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Tag Archives: hike

Maple Pass Hike

The Maple Pass/Heather Pass loop hike may be one of the best, easily accessible fall hikes in the North Cascades. The fall foliage colors are outstanding. Combined with endless blue skies and surrounding mountain peaks and throw in a couple of brilliant tarns and it is sure to take your breath away.

My friend Cindy drove 2 1/2 hours to join me and all along the hike she kept saying – look at that, isn’t that just the prettiest sight. She was right. We did this seven-mile loop in a clockwise direction. This took us up the steepest part and down the more gradual sloping trail. We find that this is better for our feet, ankles and knees. Most other hikers went the other direction. We heard lots of pikas and got good looks at one of them. At the top of the ridge, a dark falcon went whizzing by us at top speed. It was so close we could almost feel the wing beats.

This is a lot of images. You should see what I left out!

Mountain ash
Climbing
Oh, it’s SO beautiful!
Lake Ann, one of two small mountain tarns we saw along the way
Red huckleberry foliage along the trail.
Ice crystals that emerge from the ground on cold nights.
Western larch needles. Larch is the only conifer I know that loses its needles every year.
Views, views, and more views.
See the tiny pika on the rock? Pika is the smallest member of the rabbit family. They live in talus fields like this and gather dry grasses, making little hay piles under the rocks, to eat in the winter.
You can see the downhill part of the trail above Lake Ann
The last stretch to the top
We walked up all those switchbacks.
Glacier Peak in the distance
Like being on top of the world!
Perfect lunch time view
And it was National Black Dog Day!
Already going downhill. The elevation slips away quickly on the downhill side.
Even Sky seems impressed by the color
The trail up was just on the other side of that ridge.
Last light on the peaks.
Still Smiling!

Blue Lake This Week

It seems crazy to have two posts in a row about hiking to Blue Lake. And what if I said that I’d been there another time in between these two hikes? Getting to the Blue Lake trailhead is an easy drive, all on pavement and the trail is not too long – less than three miles – to a superb destination. It’s pretty heavily used but if you time it right, it is a sweet spot.

Highway 20 to the west of us had been closed due to a wildfire at Newhalem in the North Cascades National Park. That meant that most of the traffic across Rainy and Washington Passes was non-existent! Ken wanted to go this weekend and even though I’d already been there twice in the last two weeks, it seemed like a good idea. Weather had moderated and our lives were returning to normal as the wildfires burning all around us were becoming contained. The highway opened while we were hiking.

It seemed too chilly to have her in the water very much. She was disappointed.
Stuff grows out of rocks
More stuff growing out of a rock
Stuff grows out of old wood
What is she saying to me?
Chipmunks on her mind
Smaller larches are already changing color
Fall
I like this rock
Last flowers
Willow gall
Fireweed
Fireweed
Two trees had fallen over the trail in this weekend’s heavy wind storm
Baby grouse at the trailhead as I arrived at the parking lot
Grouse – Dusky or Sooty? I think Sooty.

Blue Lake Two Weeks Ago

On a Sunday, two weeks ago Marcy and I decided to take a late afternoon hike to Blue Lake. The parking lot was overflowing with cars but we managed to find a spot at the trailhead. We had timed it so that people were leaving as we were arriving. All the way up, folks were walking down and when we got to the lake, we had the place to ourselves. Sky was ecstatic to jump in the water repeatedly and I was happy she wasn’t bothering anyone with all her commotion. It was a warm day but we were there late enough that the sun dipped behind the rocky crags above us and it cooled off quickly.

It was a nice diversion from all the news about this summer’s wildfires. Just three days later the Twisp River fire broke out and our lives were pushed back into the tumult of evacuations and uncertainty.

Gray Jay otherwise known as camp robber

Cedar Creek Falls

I should have been working today but my boss (me) gave me the day off for fun and exercise. Too much time in front of the computer is not good for any of us. You do know that, don’t you?

MA suggested the Cedar Creek Falls trail near Mazama. I’ve only hiked it once before and remembered it as being dusty and at the falls I never got a good view. I think it must have been earlier in the summer with higher water because today we easily got to the top of the falls and the cascades and with some effort, we were able to get to the bottom of one of the tall waterfalls. It looked like there was another below us but it was steep and we didn’t want to let the dogs get close to it. It was worth the dust and horse poop on the trail. The cool mist off the falls felt really refreshing! I wish I could bottle that feeling to use for the rest of the summer.

For these photos I was using a gorillapod tripod and Lumix super zoom camera. Not the best gear for moving water but it worked.

Part of the upper cascades
Looking down over the edge of the tall waterfall
These yellow flowers were growing out of the cliff to the right of the falls.
All of us in one photo!

Mountain Summertime

If I could I’d be up in the mountains most of the summer. But that’s not practical. There’s work to do, a house and yard to keep up, and various other commitments in this life. Yesterday I played hooky from the computer taskmaster and headed to one of my favorite places – Slate Peak. I’ve made up my own hike and returned to it each year in mid-summer. Combining two trails, a bit of a cross-country climb and a walk down on a road I’ve come up with a nearly four-mile loop hike through the high Cascades of northern Washington. Last summer Mary from Montana joined me on this hike and you can see images from that day here. As you can see, it’s vastly different this year. Even accounting for the two week difference in dates the differences are huge. Yesterday there was no snow. Anywhere. Most of the little creeks are already dry. The wildflowers are far less numerous.

Here are the images from yesterday’s hike.

Down that steep talus slope, across the basin, up to the ridge to the next trail and then up to Slate Peak. Follow the road on the other side of the ridge back to the car.
Quit fooling with your pack and let’s get going!
Slate Peak
Oh gosh, she’s making another picture!
Looks like we’ve already gone a long way.
Gentian is one of my favorite wildflowers
I don’t know this one.
I used to know this one.
Paintbrush. There are so many variations in this colorful wildflower.
Paintbrush
Paintbrush
Painbrush
Painbrush
Mouse on a stick
Another one I’ve forgotten
Pretty umbel flower
Late for columbine
Pink monkeyflower
Normally this monkeyflower would bloom over a creek. This creek bed is dry
Downstream a few tiny pools for animals to get a drink
Waiting in the shade while I work my way slowly up to the ridgetop
This Common Raven has learned that people like to eat their lunch at the lookout
Sky thought she could put a sneak on raven
Raven simply unfolded her wings and was instantly airborne
Mount Baker, a semi-active volcano near Bellingham
Layers of mountains in the North Cascades
You can see a tiny view of Glacier Peak here. It’s another of our volcanic mountains.
North to Canada
Upper end of the Pasayten River which flows north into Canada
On the left you can see remnants of 100 year old gold mining operations
And looking down valley towards Winthrop you can see smoke from the Wolverine wildfire on the shore of Lake Chelan.