THE ENCHANTMENTS, WA
Places to Stay
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We stayed in this area for 1 night and it was our first night in our campervan. We were total rookies and tried to disperse camp but didn't really have luck finding a good spot, or a campground that had availability. So, we literally pulled over on the side of one of the nearby roads and called it home. At first it was weird, but we were right next to a river with fresh water that ended up being super beneficial for us.
We filled up our tumblers, our solar powered shower, and even took advantage of the fresh water for brushing our teeth (to save our own sink water)
It was kind of nice to eat dinner alongside the river. Very peaceful sounds and ended up being a really nice night. Although this may not help you, keep in mind that when you are camping with no real "home" each night, you just have to wing it and make the best of it :)
Things to Do​
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• Hike!
We chose to hike the "The Enchantments", in the Leavenworth area of Washington, and did the "Eightmile Lake" hike. This hike was about 6.6 miles round trip and took about 4 hours to complete start to finish. (Takes a little over 3 miles to reach the lake). I wouldn't call it easy, but I wouldn't call it hard either. Overall it was a really amazing hike that I totally would recommend. The views the entire time were really incredible, and then the ending result is just breathtaking (photographed above). The part I liked most about this hike is that you were on the outskirts of the forest so you really did have a view the entire time, and weren't confined between trees in the woods.
Make sure you have the proper hiking gear and bring lots of snacks and water!! & sunscreen if you're hiking in the warmer months. We came during the month of July.
The cool thing about this hike was that we hit rivers and streams throughout the journey too, allowing us to refill our tumblers with fresh water, and also splash ourselves to stay cool.
To get to this trailhead you do have to drive up a road that is complete rocks and pebbles. Extremely difficult to drive on and you'll have to go like 5-10 miles an hour for about 20 minutes.
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Once you get to the top you'll find parking and public bathrooms ("Toilets" are available throughout your hike but as you can tell from my photo above, they are not your typical "bathroom", haha!)
Once you park, there is an area in which you can purchase your "day pass" for $5. (You have to purchase this in order to continue with your hikes). There is no person that necessarily gives this pass to you but you must fill out the forms at the nearby information booth/stand and put your cash into the box. This is pretty common I found when visiting parks and doing hikes. It's right next to the trailhead so you can't miss it, and instructions on what needs to be done are pretty clear.
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I'd categorize this hike as one of my top 3 favorites. From start to finish I loved everything about it. It was a good amount of easy, strenuous, beautiful, challenging, lengthy, and satisfying. Note - During your hike you will come across a pond. This pond is dirty and there's nothing to see here. I'm mentioning this because this is NOT "the lake". Keep on hiking and you'll know when you hit the official "Eightmile Lake" and all its beauty :)
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Once we arrived we found a nice little spot as close as we could get to the lake where we could have a chance to feel the water. We even put our feet in (felt amazing after our hike!) We couldn't do much more then that though because it was FREEZING cold. We hung out here for a while and had our lunch, snacks, and enjoyed some relaxation with a view!
Washington is such a gorgeous place with unbelievable sites. Although there are a bunch of hikes within "The Enchantments", I'd say this one seemed to be one of the best all around.