I had tried Enchantment peak several times prior to this. Once I was going to combine it with McClellan and Little Annpurna for an extra long day out, but my legs just were not having it. Then I tried once in early spring, but the snow was a mess and I just could not make the scrambling work (safely at least). So this time, during summer, TrailCutter wanted to run through the whole enchantments for the day. I thought I would take the opportunity to wear a nice light pack and make a trail run attempt at Enchantment peak.
After we split in the parking lot and both headed off at our own pace for the day I was able to make quick work of running the first 4 miles to Colchuck lake and arrived just as the sun was creeping up on the lake.
Aasgard pass, as usual, was one of the big pain points for the day. As much as I was trying to run up the entire thing I kept slipping and rolling around on the loose rock. I decided to slow down significantly after I hopped up onto a small stone and it shot out from underneath me and then rolled viciously down the pass.
There were a few other people working their way up already and they were showering everyone below with a continuous stream of rock. They were not warning anyone that the rocks were coming and I witnessed several people almost get taken out. Some of us were doing our best to scream rock every time we saw one coming.
At one point several large rocks (basketball size) came careening down the Aasgard pass. Several of us screamed “Rock!” when we saw it heading towards a girl. Instead of moving, she wildly flailed her arms around her face as if magic was going to save her. Luckily nothing hit her…
After topping out on Aasgard pass, there are two ways to climb up Enchantment peak. The first is to head further down into the Enchantments basin, go all the way to Prussik pass, and then head up the ridgeline to the Summit of Enchantment peak.
For the inclined, however, there is also a scramble route that leaves directly between lake Reginleif and lake Sigrun. I chose this route to avoid needing to walk all the way around the peak before climbing it.
When I took this route in spring on a prior attempt, the snow was easy to punch through and several times my leg got caught in between rocks. I jammed my ankles, cut myself open several times, and had a miserable time. I ended up turning around when I was near the summit plateau due to some of the rock being iced over. If you come in spring, go to Prussik pass.
From what I had read the actual scramble route to the summit was class 2-3. But I encountered several spots where the exposure was quite high. There were good handholds so I might only call it a class 3-4 scramble. But for those disinclined by height, I would suggest taking the easier path to Prussik pass.
My favorite part of the climb was heading back down. There was an unusual number of goats lining the basin. Momma goats were leading their babies through the crowd of hikers. Others were sunbathing in the snow. One was even laying in the shade on my way down Aasgard pass. I am used to seeing one or two up here, but this time was quite the experience.
The ridge scramble across Enchantment peak was the hardest part of the day. The summit block was easy to scramble up and I was a bit underwhelmed by the overall climb. McClellan is a funner scramble, the single-day run at Colchuck and Dragontail is far more challenging, and the views from Mount Stuart are unparalleled in the area. Unless you are going for the Bulger peaks, I would suggest one of those for a much more memorable trip.
