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Can we talk about shortening day 3 of the Enchantments loop after a ranger at the Leavenworth station set me straight?
I stopped by the ranger station in Leavenworth 3 weeks ago to grab a permit info sheet and got chatting with a ranger named Dana about my planned 4 day route. She asked where I planned to camp the third night and when I said the far side of Crystal Lake she just shook her head and pulled out a topo map. Turns out the stretch past Inspiration Lake is mostly loose scree and my 14 mile day would've turned into a 9 hour slog with a 35 lb pack. I rerouted to camp at Snow Lakes instead and it saved my knees. Has anyone else had a ranger point out a section their guidebook totally skipped over?
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bennett.claire20d ago
Man, rangers are awesome but sometimes they make stuff sound worse than it is. I've done that stretch past Inspiration and yeah it's rocky, but people haul 35 pound packs through way worse all the time without their knees falling apart. Not saying Snow Lakes was a bad call, just that a 14 mile day turning into 9 hours sounds pretty normal for the Enchantments honestly.
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