backpacking the enchantments.

heyyyyyyyy.

this trip happened back in june when summer was just upon us!

i had several perdy photos from my phone so i still wanted to share them here :)

pete won the enchantments lottery for this particular area - eightmile lake and lake caroline (if you’re not from washington, the enchantments are a big region of mountains and the most gorgeous alpine lakes that are only accessible via a lottery system that people enter in every year to be able to go hiking & camping there). we brought tom dad with us for the four-day journey. he did so great (better than me, lol). 65 and strong as an ox.

we weren’t placed in the “core enchantments” that are the most primo spot to win, but an area just outside of the core that was still beautiful as ever.

once we got up here, we totally understood the need for the lottery system. if these areas were just regular ol’ hikes accessible to all the humans at all times, they would not be nearly as pristine and amazing as they are!

we hiked in to eightmile lake for the first night of camping. it rained just a little bit, but it was fine. the next morning when we woke up we saw the lake in all it’s daytime glory. sooo pretty.

we hung here for a bit, enjoyed the sunshine, made brekky, & the boys tried to catch some fish.

then we packed everything back into our backpacks and carried on to lake caroline. this was a challenging, long hike, but totally doable if you’re a regular hiker. i’m just a weenie when there’s lots of hot sun - i get hot & bothered pretty quickly. the cooler weather is just much easier for me to hike in.

this reminded me of the italian alps or something! i’d wished we’d come upon a cozy mountain shack with cheese and salami to munch on, haha. so gorgeous here!

the wildfires that happen in eastern washington are no joke. you can see all the fire damage here from the previous years’ fires.

almost there almost there almost there.

just give me sleeping bag, get me horizontal, some astronaut food in my bellay, that tiny box of wine i carted up this mountain, please!

my friend billy!!!!! he was cool. i was not skerred of him at all. he was a big ass mountain goat, though.

we camped at lake caroline for two nights and had a great time doing shorter hikes during the day, attempting to catch fish, reading, and chillin. pete and tom hiked way way way up one day and got some incredible photos. i opted to snooze in the tent in the sunshine and read and hang out with my bff billy.

^ check out the wildlife. all the snow white vibes.

big goat, two deer, marmots and chipmunks abound.

as with every hike down, we talked about cheeseburgers and beer the entire way after 4 days of astronaut food and trail mix. we left the wilderness just as a torrential downpour hit the trailhead and an army of mosquitos appeared out of nowhere. perfect timing, i say.

simply stunning up here!!! if you get the opportunity to explore the enchantments, do it!

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backpacking the enchantments.

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