On a very warm Saturday morning, the Mrs. Ronaldo and I started our hike to Nada/Snow Lakes. On about the fourth switchback over the ridge above Icicle River, we encountered 5 mountain goats; momma, dad, and three young uns. The trail is snow free all the way way to Nada Lake. We decided Nada Lake was far enough for today's day hike. We were told by a party coming down that the trail about 3/4's of a mile from Snow Lakes is snow covered. I was surprised at how beautiful Nada Lake is, having been to the Enchantments myself, and with all the publicity about the Enchantments with little mention of this beautiful smaller lake. Although this is just a lake approaching the Enchantment area, it's definetly worth a hike there. The Temple towers over 4,000 feet above this pretty lake. Be aware though, that the bugs are really out in force. We were very thankful we had brought our ""bug suits"". The $25 investment in those suits has paid off more than once in saving our blood for ourselves! On the trip down, close to the Snow Creek Wall, we encountered another LARGE mountain goat on his way up the trail. We stepped aside and let him by. Be sure to carry lots of repellant and sunscreen, and be aware the forest is becoming an extreme fire hazard on this side of the mountains. BUGS!!

The trail is washed out at a couple of switchbacks, requiring some rock hopping. Spotty snow before the bridge over Snow Creek. More continuous past there. Nada Lake is almost fully melted out. Continuous, rotten snow from the upper end of Nada Lake - the steep slope up to Snow Lake was tricky becuase of constant breaking through. The dam between the snow lakes was melted out, and plenty of camp spots around both Nada and Snow Lakes can be found on bare dirt. Snow up Trauma Ridge to the lower Enchantments basin. Viviane and Naiad are almost entirely frozen still.

The Alpine Lakes - I actually had a permit for the 4th of July weekend in the Enchantments. We left on Thursday the 2nd of July. The weather was good, the trail was rough and a little overgrown to Snow, but not bad. There were some places in the rock fields that had to be scrambled around. Be prepared to cross the trail (dam trail') between the lakes with about 4-6 inches of running water (sometimes enough to go over the top of your boots). We camped at Snow and caught some Brook and Cutthroat Trout. The next day, 3rd July, from Snow up to Vivanne (1st Enchantment Lake) it was rough and a little muddy, but the cairns were pretty visible. The thunderstorm and hail made it a little scary because of the lack of cover. The crossing over the drainage of Vivianne was an old rotten log over running water--not a WTA style of bridge! From Vivianne, trail finding was a chore because of the snow and weather conditions--we could not find the cairns, but ended up finding Leprechaun Lake after a little while--and being pretty frightened from a very close lightning strike. We camped near Leprechaun and had a group of 6 goats (2 does, 2 yearlings and 2 kids) hang around for a while. Leprechaun was 50% frozen, Vivianne was 25% frozen, Perfection and above were pretty much frozen solid--but beautiful. Beware of ice bridges because the snow is melting fast. On the way down, things were not too bad until we hit a 2 day old mudslide over part of the Snow Lake trail. The rangers had been through and flagged the way, but it is still rather loose and difficult going. We hauled 4 bags of garbage down that the rangers had collected at Snow (because they had too much to haul it all out themselves!). Overall, it was a wonderful hike with spectacular scenery!

WTA crews worked on the Snow lake trail into the Enchantments over the weekend. Between the two days we built 120 drain-dips, each as big and wide as Rusty's mouth. That's big, real big. Campers on their way out reported at lot of snow falling at Snow lake.

Trail from Icicle Road trailhead all the way to Asgaard Pass 99% snow free. Cairns from Snow Lake up in good shape. All stream crossings easy except last 10 feet across Snow Lakes dam. Excellent camping on south shore upper Snow Lake, relatively near dam, and on peninsula in center of Leprechaun Lake. Lots of day hikers on lower and upper basin trail, mostly coming up Asgaard Pass. Magnificent country above Snow Lakes. Unfortunately, weather lousy- very wet. No trouble, however, with footing, even on exposed granite or at streams. For those who've never been to the area before, note that the nature of the trail changes substantially above Snow Lakes to lower basin: (even) steeper, lots of exposed granite, cairns vs clear trails, etc. None of the usual guidebooks mention this, but it's very striking and may make some hikers a little uncomfortable. Finally, kudos to rangers and volunteers for great trail work, plus the permit system really works! See you again.