This summer we competed to be not the site of the next Olympics or World Cup, but to be the home town of a set of east coast dwelling relatives. We won. Of course, the prospect of moving cross-country is a daunting one full of intricate planning and drawn out timelines and... What's that? You go a job already? Well, ok then!

While they aren't moving out right away (thank you, telecommuting), Ryan did have to make a visit to experience new employee orientation and meet his team. Naturally, it butted up against a weekend so we had a day to adventure should he be interested. I was thrilled when he said yes and even more so when he chose the "stupid epic" adventure choice I proposed among several others. Routes plotted, maps printed, snacks packed, we left the house at 3am for a two hour drive to the trailhead.

The Enchantments are a place in Washington so <ahem> enchanting there's a strict permit system in place. In 2019, 24,000 applications were submitted and only 2,000 were awarded. 18,000 of those were for the "Core" zone with only 364 permits actually available. It's no wonder I've failed to win the lottery for the last 10 years. The only time I'd been in the Core was on a through hike because no permits for Moosefish. (Big sad, as the kids say.)

However, since we had only a single day to adventure, we didn't need permits. We rolled up to the trailhead around 5am and already cars were backed up half a mile down the road. Donning headlamps, we made our way to the trail itself for the dark and uninspiring hike to Colchuck Lake, the first waypoint. If the name sounds familiar, it might be because it's a place made famous by Instagram. (Remember the 24,000 applications in 2019? There were only 2,300 in 2012!)

Trudge trudge trudge. Consume the dust of the hikers in front of you. Let the trail sort you into smaller groups and then leapfrog with those groups over the next hour or so of climbing until you get to the lake.

I'm not going to lie, Colchuck is a beautiful lake. Great color, great mountains, it's in surprisingly good shape for the number of people that visit. We were just passing through. Or around, actually. The trail circles the lake to the base of the infamous Aasgard Pass. It's a 2,000 foot climb in less than a mile through loose rock and dirt. It was even worse on this day as we were stopped by climbing rangers at the base so a rescue operation could be conducted about half way up.

For over an hour, we waited with a quickly growing crowd of hikers for the U.S. Army rescue helicopter to arrive, drop a crew member by rope, hoist the injured climber, and then retrieve the crew. Each step was carefully executed and then the helicopter would fly circles over the lake until it was needed again.

When the rescue was complete the rangers allowed us to resume climbing. While the crowds of hikers had spread out getting to Colchuck Lake, we were all bunched up again. The fastest hikers broke from the pack early, but it took just a few slower hikers to form a bottleneck. (It wasn't a big deal for me, honestly, as my time as a fast hiker is past. Ryan, though, could have easily kept pace with the leaders.)

Getting to the top of the pass felt the same as the last time. Behind us was a beautiful blue-green lake thousands of feet below. Ahead were jagged peaks and little lakes stretching for miles. While most others stayed on the trail to descend through the Core to the exit trail we stopped to refill our water and turned to the south toward Little Annapurna.

Little A isn't the tallest peak in the Enchantments nor the most prominent, but it is one that's been on my list for a while. It's a walk-up without any technical aspects, but provides an amazing view of the Core as well as the Ingalls Creek valley more than 3,000 feet below on the south side. Bonus: While tons of people are doing the through hike relatively few stray from the main trail to gain Little A's peak.

After passing a few of the gorgeous lakes that litter the Core, we found what looked like a hint of a trail leading toward our destination. Of course it wasn't actually the trail we should have followed, but with no significant vegetation it all looked like a trail to someone like me afflicted with West Sider Syndrome. We navigated up benches and boulders and hopped dips all while looking up. What looked so gentle from below was a lot steeper than I had thought. I huffed and puffed while Ryan hopped like a goat.

Finally on the summit plateau, we made our way to the high points and stood on the rocks overlooking the shear drop to the south and the glory of the Core to the north. We sat and marveled for a while before starting down. But why go down the way we came up? Especially not after talking to a couple of others who had come up a different route and indicated it would be easy to find.

Indeed, the first part of the trail dropping from the summit was easy to follow. We skirted the Snow Creek Glacier and then... uh... maybe not. Never one to give up, I convinced Ryan there was a way down without going back up to the summit and led off across the glacier. No, it wasn't one of the big glaciers. Sadly, it won't be around too much longer. All along our descent I kept an eye out for where we'd have to go if we were cliffed out or otherwise blocked. The closest we came was when the glacier's outflow dropped over a waterfall, but it left us a two-foot wide ledge to continue down.

We filled up with water again before a mellow 200 foot climb back to Aasgard Pass. Unlike the last time I'd been in the Core, we'd seen no goats. In fact, the only wildlife we saw were some pika and a mother and kid goat while waiting for the rescue. I was distressed I'd failed to deliver on a promise of goats. A marmot crossed our path. I dismissed it as just another marmot, but Ryan was taken by it. Of course he was. Marmots are awesome. Cute little whistle pigs. Then we saw a goat being all majestic and enjoying the afternoon. The wildlife wrapped up with a shy pika half way down Aasgard Pass.

Finally back down at Colchuck Lake with only a few miles of maintained trail to go I realized I'd been too hard on the other access trail to the Core. In fact, the Snow Lake trail wasn't the torment I remembered from seven years ago. Descending from Colchuck was just as tedious and painful. Any day this packed full of adventure would have to end with sore feet and aching legs. The big benefit to coming down through Colchuck instead of the Snow Lakes was not being able to see the parking lot an hour before reaching it.

Like last time, a trip through any part of the Enchantments was a magical adventure. I am planning on submitting my application for permits in the Core for 2022. Whether I get permits for the Core or not, I'm sure I'll find myself up there again soon.