<计划> Enchantments

Hi Gloria,

How are you?  We are back from the Enchantments.  It was quite a weekend.
They are as amazing as they are reputed to be.

The Enchantments are near Leavenworth, Washington (4.5 hours), on the other
(rainshadow) side of the Cascades.  Everything is so different to here.  All
of the plants and rocks are unique.  The area is so special that several
years ago they restricted entrance to 20 people per day.  In March you can
book up to 15 spaces.  They are ususally sold out the first day.  They
reserve 5 spaces per day for people who arrive the day that they want to go.
They draw names out of a hat in the parking lot at the ranger station.

We lost the lottery and didn't get one of these 5 spots, but were lucky
enough to get the only two spaces for camping 1km from the Enchantment zone.
The challenge was that from our campsite to the Enchantment zone, it was
2,200 ft elevation gain in 1km - so we went up and down at the beginning and
end of each day.  Good thing we have Grouse to train on.  We went up at 6:00
in the morning, in the dark, so that we could catch the first light of the
sun.

The Enchantments is an area surrounded by granite mountains, glaciers and
lake after lake after lake.  The entire area is covered in larch trees.  We
timed it so that they were at the peak of their golden yellow colour.  The
other highlight of the Enchantments are the mountain goats that wander
around the place.  We were unlucky not to see any.  Most people seem to have
some sort of encounter because the goats are quite used to people, and come
close to your tent.

You can camp anywhere you want to.  I have never been anywhere where there
are so many spectacular sites.  We spent the time wandering between lakes
and cooking our favourite meals while we lounged around in the warm
temperatures.  We were very lucky this year to have summer last so long.

We do a lot of hiking in the States and spend the majority of our
long-weekends down there.  Let me know if you would like any info on hiking
down there.  I would like to hear about some of your favourite places.

That is the last hike of the season for me because the next three weekends I
will be in Arizona/Utah.  We will be doing a rim-to-rim hike in the Grand
Canyon and visiting some of the parks down there.  I have been several times
before and really love the area.  It is hard to believe that the next time I
hike here again, it will be November and there could be snow!

I hope that the nice autumn lasts and you get in some more adventures in
October.

I will attach a few photos.  There are some still at the shop.

Scott

Danny
This trail requires a permit and application for the permit begins every March, with the remaining chances up for grab by lottery。。。