In our beloved Alpine Lakes Wilderness, there is a small region called Enchantment Lakes, considered the most beautiful mountain valley in the area. Pale granite, countless lakes connected by little streams and waterfalls, golden larches in autumn, and all sorts of flowers in spring. And mountain goats.
The Enchanted Lakes got heavily promoted, became famous and popular, and, as a result, started receiving an abnormal-for-the-area number of visitors. Naturally, restrictions followed, so the place wouldn’t get trampled, trashed, and generally loved to death. I learned about Enchantment Lakes in 2014, and even then, to visit during the season from April 15 to October 15 and spend the night, you had to win a permit in the lottery (which is no small feat). A couple of years later, the permit season was expanded even further. You can also hike in there for a day, but it’s a very athletic endeavor and leaves practically no time for taking pictures.
We visited Enchantment Lakes outside the permit season in fall 2014 and spring 2015. Then we were invited to join a friend’s permit in summer 2016 (you can see all our trips to the area under the Enchantment Lakes tag), and after that we pretty much stopped looking in the direction of those lakes. On the one hand, we don’t particularly enjoy all the complicated lottery business. On the other hand, the Enchanted Lakes are certainly beautiful, but there are plenty of gorgeous lakes throughout the Alpine Lakes area that don’t require paid permits, lotteries, or hordes of people. That’s what we love about them.
But then, quite unexpectedly, we were invited to join another friend’s permit. Larch season was just beginning, it was Indian summer, and we had wonderful company. You don’t turn down an offer like that. So, ten years later, we found ourselves back at the Enchanted Lakes.
As it turned out, we’d forgotten how long the road to Nada Lake is — we thought it was much closer. 🙂
At Snow Lake, we camped at our favorite spot, at the far end of the lake.
And the upper lakes, as usual, were gorgeous. We were there on a Monday, so there weren’t many people. Not as few as we like (none), but genuinely not many. Larch season had only just begun, and most of the larches were still yellow-green. It was sunny and warm. Beautiful.
I’m not going to label the names — we’re just wandering around the upper lakes.
Moss in a stream
Interestingly, in spring 2015, when we hiked straight through Enchantment Lakes from Snow Lake to Colchuck Lake, we encountered 14 mountain goats (yes, I love them, and I am always ridiculously happy to see them). There were at least as many in summer 2016. This time, though, we saw only three — one formidable-looking male and a mother with a kid (I’ll show the goats separately).
Then again, in fall 2014, on our very first trip to the lakes, we didn’t see any goats either, although we’d encountered goats elsewhere in the Alpine Lakes in autumn.
So now I’m wondering: is this simply seasonal, or have there actually been fewer goats around? If it’s the latter, that’s sad.
