Maple Pass Loop trail

North Cascades Maple Pass Loop hike - July 16, 2024

Well, sort of, actually the Maple Pass Loop trail was actually on US Forest Service land instead of in the National Park Service. As mentioned, this requires the Annual Interagency National Park Pass (or other pass that the NPS sells) or a $5 fee.

From our campground, it was about a 25 minute drive to the trailhead. We had no trouble getting a parking spot. I have seen others who note having to park 1 mile down the road and walk to the trailhead (starting the hike at 1:30pm). Seen from the trail and when leaving, there were a few cars on the road, but no one having to park that far away. I brought a lanyard to hang our pass on the rearview mirror, but with this car, you could not see it well. So, I moved it to the dashboard. Still in the lanyard, it almost melted into the dashboard. The NPS website for North Cascade, in the warning section, warned of car break in at parking along Hwy 20, saying to take all valuables and even all the cords for your electronics. We heeded the warning, so did not crack the windows to keep it cooler.

We grabbed everything for the hike, and the mosquitos were already out and about even in the parking lot. No restroom in this parking lot, so the restroom break back at the campsite had to last. I coated on bug spray and sunscreen, which since returning home, I saw an article that you are not supposed to put them both on at the same time. I believe that it recommended sunscreen and then 15 minutes later add bug spray. We both took our hiking poles.

We started about 7:30 am and finished about 12:30 pm. It was about 7 miles and 2000 ft elevation gain -- I saw different distances, and we did the Lake Ann turn off trail at 1 mile each way. It was recommended as easy, short, flat, and worth it, but I do not recommend it. There were a ton of mosquitos on the trail, making the side trip to Lake Ann as one of the two worst places for them. Also, the views of the lake from above were much better. The side trail may be better in the winter, but the view was very blocked by plants growing right next to the lake when we went. On the trail, I put on the bug head net and kept on until close to the bottom/start.

We hiked the main trail counter-clockwise, which was recommended on the internet. Though I was shocked/disappointed that there was a lot of uphill after what I thought was Maple Pass, thinking it was all downhill after the Pass. Maple Pass was the second heavily mosquito area; we stopped for a snack there. Travis said that we had to climb out of the Pass. Downhill was steep, so would have been steep uphill, if hiked the opposite direction, so I think still a good recommendation. Also, the views were supposed to be better going down if hiked counter-clockwise. It was pretty. Okay, some pictures.

Columbine flowers and Lake Ann from above. There was also some snow that looked like it fell from higher up the mountain by Lake Ann's banks. Then some amazing views. It was a very pretty trail.

Then we found the second lake, could see Rainy Lake from Maple Pass Loop, with snow up to it. You also see the trail back down. Some of the Rainy Lake trail was part of our trail down; it was paved. However, we did not do the trail. Now that I realize that this is Rainy Lake, we should have. On the hike, Travis's bird app identified a sooty grouse. We heard it going up and down at the lower elevations. Travis saw two weasels that I just saw/heard some movement but never found them. I did see a pika with a green stem in his mouth.

After Maple Loop, we went further east to Washington Pass and then on to Winthrop (a cut Old West Town) where we got some gas and ice cream. None of the parks had gas for sale (though Olympic does not have many roads through it where you will be inside the park for a long distance). The gas pumps were right on the main street with spinning dials/no credit card slot, so we had to go in to pay and get ice cream. In the picture is the big downhill road toward Winthrop and more on the haziness later.

After finishing in Winthrop, we went down Old Diablo Rd (at MP 127, not MP 128 like the park brochure said). This went over Diablo Dam as what looked like one lane at a time, though I saw two cars manage to pass. Others looked ahead and waited to keep it to one at a time.

I don't know what this did, but there was a train-like track for it to move the full length of the Diablo Dam (road on top).

Lastly, we went to the Ranger talk in Colonial Creek South Campground that I mentioned the walk earlier. He covered a range of topics. At first, he had about 5 little girls in bicycle helmets and walkie talkies to parents sitting in the front. They were very participatory. Then all just got up to leave in the middle. I guess they were called back to camp. He reacted as there goes his important audience :). He took questions at the end. During our Maple Loop hike, we overheard someone mention already seeing smoke from the fire. I guess it was hazy, but we really did not have any point of comparison. So, I mentioned this and asked if there was a fire and where. The fire was northeast of Stehekin (in the south portion of North Cascades); he said that area communities were at a level 1, not required to evacuate now. After the talk, we walked along the beach back to our campsite. Found some Canada geese with a juvenile and then all in a row.