This was a trip for the books! Spent 3 spectacular days in the enchantments after our group pulled a permit for snow lake camping on Labor Day weekend. Perfect weather save for some late night thunderstorms on 8/31 which were thankfully weren't impacted by. Went up into the core 9/1 for some world class views and memories to last a lifetime. On 9/2 we made our return decent down snow lakes trail and that was when I discovered someone's small platinum ring lying in the dust on the trail (see picture attached). Has an inscription with dates and the names Yumna & Osman 5-19-12. I'd love to return it to it's rightful owner, so if it's yours, please comment with what the full inscription says and I'll connect with you to return it. 

The other side of The Enchantments; Snow Lakes. 

Less traveled. Less people. More solitude. Longer, steeper parts of the trail. 

On the way down from thru-hiking, the trail seemed endless. Although, the trail conditions were slightly plus or minus on the comfortably side, it was an easy eight miles back to the trailhead. Just long. I called it "the easy eight". 

When the switchbacks start, you'll be closer than ever to ending this 21 mile journey. You'll see a beacon of hope- flashing red lights on the radio towers high up on the hills. Bugs flutter and swarm your head lamp. Bug will fly into your mouth, into your eyes, buzz your ears with their ever piercing sound of their wings. They will bounce off your cheek bones and forehead. 

With every step, you'll get closer and closer to the trailhead. 

"Rattlesnake in bush- 8/24/25 7:19pm"

We starred intently at the little paper sign stuck in the ground affixed to a wire post. Then we looked at each other, headlamps blinding us. 

"Let's just keep moving." I muttered. 

To me, the Snow Lakes aren't anything special. Shores lined with tents and campers, forest inundated with dead and down. It was just a typical trail through another government owned land. 

Once on the bridge, the journey was over. Reality set in. Back to work, back to jobs, home life, family, etc. 

But no more foot pain. 

There are no words capable of expressing the beauty of this hike, so I’ll forgo describing the scenery and stay practical. This was my second time doing the through-hike from Stuart Lake to Snow Lakes; thankfully, it went much more smoothly than the first.

Everyone has their own methods, but here are some things that worked for me:

• Cairns are your friends – follow them! Multiple times, I called out to people ahead that they’d missed a turn. More likely, the first person missed it and ten tired strangers blindly followed. Even when you’re tired and in a rush – especially then! – find a cairn, walk to it, stop. Find the next one, walk to it, stop. Do not walk blindly and do not follow other people. Out there, cairns are better friends than your friends are!
• Budget time, food, and water. Get to know yourself during training hikes, make estimates, and then regularly check your pace so you can adjust early if needed.
  1. Time: aim for daylight, but bring a headlamp! Last time, I did two hours in the dark. This time: to Colchuck: 2 hours. To base of Aasgard: 1 hour. To top of Aasgard: 2 hours. Total, I averaged 1.3 mph to Viviane (including steps above). Then, I booked it as fast as my stumbling legs would allow, ending at 1.6 mph overall. 12 hours total with 3 hours of daylight to spare. Physically, I don’t think I could have done it any faster, though on other long, strenuous, scenic hikes, I average 2 to 2.5 mph.
  2. Food: I snack once an hour; I don’t wait to get hungry. Something small, but something – jerky, trail mix, apple, or granola bar. This hike was so challenging and so gorgeous that I’d blink and an hour and half had gone by. I had to intentionally remind myself to eat.
  3. Water: again, I was so tired and amazed, I had to make a conscious effort to drink water at a healthy pace. Figure out on training hikes how much water your body needs, and make sure it gets that amount. Water is everywhere but the final 3 miles or so – the hardest, slowest miles. If you still have daylight, they are in hot sunshine, so stock up.

• Use your hands: lots of people started Aasgard with poles in hand; no one was using them by the top. When it’s that steep, loose gravel is extremely slippery; you kick small rockslides onto the people below you. Bigger rocks are easier to climb. You will often need your hands for leverage, both on uphill and downhill boulders through the last lake. Goats use all four hooves; channel your inner goat. 😊
• Swallow your pride. Savor the few flat sections… at top speed. You’ll need time for rough terrain. Pass when you can, even if you know they’ll pass you later. Don’t waste time going slowly when you have capacity to go faster, and don’t push yourself past a safe point when you need to stop. Even strangers up there are cheering each other on!
• This trail is HARD. I ran into many chiseled athletes with tiny backpacks, surprised at how little of this trail they could run. Aasgard is famous, but the long, steep climb from Viviane to Snow to Nada is a rocky scramble, too. Even the rare flat parts are full of trip hazards, as evidenced by many skinned knees, including my own. Being in excellent shape for other sports does not mean this trail will be easy for you!

 Here are some things that I would do differently next time:

• Take the 4 AM shuttle: dim beginnings of daylight began just before five. On the 5 AM shuttle, I actually hit the trail at 5:49 AM. I’d love that extra bit of daylight on the back end, if only for reassurance.
• Cut it sliiightly closer on the daylight: now that I know I’m capable of making up time at the end (painful, but possible), I’d like to pick a lake and relax for an hour. Maybe Perfection, with that large shallow section that might slightly warm, or maybe Snow Lakes, right before the final push.

 Other standard trip report notes:

• Road: paved to Snow Lakes; long, winding, and potholed up to Stuart Lake.
• Trailhead: at 4:20 AM, the Snow Lakes lot was packed, plus 30+ cars on the road. Stuart was overflowing even more.
• Bathrooms: clean and stocked at Snow Lakes, dirty and 3 rolls of TP at 5:45 AM at Stuart. Stuart Lake trailhead is huge, but has one stall. The fifteen-minute line was annoying, but it was the stoplight on a highway onramp: five shuttle vans full of hikers arrived at once, but we didn’t crash into each other as we hit the trail. Lots of trail pit toilets; those I used were in decent shape.
• Bugs: surprisingly not an issue! No bug spray, and only 4-5 bites. Partly cloudy with a bit of a breeze; maybe that helped. I also didn’t stop much.
• Trail condition: cairns were dependably placed! Big relief. Blowdowns between Viviane and Nada, but all navigable. Stone footbridge between Snow Lakes, above ankle-deep two years ago, was bone-dry. Water levels looked low, but I wonder if the outflow got concentrated elsewhere. Later I passed a waterfall, roaring and crackling, like a fire station had combined all its hoses into one.

Thank you for reading this extremely long report! In summary – this is the most beautiful, exhausting hike I’ve ever done. If life next year allows for the training I was able to do this year, I would love to make it up there again.

This area is breathtaking AND FRAGILE. Please take care.

Ours was a 5-day backpack from Snow Lakes TH, entering on July 22 and exiting on July 26. We had the privilege of a camping permit to savor the gorgeous place and the gift of time to acclimatize to the higher altitude before climbing up into the Core Zone.

BEAR: We admired a black bear at 1 mi below Nada Lake. "Brownie" was about 150 feet away from us. Do you know what to do when you encounter a black bear?

GOATS: They seek out the salt in urine so, hikers, please pee well *off* the trail. It's harder to continue on the trail when goats are in the middle of trail licking and licking and licking. 

FIRE: As you hike, note the location of the sign saying "campfires are prohibited beyond this point." No campfires are allowed, not even at the Nada Lake Day Use area. Also, there is a fire ban right now.

TRAIL:

• Especially around Upper Snow, watch out for staubs, which our group calls "stumplets." Staubs are a small protrusion of tree root or stump which is not easy to see and is sufficient to cause you to trip and fall. When the trail was initially built, roots were not exposed. Saplings had been cut down all the way to the soil level (or even slightly lower).  Many years of erosion from hikers has now exposed staubs up to 7" tall.
• From Upper Snow to Lake Vivian, rebar has been kindly installed to provide traction on the smooth slabs of rock. If you are off trail and not following the cairns, you may miss the rebar.

PIT TOILETS:

• They are in various states of disrepair. Watch out for the occasional nail sticking out. Be gentle with the lid and try not to add damage. Cover the open hole as completely as possible before you leave. In some cases, this simply means closing the lid. In other cases, the lid is now in multiple pieces and you'll need to carefully arrange the planks of wood. 
• All that we used had room to spare. None were full. 

MUTUAL AID: I helped a through-hiker fill his water bottle with my water filter since he had lost his. We provided First Aid to a hiker who had fallen and bloodied her nose. We met a generous Trail Angel who gave us fresh fruit, OJ, donuts, and ice up the trail on Saturday as we were hiking out. That ice also helped the hiker who had just received First Aid. 

Overall, the trail was in good condition and easy to follow. There is a rock slide around mile 5 that requires climbing over boulders with hands and feet but you can easily find the trail again. There are also a couple of trees across the trail but I only had to crawl under one, the rest I could climb over or go around.

I saw 3 mountain goats on the trail. One of them seemed a bit stubborn and kept walking towards me so I had to scare him off but otherwise it was pretty magical to see them up close. I did catch a glimpse of a bear off the trail on the way back down but didn't stick around long enough to get a close look. 

This trail is hot and exposed during this time of year but the waterfalls and rivers are flowing so plenty of water along the way.

The thimble berries are ALMOST ripe, I got to taste of few but most were still pretty green.