Enchantment Lakes, WA (One More Place I Need to Go)

Jonathan sent me a link to this guy's exceptional video showcasing Enchantment Lakes, up in Northern Washington.

Make that another location on my wishlist!

Up to the Summit - Again

Last Saturday Jonathan called me up - more or less on a whim - and asked if I would be interested in summiting Silver Star Mt. that afternoon. It was a bluebird day and the snow conditions appeared to be pretty good up there (4,400 ft.). We planned to leave around noon.

Over all it was an awesome hike. We hit snow sooner than we had expected and had to park about 1.5 miles from the trailhead, but were still able to make excellent time, accomplishing the hike to the summit and back in about 4.5 hours. According to my gps reading we gained about 2100' in elevation, and in snow shoes that's no easy feat! Here are some photos from the hike.

In Which We Reach the Canyon and Overestimated Our Own Abilities

This is the fifth installment in a series of posts about my recent road trip from San Antonio, TX, to Washington State. If you missed the previous four posts, they may be viewed here:

1 - In Which I Depart San Antonio and Encounter Hazardous Weather

2 - In Which I Find a Suitable Campsite and hike to 7,825 Feet

3 - In Which I Finally Get a Solid Meal and Escape the Snow

4 - In Which I Make it to Phoenix and Listen to a Tale of Exploration

February 5,

Last night I was blessed to enjoy the hospitality of some friends in Phoenix. This morning I headed out after a good breakfast and picked up Jonathan from the Phoenix airport. We headed towards Flagstaff and had smooth sailing up to Grand Canyon. We arrived around 2:30 and inquired at the Backcountry Information Center about the trail conditions on S. Kaibab Trail. The guy there told us that the trail was pretty much free of ice and snow, sunset was at 6:00, and the next shuttle would leave for the trailhead shortly. We hit the trail just before 3:30pm and needed to be back for the final shuttle at 6:50pm. They say that you should allow twice the time to ascend out of the canyon as you do to descend, so we decided to turn around at Cedar Ridge at 4:30pm. We jokingly said that we could “always just sprint out of the canyon” to make it in time. Um...yeah right. The elevation difference between the trailhead and Cedar Ridge was 1,000 feet, so we were definitely feeling it as we climbed out.

So far the day has been awesome...later we’ll go out and attempt some star photography at the campground (our tent is already set up). Tomorrow morning we need to head out pretty early to make it to Zion National Park in time to do some hiking (either Angel’s Landing or Observation Point if conditions permit). We’ll set up camp there and on Monday morning will drive two hours up to Bryce Canyon to enjoy some hiking there before we need to head out that evening.

Beard status - Fair. I think it feels un-loved though, on countless occasions I have assured it that it is a most welcome addition to my face and should feel free to grow and thrive. Apparently it remains unconvinced.