Check out his wrap-up post for results and highlights – Expedition Idaho: The FINAL Update!.

The top teams transported themselves over 500mi of rugged north Idaho and Montana. Here’s a vastly simplified map of the route.

Mostly on foot, mountain bike and paddle, Dave added dozens of other challenges. Personally I liked “build a raft” and “light a fire” (without matches).

It’s hard on the body. My friends took significant damage moving constantly for 6 days.

Andy Tucker
Jeni McNeal

… but talk about a life altering experience. Expedition Adventure Racing makes Ironman look trivial.

Winners Thule from Europe just might be the team to beat at Worlds in Tasmania.

I was responsible for the race blog and social media:

» Team Photos | Photos | Videos | Twitter

Though I’m personally not a fan of Twitter, it was our best mode of communication during this race. Multiple people logged in to our account to update from the mountains by mobile phone.

The SPOT devices were almost more trouble than they were worth, working semi-reasonably perhaps 30% of the time. Multiple points of failure: human error, SPOT failure, battery failure, weather interference. The satellite network is unreliable too, it seems.

The one time we really needed SPOT to work, it didn’t. The team needed to climb to elevation to use a mobile phone to call 911 for air evacuation after a bike fall.

My $9.50 Trakfone was far more reliable in the wild than SPOT.

Here’s my favourite photo from the week, nighttime navigation – Team Bones.