Derek and I completed a five-day trip a couple of years ago in February through portions of the Enchantments. I recently came across these photos and felt compelled to share. The trip was cold and consistently snowy, but a lot of fun nevertheless. The Enchantments are located within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area and around fifteen miles southwest of Leavenworth in Washington State, so only about a thirty minute drive from Derek's house. It is a very beautiful area, especially in winter and widely considered to have some of the best views within the Cascades.
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Winter Mountaineering Trip to the Enchantments in Washington State
June 7th, 2014 - Nate Clark
We started at nearly midnight, hiking several miles in the dark up through a snowfall.
At that altitude, you can see how quickly the weather can move in. It's a beautiful blue sky, then in only a few minutes you can hardly see any longer through the fog and weather.
Using our ice axes and avalanche shovels, we were able to build a 150 foot groove in the ice and snow on the side of the mountain that became a high-speed slide to slide down the mountain, resulting in such speed that we had to use ice axes for self-arrest to slow down at the end.
