Professor Paddle Crew 2006 paddling

clips from the 2006 Washington State whitewater season

The Enchantments

The Enchantments are a spectacular collection of lakes and pearly white granite peaks located high above the town of Leavenworth Washington. The area is incredibly beautiful and so popular that a strict permit system limits the number of visiters from June 15th to Oct 15th. While you can visit in the off season, the high elevation means that it is often snow covered during that time. This year however, the usual mid October storms had not yet arrived so my friend Reese and I decided to make the long hike in and do some climbing.

While the Enchanments are beautiful, the price of entry into this alpine wonderland is sweat and sore quadreceps. To reach the our campsite, Reese and I hiked in 9 miles, a relatively short distance if not for the 5000ft+ elevation gain. The last 2500ft are gained in the 1.5 miles between Colchuck Lake and Aasgard Pass.

Alpine meadows




Pearly white granite and golden larches


Prusik peak and alpine lakelets


Witches Tower (left) and the backside of Dragontail Peak (right)


On a previous trip to the area I climbed Prusik Peak (shown above) and Enchantment Peak. During our trip however the cold temperatures (ranging from 20F at night to around 35F during the day) prevented us from doing any technical climbing. We did however take the time to scope out some possible routes on Witches Tower and a few other peaks in the area. It was a bit frustrating to leave the area without climbing something technical, but there will be other trips.