The Enchantments in a day.
We had our neighbors John and Paige over for wood-fired pizza a month or so ago. At some point the conversation turned to hiking. John was telling us how he’s gotten back into hiking and backpacking. He and his buddy Craig had just finished doing Section K of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). They averaged 31 miles a day for three days. Legit.
It also turned out John was planning on doing the Enchantments thru-hike at the beginning of October. K and I recounted the story of how we were married there almost (then) six years ago. How the weather was absolutely beautiful for four days. How no one walked past us on the trail as we were parked there for our ceremony most of the afternoon.
'Do you want to get the call?' John asked. I had never heard that expression before, but yeah I was down to get the call. That call came last week. He was planning on the seventh of October to hike through the Enchantments.
Traversing them in a day is a bucket list thing for a lot of people. It's also called The Death March by more than a few folks. K and I have spent a bunch of time in the Enchantments when it was a bucket list thing for fewer people. In the six years though since our wedding, it seems the place has exploded even more in popularity (thanks in part to social media and international publications like The Wall Street Journal writing about it). Neither of us in fact have been back since then. There are lots of other places to explore.
That said, the invitation to hike twenty miles through one of the most spectacular areas on earth was tough to pass up. It'd be a proper day out. Especially since John had taken care of the logistics and arranged the car shuttle (we'd park his buddy Craig's truck at one trailhead and leave John's at another). All I had to do was roll out of bed at 3:30, get ready, and walk across the street to his already-warm truck.
It was a great day, despite nursing an oncoming cold (thanks preschool!). We started at the Snow Lakes trailhead, hiked twenty miles and up seven thousand feet before ending at the Colchuck Lake trailhead eleven hours after we started. The larch were spectacular, including a very special one: ours.
As we sat nearby eating lunch, a couple walked past it on the trail. I heard the gal say, 'That tree is really cool. Different than the others.' Yep, it is really cool I thought to myself, smiling.
K and I still need to do the hike in a day together. It wasn't the same without her. We'll bring S and H up there sometime to spend a few nights, too. It is a special place, after all. One of the most special.
