Enchantments Loop, almost a marathon trail run-a-hike

Snow Creek Wall

I recently decided to attempt a run into the Enchantment Lakes basin. My last trip was a three day hike in September of 2005. Times have changed and so has my preferred method of travel into the backcountry. On my last visit I donned my old Raichle leather boots. If you’re old enough you might remember these kinds of boots. They had stitched on soles, weighed about two pounds each, took over a year to break in and you still ended up with blisters after only a few miles of travel! It’s so nice those days are over and these days I am running, more often than not and with modern, light trail running shoes.

This trip was what I would call semi "off the couch". The reason being is that I didn't train by attempting any long runs beforehand and I rarely trail run more than 4-6 miles per week. I am sure my time would have been better if I had trained, but alas a quick pace is never the goal for me. I seek out fun, challenging and mentally committing routes and this one fit the bill perfectly.

I originally decided to leave my car at the end of the dirt road section to avoid having to run on pavement at the finish and to allow a nice four mile warm up in the morning. As I passed by the Snow Creek trailhead I felt anxious to start running on nice soft trails so I quickly turned around and decided to start my run, it was 6:30 am. The beginning of the run went as expected, having done the approach to Snow Creek wall more than a dozen times I knew the this part of the trail intimately. The section towards Nada Lake was quite good. I broke up this part by running for about 1/2 mile, then fast walking insuring that my lungs got an adequate warm up. I passed many hikers camped along the way, many right off of the trail. It was still early and although some appeared to be awake, possibly preparing breakfast. They hardly noticed me running by...just a quick flash and I was a distance memory.

Nada Lake

Leaving Nada Lake the trail climbs moderately to the Snow Lakes. Now if you've yet to head to the Enchantments you will be surprised to first hear and then see the giant horizontal waterfall in the distance. It's quite an unusually feature to find out in the backcountry. Apparently it's some sort of water control as you eventually pass by a dam between the lower and upper Snow Lakes. You have to wonder, do the fish come flying out of that huge gusher? If so they would end up landing on the rocks below, ouch! Well I digress...back to the run. The upper Snow Lake run is very pleasant, if not a bit root strewn. It's a nice break before the impending "wall". It’s been aptly named by weary hikers who trudge up nearly 1400 feet in 1.25 miles. It's really only tough for the last 500' feet which is very steep terrain with a bit of scrambling on granite slabs. Some sections even have man-made foot holds, but I won’t comment about them in this story.


My progress was quite good from upper Snow Lake to Lake Viviane, which is the first lake you reach in the lower Enchantment basin. My reward here was an onslaught of mosquitoes. They wanted my blood in a bad way! This is the one thing I did not prepare for and honestly I knew I wouldn't be stopping many times so it didn't seem like an issue. That being said I really wanted at least a five minute break here since I hadn't stopped since I left the start at Snow Creek. As luck would have it, I met two early morning hikers who just happen to have some bug juice. It was DEET based, but the bugs were so bad I didn't care. The guy even applied it for me, a very thoughtful and much appreciated service!

Beginning of Lower Enchantment Basin

Soon after my bug infested break at Lake Viviane I realized a couple of things; I wasn't drinking enough and I wasn't eating enough. I recover slowly from bonking (hypoglycemia) so this was not a good sign. I already covered more than 1/3 of loop and ascended 90% of the elevation. At the time my lack of hydration and calorie consumption didn't really sink in, that is not until about a mile later when I hit the wall. Fortunately the upper basin is fairly easy travel. It was cloudy, humid and windy in spots and my reduced speed forced me to wear my windbreaker which slowed my pace considerably. I took my longest break around the half way point between Lake Viviane to Aasgard Pass. The distance is around 3.8 miles with roughly 1000 feet of altitude gain. I should have and very much wanted to run this whole section. The good news is that I recovered quickly and spent the rest of the way to Aasgard pass hydrating and eventually running for several long stretches. Just before reaching Aasgard pass a low flying helicopter buzzed by me and two young guys that were also doing the loop. The helicopter flew a couple of passes then landed on a nearby flat section above us. We later learned this was a recovery flight for a hiker who fell down a waterfall while descending the "wrong side" of Aasgard Pass.

After removing my jacket and wishing the two guys a safe journey I headed down the steep trail leading to Colchuck Lake. The descent to the lake is impressive considering that you drop 2251 feet in just over one mile! The upper and middle sections are scree and slab, while the lower section features larger Talus boulders. Ascending from Colchuck Lake to Aasgard pass is brutal; I can't understand why anyone would want to do it. That being said, descending can be quite dangerous, especially for those with the burden of heavily laden packs.

The descent from Aasgard Pass to Colchuck Lake and then down the Mountaineer Creek trail was mostly uneventful. I was basically on auto pilot, stopping only once to remove my scree gaiters and to put on my iPod. With music blaring and energized legs, I opened it up all the way to the parking lot at the end of Eighmile Creek road. The parking lot was packed with cars and those involved with the recovery of the hiker who died. Without pause, I corrected my pace for my 3.8 mile descent to Icicle Creek road. I stopped only once to fill my Camelbak and to cool my feet off in the icy waters of Eightmile Creek. The remaining run down the road went well. I was able to set a nice quick pace and it was a nice mental change from having to negotiate nearly 17 miles of considerably rough terrain. It was still cloudy and not soon after I began the descent it began to shower. Luckily it was just enough to keep me cool and to help keep the dust from getting in my face when the occasional car passed me. It really felt good that I didn't for one moment wish I was driving back to Icicle Creek road; this was another one of the highlights of the trip.

View of Aasgard Pass from Colchuck Lake 

The last leg: Icicle Creek road. I was nearing the finish and it felt great, however there was a bit of a reality check as I hit the pavement. I knew from the very beginning when I decided to attempt this loop that the remaining four mile section back to my car would be agonizing. The whole time I reserved the right to hitchhike back my car and honestly after the first mile I really wanted to, however soon after I realized this section was the mental "crux" of the trip for me. Those who run on pavement might not be able to relate, but to me there is nothing more painful, at least during exercise. My feet are not exactly normal. I've had bunion surgery and I have hammer toes and my big toes point in the wrong direction! As I tell most people, I have "freak feet". That being said they could be worse and having traveled over 25 miles they were kind enough to carry me without incident and without too much pain all the way back to my car.

Quick stats for this run…

TIME: 9:15
DISTANCE: 25.25 miles
GAIN: 7273' (map), 7080' (Suunto)
TRAIL CONDITIONS: Mostly dry, except for several short snow sections in the basin
WEATHER: Mostly cloudy with a few filtered sun breaks and a few brief showers
TEMPS: 58 (start), 74 (finish)

Number of…

Mosquito bites: 12+
Pee crazed mountain goats: 1
Annoying hikers: 10+ (all near the Eightmile TH)
Friendly hikers: 15+
Sprained ankles: 0 (one really close call)
Blisters: 0 (thanks to Injinji)
Sore days post run: 3
Wipe-outs: 1 (from tripping on a wooden peg that was not a natural feature!)
Calories: 1970 (including pre-run food)
Liters of water: 5 (not quite enough)