We got up very early to enter the Enchantment Lakes lottery. These Lakes are very carefully regulated; to ensure yourself a permit you have to place a reservation months in advance no matter what time of year it is. But they do reserve a small number of permits to give away every morning. This morning worked out well; there were exactly the same number of contestants as permits. We did not score very well so we had to stay at the Snow Lakes instead of going all the way up to the Enchantments. This was ok with me since it is an exhausting 10 miles and 4500 vertical feet from the parking lot just to the lower Enchantments.

The enjoyable hike to the Snow Lakes was through forests without many views. The first part follows Snow Creek up to Nada Lake. A good portion of this was burned up in a forest fire, so we got some views of the Icicle Creek valley. Nada lake was very pretty; I remember relishing a protein bar on its banks. After a little more uphill we arrived at the Snow Lakes. We hiked most of the way around the upper one looking for a campsite. This was a bit frustrating, as we were in dense, dark pines and the trail turned knobby and rough. We finally located a pleasent spot set back from the banks of the lake.

The water level looked very low; perhaps 20 feet below the high mark. We learned that this lake was some kind of reservior, probably related to the fish hatchery that operates near the start of the hike. It was very cold at night.