The Enchantments Mountain Run

At the Snow Lake Trail, you start at a elevation of 1400 feet and run up to Nada Lake 5000 feet at 5.6 miles. From here, you make your way to Lower and Upper Snow Lake, 2.2 miles. There are a lot of campsites in this area, but you have to apply to stay the night at these lakes.

You will need to follow the trail and a bunch of cairns to get from Upper Snow Lake to the Enchantment Lakes. Once I hit the Enchantment Lakes, no one was there and beauty was all around.

There are 7 stunning lakes in this area to visit and view. once when you get by the lakes you will go thru Asgard Pass. If you are lucky you might see goats up there. Be sure not to have any salty foods on you, since they are salt deprived.

Follow the cairn thru Asgard Pass to you get a view of Colchuck Lake. From here, it's a steep downhill climb from 7800 feet down to 5570 feet in 1.4 miles. Keep your eyes peeled, this challenging part of the trail is hard to follow too.

When I finished up, my friends had a meal and a beer waiting for me at the lake and I went swimming in Colchuck Lake. It was my reward on finishing the 17 mile run.

Getting there:

From Seattle, take US2 east towards Wenatchee. Upon reaching Leavenworth, turn right onto Icicle Creek Road. At about 4 miles, the Snow Creek Trailhead is on your left. For the Stuart Lake Trailhead, continue another 4 miles or so and turn left on road 7601 (about a mile past the Eightmile Campground). After the turn, stay straight (left is the Bridge Creek Campground) and follow the road to the trailhead. The first trailhead you will encounter is the Eightmile Trailhead; this is NOT the one you want. Keep going over the bridge and another mile or so to the end of the road and the Lake Stuart Trailhead.

Notes:

• Follow the Cairns Closely as well
• Bring a shuttle car - I had friends waiting for me at the end to drive me back to my car
• If hiking or running make sure you have plenty of space on your memory card for pics and videos. I took over 330 pics and 10 video clipsIf you want to stay the night or more you will need to get apply for a over night pass at recreation.gov