As fall arrived and hiking season neared its end, the larches began to turn gold. This is one of the perks of social media - I checked the hashtag #larchmadness almost daily to check the status of these trees. I have wanted to hike to see the larches since 2014, and this was the year I was going to make it happen.
The Heather-Maple Pass Loop in the North Cascades is one of my favorite trails, which we had hiked back in 2014 when we first moved here. We set out to the trailhead at 7:00 am, arriving around 10:00 am. We set out on the trail surrounded by blazing fall colors with tiny flakes of snow beginning to fall.
We did the trail counter-clockwise, which I would advise because the peak is not in the middle of the loop. This way makes the first stretch of your trip longer but less steep -- the way down is steeper but shorter. You get incredible views either way. We were extra glad we didn't go up the steep way on this day because the snow started to come down hard and we didn't have any traction devices.
By the time we got near the top, we were in near white-out conditions. Luckily it was not too cold, because we were soaked by the heavy snow. We decided to keep going since we were nearing the halfway point anyway.
When we reached the top, we basically snapped a photo, ate a bunch of trail mix, and started our descent.
It was kind of a wild day. We were glad we had decided not to camp that night and instead headed home. Totally worth it for the views of these gorgeous larches!
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