The Enchantment Backpacking - Leavenworth

Rain?? Stevens Pass

Pacific Crest Lodge at Stevens Pass

Leavenworth

On the way over Steven's Pass towards Leavenworth we started to get rain and the temperature dropped to 39 degrees.  There was a little bit of concern that maybe the weather was going to take sudden change and we were going to go backpacking into rain and snow!  Luckily the clouds were hovering right at the top of the pass and as soon as we started to go down the other side, we were greeted with sun and warm weather.

Stevens Pass is a cool spot - there is a ski resort that operates as a mountain bike park in the summer.  It is also right where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses the freeway.  So we saw PCT hikers stopping to get something to eat and pick up packages.

A tea cup that is just the right size for a backpack

Once in Leavenworth, we checked into our hotel and then went to explore the town.  Highlights included a tea shop visit, a walk down to the river to see salmon (there were none) and dinner at a crepe restaurant.  We also looked around for a good place to get huckleberry ice cream after our hike.  The guy at the hotel front desk was the spitting image of Andy from Modern Family and had the same mannerisms too.  He and Susan had a nice connection and we laughed about Susan's boyfriend "Andy" the rest of the trip!

A pre-hike pic of rested feet!

Susan, Chris and G

Leavenworth - it was the Autumn Leaf Festival

After dinner we went back to the hotel, watched the end of the U of A vs UCLA game and read up on trip reports from the hike.  We had spent so much time preparing and getting ready for the first day of 9 miles up hill that we hadn't spent much time looking at the hikes for the subsequent days.

Shannon made sure she had the permit ready.  To hike in the Enchantments, you have to have a permit.  And to get a permit, you had to go into a lottery.  People try for years to win a permit and Shannon got one the first year she tried!

The permit

We got up at about 6 am the morning of the hike with a plan to leave for the trail head by 7 am - it was about 7 miles away.  We ate a breakfast of muffins and yogurt while packing up and were at the trail head and heading out on the trail at 7:27 am!