The Enchantments area is such a magical landscape, we’d always wanted to return and our last visit was on a smokey September day, so we wanted to see what it was like without the smoke. We went on a Sunday but maybe left a little later than others (hit the trail at 6:15 AM). We had a pleasant experience playing leap frog with a few other hikers throughout the day and it really didn’t seem like hordes of people up there. We were both really grateful that our bodies are still able to handle the strenuous and challenging hike (5000’ elevation gain / 7000’ loss and 20 miles). I definitely would only recommend this hike to people in excellent hiking shape and I would recommend using poles and bringing the 10 Essentials because you never know.
Wildlife highlights: So many goats! BABY GOATS! A river otter in a 7000’ lake (who knew that was possible!). Snake, pika, chipmunks. Strangely, we neither saw nor heard any marmots.
The melting and moving water, tiny ponds and cascades, bubbling brooks and streams and water falls, small lakes and big lakes - everything intertwined and connected and set amongst craggy granite peaks trimmed with snow and smooth granite boulders was out-of-this world. The lower Enchantments lakes felt like they were right out of a story book with wildflower-filled meadows and stream crossings on gnarled old logs or perfectly set rock steps.
The last 10 miles (pretty much upon leaving the Core Enchantment Zone and beginning the descent to Snow Lakes, was a grind. We put in our AirPods and each listened to our audio books to make that time pass a little more pleasantly. We knew what to expect and that was a fair price to pay for the ability to spend the earlier part of the day in such an incredible place.
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