More about Enchantment

In the bigger scheme of things the universe is not asking us to do something, the universe is asking us to be something. And that’s a whole different thing.

Lucile Clifton

I was not surprised when my post about the desecration of the Enchantments last week resulted in many comments and horrific emojis, typically accompanied by the question, “Who would do such a thing?” I attempted to answer that question, not successfully, for everyone I talk to on the trail denies ever leaving behind trash and poop in these beautiful sacred areas.

There are of course more questions to be asked, the most important one being, “What can we do about it?” Increased Forest Service oversight would of course help. Having a full time ranger in the valley would create a presence that likely would decrease the most blatant abuses. Now that we are in the midst of a government shutdown that partial solution is not likely to occur. The number of Forest Service rangers in the area has already been cut from eleven to one, so the solution lies somewhere else.

The Forest Service and the Chelan County Sheriff are considering closing the gate that allows hikers to make the four-and-a-half mile trip to the Enchantments in a single day. This would not actually close the area, since there is another longer and steeper route to get there, but it would definitely decrease the number of day hikers and thus decrease the amount of trash. An eighteen mile round trip hike is not doable for most of them. Hikers can, of course, scramble over the gate if they wish. This solution would require increased enforcement to ensure that does not happen, and such enforcement is exactly what is lacking these days.

There is another solution that nobody likes, including me. Lock it up. Close the area to all hikers from both directions. We are rapidly reaching the point where the damage becomes irreversible. Graffiti on rocks, for example, requires volunteers to chip away at the rock to remove it. The trampled paths in the fragile meadows take years to replenish the flowers that once grew there. Coliform bacteria in the lakes from human feces may never go away. And nearby communities such as the great tourist town of Leavenworth are at risk of illegal fires spreading beyond the Enchantments to destroy homes and businesses, perhaps even entire towns. It has happened in California. It could happen here. The closure could last only a year or two, maybe longer if necessary, then reopen with limited numbers allowed by permit only. Once again, this tentative solution is probably not realistic. Hikers will oppose it. Local tourist venues will oppose it, and again we come up against the challenges of enforcement.

The only real and lasting solution is to change the mindset of the people who hike there. This is yet another impossible solution. After all, everyone denies ever having littered or leaving behind piles of poop on exposed rocks. What then?

At my home in northeastern Washington I am presently over a hundred miles from the Enchantments. The nearest wilderness area to my home is the Pasayten, probably about seventy-miles from where I live in the Okanogan Highlands. But on this beautiful Sunday morning with its blue sky I sit here at my laptop with my cup of tea and look outside at the yard where my dogs run about happily, and I love the world. It is that simple. Anyone who loves the world, as I do, cannot possibly toss plastic bottles on the ground, nor poop on exposed rocks, nor trample wildflowers in the meadow.

If you do not love the world as I do look around you. It will not take long. It is all there for you, a world where the needles on the larch trees are celebrating the brilliance of a fall day, where the tall pines are drifting lazily in the wind. It is all there for you. Pay attention. Love the world. You will find it enchanting.