On Labor day weekend 2005 my brother, Micah, and I explored the Enchantment Lakes area. Once again I was overwhelmed by the austere beauty and the 'enchanting' wildness of the Enchantment Lakes. But this time around Micah came (1st timer) and we had more time than I have had in the past to explore and do some fishing.
This was my fifth trip into the Enchantments so I was a little apprehensive that I would get bored with the scenery. I didn't get bored in the least, even though this trip was the longest at 4 days. In fact, I think I need to stay up there for awhile. Maybe a week or two will do me some good!
Anyway, we hiked in under partly cloudy and just slightly chilly conditions on a Friday afternoon. We started at the Snow Lakes Trailhead and hiked to our first campsite at the far end (western) end of Snow Lake. Although I usually don't stop at Snow Lakes we stopped since it was near dinner time and we wanted to try out the fishing on the lake. The lake was extremely low due to the drought conditions and the fact that the Forest Service was spilling water through the outlet pipe. The water level was at least 15 feet lower than normal!. So in order to go fishing we had to walk down the moderately steep sand beach and gingerly stand near the beach edge. The sand at the water line was like quicksand which threatened to take a shoe. In fact Micah's foot got sucked down at least once. At this lake we didn't catch any fish but we saw a few and at least one large fish was swimming around near the inlet stream.
On Saturday we climbed up to the Enchantment Lakes zone under sunny blue skies. We stopped at Lake Vivian (I think), at my favorite campsite near the waterfall and did a little fishing. The campsite was already occupied so we just had some lunch and caught a few cuththroat. We hiked on in search of a private camp and some secluded fishing. We came across quite a few people on the trail, including several fishermen, and at least I was getting nervous that we wouldn't be able to find an agreeable campsite. So we followed a trail which goes toward the Ingalls Creek Valley and ended up finding Crystal Lake. This was a great find as I had never been here before and it was so far off the path that we had the entire lake to ourselves. The lake sat in a deep valley somewhat protected by some cliffs on the lower portion of Little Anapurna and some cliffs which rose to McAllistar Peak (I think?). We set-up camp on a peninsula which juts out into the lake and went to work trying to catch some fish. We both caught quite a few little and medium sized cutthroat on just about any kind of dry fly we tied on. In fact I was getting a little tired of catching and releasing these small fish. The wind was picking up and it was getting cold as the sun went down behind Little Anapurna. Just before giving up for the day I walked back near the camp and found a large flat rock with a deep drop-off just off-shore. With my hands stinging from the cold I tied on a hopper and set it down less than 10 feet off-shore, right over the hole. In a flash the hopper was taken and I felt a good tug on the line. Although most of the fish put up a good fight as all good cutthroat do, I could tell that this fish was big by the strength of his tugs on the line. I pulled him in to find a beautiful 19-inch cutthroat who was a little past height-weight proportionate. He had some meat on him. I was so surprised and excited that I de-hooked him and ran across the peninsula to show Micah. It was pretty obvious we were gonna have to eat this beautiful enchanted fish. This was the first fish I have ever taken and eaten while still in the backcountry and definately one of the largest trout I have caught. When we cut him open and cleaned him we found to our surprise that his stomach was packed full of black ant bodies! This guy obviously had found a great spot to slurp down ants. Anyway we each got an 8-inch long (at least) fillet which we breaded and fried in some oil. With the fish we had our spicy Jamacian red beans and rice (dehydrated meals) and some bagels with cheese. Although the meal was by no means gourmet and it was not nearly as hard as some to cook in the backcountry, it was without a doubt one of the finest and most satisfying meals I have ever had while hiking.
After dinner we took a little walk at dusk and marvelled at the awesome landscape all around us. We shared a cigar and watched the stars come out. The clear night sky gave us an awesome view of the shiny part of the universe, but we paid for it as it was cold and very windy. Although we were probably less than a trail mile from our nearest neighbors it truly felt like we were in a wild and primeval place. An enchanted place.
The next day, Sunday, we hiked through the remainder of the Enchantment zone, where we saw even more people than the day before and a few mountain goats too. I stopped and caught another fish at another lake. Before long we were in the upper Enchantments where there are very few trees and little vegetation. We stashed our packs and made a quick dash to the top of Little Anapurna. The views and the vertigo were a little overwhelming on top as we could see many of the major peaks in Washington: Rainier, Adams, Glacier, Stuart, Baker, Daniel. We ended our day at the shores of Colchuk Lake after dropping down Asgard Pass. Just as we were setting up the tent it started to rain, but fortunately stopped soon thereafter. A little whisky and we crashed at our campsite nestled in the trees above the lake.
On our final day we did a little fishing at the lake but had no luck as the fish seemed to be far off-shore. Micah thought the fish were probably kokanee as they seemed to be travelling in schools. So we packed up around mid-day and had a relaxing hike out to the trailhead. Micah fanagled us a ride back to the Snow Lakes Trailhead where we quickly packed up and headed home.
All in all, I can't believe how hitch-free and relaxing this adventure was. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was in a truly wild and unique place with my best friend, my brother.
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