When the Larch Turn Gold

Every autumn, the alpine larches of Washington's Enchantment Lakes Basin turn to gold, and for 60 consecutive years, first Bill and Peg Stark and later Greg and Kathi Shannon return to witness the brief, glowing miracle: Golden Week.

In 1959, the Starks first visited the now-famous Enchantment Lakes, one of the most breath-taking landscapes in the Cascade Mountains. They named many of the features and fought to preserve the ancient basin. In the 1980s, they introduced the Shannons to the Enchantments, and the journey will call them year after year, regardless of forest fires and rockslides, wild weather and illness, shaping the lives of the two couples in unexpected and profound ways.

For Kathi, the annual pilgrimage grows harder as she battles a debilitating illness that remains undiagnosed for years-and ultimately leads the Shannons to both loss and gratitude during their final high-country pilgrimages.

An evocative memoir grounded in the wild heart of the Pacific Northwest, WHEN THE LARCH TURN GOLD is a love letter to nature and friendship.