Three Nights in The Enchantments
Just under 2/3 of the way up Aasgard Pass, I pulled my bite valve from my pack to have another few gulps of water, the stress of the climb in full sun and the high elevation finally catching up to me. After the first sip, the air bubbles started to mix in. “Oh nooooooo,” I turned to Nick, one of our trekking foursome. “I’m about to run out of water.” His reply? He was also running low. Aasgard Pass might be the last place you want to run out of water in the Cascades. Gaining nearly 2,000 feet of elevation in ¾ mile, it far exceeds my benchmark for a “strenuous” hike of 1,000 feet/mile. It’s the “shortcut” to The Enchantments, a gorgeous high plateau that would be our home for the next three nights. You’d break a sweat on the coldest day climbing Aasgard. What makes it worse is that there is a high flow stream almost right next to you. Getting to it (and back) safely? That wasn’t an option where we were. I looked at Nick, a man who has taken wilderness first responder