Climbing to Colchuck Lake

In continued efforts of looking for larches, we planned a day hike to Colchuck Lake in the Central Cascades. Part of the Wenatchee National Forest, it was a 30 minute drive from the Leavenworth KOA where we were glamping.

In terms of hikes, Colchuck boasts 8.2 miles and 2300+ feet of elevation gain. In preparation for the adventure, continued reviews of the hike on All Trails were absorbed. Overwhelmingly it is expressed that the trailhead lot fills up fast and early. Particularly on the weekends.

“As if Colchuck Lake alone weren’t enough of a draw, it is one of the two gateways to the Enchantments, and the trailhead also accesses Stuart Lake, an easier and equally awesome destination.” - WTA

We had two nights to spend on this quick trip and bringing our pups wasn’t looking to be feasible, as Colchuck Lake is No-Go for dogs as a rule, but it was too long and too high of a climb for ours even if they had been allowed. We found our solution on Rover.com and a fantastic woman named Kirby. We hadn’t used the service before, but it puts you in touch with trusted people in the area to look after or look in on your fur babies. Kirby even sends pictures of their day.

After our 6 am drop off to Kirby the Pup Extraordinaire, we drove up and up to the Stuart Lake Trailhead. It was 14 miles to our destination, with the last 4 miles on a very steep, very rough gravel road. We saw a Honda Civic successfully navigate it, but it wouldn’t have been our preference. Clearance felt prudent.

We got to the trailhead at 6:30 am. There is designated parking for the day hikers and additional parking for the overnight Enchantment hikers. We had some parking options, on account of our Monday timing. It was o’darkthirty still aaaaaand 30 degrees. This girl did not pack for cold. We opted to wait for the soon to be rising sun for obvious light reasons and a hopeful upward turn in temperature. It also gave me some more time to see if my coffee would kick in before the hike.

7:15 showed up with daylight, no heat, and us (me) having to grin and bear it. With our necessary Northwest Forest Pass displayed, we headed for the registration and information board. We were to complete a free day pass with our travel details/names and then deposit half of it in the registration box.

The first 2 miles of the hike are through dense forest and frequently take you along crystal clear streams varying in speed between natural dams. We remarked multiple times during this first portion of the hike on how much more we enjoyed the elevation gain than our previous day at Lake Clara. I had studied the elevation chart. It looked very steep, but very steady to our destination. Really I was just very wrong.

"After you cross over this creek on a log bridge, the trail becomes considerably steeper and rockier (good foreshadowing for the latter half of this butt-kicking hike!)." - Uprooted Traveler Great account of mile by mile of this trail!

After mile 2, the trail starts to kick it in gear. There’s some rock scrambling, minimal, but I wouldn’t attempt this without some good traction. Mile 2-3 had us working, but we took our time and stepped aside for the more serious fitness levels.

Mile 3 was where we figured out that this gain was not a joke and it did not stop. I swear the elevation chart gave us a level off and I can tell you I gave us a countdown to it. At mile 4 of a 4.1 to destination I was doing the “oh that must be it!”. It was not it and I said that for many more tenths.

Alas we reached the reward, as we knew we would. Colchuck Lake sits beneath Dragontail and Colchuck Peaks increasing the dramatic reveal to the main attraction. The sun was still rising when we found our lunch spot on the shore. As it rose it changed the waters from deep shades of blue to the prettiest of aquas. It surely was worth the climb. There were just a few yellow spots in the distance. We were too early at this elevation to see the larches.

We stayed for a lunch hour among the abundance of chipmunks. It’s pretty phenomenal how some stripes and a fluffy tail has me feel totally different with a small critter running right up near me. It was a short climb back out of the lake. Water level being low, we had been sitting in a high spot mid lake for our meal.

I’m going to keep the bitching to a minimal, except sharing that I couldn’t be happier with our choice to bring trekking poles, down is worse than up, this is when my coffee kicked in, and what in the f$&k happened to my knees? Back to the poles, these are part of my must haves. Think having a mobile handrail up and down stairs (or a safety rail if you‘re a rock and root kicker like me).

This one was a big one for us. Definitely type 2 fun. The experience was worthwhile, the challenge was met, and the calories were burned. Accomplishing feelings abound and off to Leavenworth we headed for an Oktoberfest libation and giant pretzel.