Heather Maple Pass

 John took off for eastern Washington to go deer hunting and I decided to take advantage of my solo status to organize a camping trip with work colleagues. I was on the hunt for a good fall colors hike when Heather Maple Pass reopened. I made camping reservations at Howard Steele Park in Rockport and after school ended on Friday I drove up to the park and set up my tent and started a camp fire. The first of the season!

It was dark when the other four people arrived and set up their tents. Ana and Mikki had a HUGE tent and we laughed and giggled as we all pitched in to get it set up.

The next morning my plan was to get up and get out of camp by 5:45am, but between brewing coffee, eating breakfast and trekking to the bathrooms but we did not get out of camp until close to 7am. It was a 75 minute drive up to the Rainy Pass Trailhead where we parked on the highway because all the parking spots in the lot were taken.

Mikki, Ana, me

We started up the trail with lots of other people and that was the theme of the day. This is a very popular hike and with good reason. The views are absolutely amazing.

golden larches in the distance

Lake Ann

more golden fall larches

This is a high elevation hike and it was surprisingly cold. Flakes of snow floated down intermittently the whole hike. As we climbed higher and higher I had to stop and catch my breath frequently. Shanna stayed and hiked with me while the rest of the group forged ahead. 

Lake Lewis

Frisco Mountain

Getting closer to the top

Looking down Maple Creek Valley

This hike was amazing. Every corner we turned brought new views. Eventually we all made it to the top where we took a group photo.

Me, Mikki, Shanna, Dwight

From there we began the descent. This hike is 2 miles up and then 2 miles down. It is a tough one, especially with the high elevation, but definitely worth it.

Looking down at Rainy Lake

Looking back up at where we came from

These views!

Rainy Lake ahead

Lovely larches

When we reached the bottom Dwight and Shanna headed east while Mikki, Ana and I returned west. We stopped at the Diablo Lake overlook so I could take a quick picture of the burned area from the Sourdough Fire I worked at this summer.

Diablo Lake

Back at the campsite we packed up our tents and headed home.