Alpine Lakes Wilderness

September 1997

I refer to this hike by several names. including Chatter Creek; Lake Edna; Frosty Creek; The Anti-Enchantments. Take your pick. It was a loop trip over a long Labor Day holiday weekend which began by climbing up the Frosty Creek drainage and ended by dropping down Chatter Creek outside of the town of Leavenworth Washington. In between the two creek drainages we explored the upper basin and lake region between Frosty Pass and Grindstone Mountain.

This general area near Leavenworth Washington is one that I’ve explored more than anywhere, except for perhaps, the North Cascades region near Marblemount WA. Throughout the late 1980’s and up to the mid-1990’s this region was the focus of many hikes. Ingalls Peak. The Enchantment Lakes. Windy Pass. Fourth of July Creek. Larch Lake…

The Chatter Creek and Frosty Creek trails meet at a high alpine basin beneath the peaks of Snowgrass and Grindstone Mountains. This area is across Icicle Creek and about 12 miles north of the more popular Enchantment Lakes region.

There were many lakes in this area with plenty of great camping spots. The local guidebooks talk of crowds swarming this area, but we found the area, other than a professor and his son from Virginia, relatively free of people and much to ourselves on the last summer weekend of the season…

I can’t recall which lakes are which in the accompanying photos but have made a pretty good guess. What I do recall were plenty of wide vistas from hiking mostly above the timberline.

I also recall being chased by a lightning storm, near Cape Horn, I believe. But much of the weekend was sunny and hot.

Unknown to me at the time, my 35mm lens was broken, so many of the photos are unintentionally blurry. But they are good enough for web work and give you an idea of what the region appears like.