WENATCHEE NATIONAL FOREST, WA :: Three days with Jake, Jayson and Jessica in a place that does not belie its name. It was an incredible weekend, starting at Colchuck Lake, climbing up Aasgard Pass, descending through the Enchantments, and exiting out of Snow Lakes.

I had secured our overnight permits from the Forest Service back in March. I lucked out by getting the route I wanted, but I would have prefered a weekend later in the year. There was still quite a bit of snow in the Upper Enchantments, which didn't cause us any problems, but it would have been even more spectacular to see those frozen lakes in their summer glory.

We camped our first night on the rim of beautiful Colchuck Lake. Towering above us was Dragontail Peak, with its razor-sharp spine. Beside it loomed our nemisis, the formidable Aasgard Pass. From our campsite, it looked impossibly steep and there was no trace of a trail. Aasgard was a beautiful sight in the fiery twilight, but the dread of climbing it with our heavy packs was sobering our elated spirits. Even more sobering was the fact that no one had packed any booze. Oh well, we needed the rest.

The next day we broke down camp and hit the trail again by 9:00 AM. As we got closer to Aasgard, it didn't look as menacing. The steepness was abated from our new perspective, and we could finally spot the faint outlines of a trail, as well as some tiny specks of people making their way up. Fortunately, there were many cairns to mark the way.

Aasgard climbs 2200 feet in less than a mile. My strategy was to take it steady and nonstop. I lost the path a couple times, but as long as I was heading up, I figured I'd be okay. It was pretty grueling, but my body was taking it much better than I thought it would. The ground was loose, and my feet slid often. I tried my best to step gingerly, hoping to prevent rockfall onto those below me. Towards the top, I frequently needed to use my hands to haul myself over large rocks. In a little over an hour, we had reached the pass... It was like another world.

My first impression of the Enchantments was, "Brrrrr!!!" It was so cold and windy! My second impression was, "Wow!" It looked so stark and "gothic" up there. Tall, grey peaks bit into the grey sky like sharpened grey teeth. Scrawny grey plants clung onto the grey ground. Everything seemed grey or white, and the scale of the place was immense - grey and immense, like a "gothic" cathedral. After a brief rest, we hiked through the snow, descending through the Upper Enchantments, passing lake after pretty lake. We soon spotted our first mountain goat, which came fearlessly close to us, waiting for us to pee. These woolly beasts love the salt in pee. They'll lick it up as soon as it splashes the ground. The rangers in Leavenworth advised us to only pee on the rocks, because the goats will rip through the soil and vegetation to get to it.

We found a small peninsula on Leprechaun Lake to setup our second camp. It was a very nice spot, but was immediately overun by a few families of goats. The "kids" were too cute! I wish I had a pair of shears for the adults, however. Their wool was falling off in peeling patches. Not very pretty.

I had run out of "film" on our last day. Which was too bad, because the scenery continued to amaze us. I wish I could have gotten pictures of the rest of the Enchantments, the neverending waterfalls, the steep canyon above Nada Lake, and the forest and dam at Snow Lakes. Many reasons to return! Unfortunately, the final leg of our 21 miles tested my patience. The trail to the Snow Lakes parking lot just seemed to go on and on and on, forever and ever. I think that trail could have been graded at least twice as steep as it was and still been very comfortable, and hikable in half the time! Ugh... We were very happy to be finished, back in our cars, and heading towards Leavenworth for a well-deserved Heidelburger!