Travel Hiccups and Heather-Maple Loop Pass

After much planning and lots of spreadsheeting (I think I made this word up), we finally shoved off for our trip to the Pacific Northwest and then to VietNam. Packing was tricky because the two trips are very different. Luckily, Dan will be able to bring some of my stuff back home from Washington (ice axe, micro spikes, smelly tshirts, etc), so I won't have to bring everything to VietNam. Leaving was a little nerve wracking because I was worried that I forgot something major (passport, visa, etc). It was also hard leaving the kids, pets, and beautiful gardens - harder than it has been for other trips I think. Those feelings were mixed in with the excitement of going on an awesome hiking trip with Dan and then all the way to VietNam - a place I have wanted to go to for decades.

Emma and Alex got married on Saturday and we left on Sunday. We were a little worried about the whole COVID thing with the wedding and our trip, but we did our best to be careful. After the wedding, we wrapped up packing and Maya brought us to the Dartmouth Coach. She was so sweet as she waited in the heat to wave goodbye to us. That made me cry watching her wave until we couldn't see her anymore (especially since she will be leaving for UVM next month). The trip to Logan Airport was uneventful and everything went smoothly (with a beautiful sunset and all) until our flight landed in Seattle where were had to sit on the tarmac for over an hour because there was not a gate available. After finally deplaning, we took an airport rail and then a bus to get our car rental. As usual, I booked one of the cheapest hotel options (I have a poor reputation in this dept). When we arrived, there was an Indian graduation party happening and the music was so loud that we couldn't even hear anything that the front desk person was saying. He gave us our room key and we lugged our stuff to our room. By now it was after 11:00pm (2:00am East Coast time) and we were really looking forward to crawling into bed. Gosh, were we surprised to find someone else already asleep in our room (probably not nearly as surprised as they were though). Once these travel hiccups were all sorted out, we finally hit the hay.

My niece, Emma, married Alex the day before we left

Dan saying goodbye to the pups

The veggie garden looks so good this year

Maya waved to us until we could no longer see her

We brought a little love from our garden for our trip (tomato-mozz-basil sandwich)

Sweet sunset from the plane 

We needed to get up early because we had over 3 hours to drive to the Northern Cascades plus we needed to grab some essentials at the supermarket and a Northwest Forest Pass before we could hit the trail for a 10 mile hike. The views of Rainier and Seattle at sunrise were beautiful and the views on the drive just got better and better. The color of Diablo and Rose Lakes were stunning. On the drive, I skillfully made PB&Js in the car on the winding road through the mountains.

Mt Rainier from the airplane

Mt Rainier in Seattle (out our rear view window)

Seattle at sunrise

Dan was really excited to find Unicorn Donuts!

Making PB&Js in the car on winding mountain roads - a delicate operation

Rose Lake - the color is because the sunlight reflecting off of the "rock flour" which is the term used for the fine rock dust made by glaciers brought down the mountain streams

Diablo Lake

We made it to the trailhead for Heather-Maple Pass and we were surprised to find there were still parking available. We were excited to hit the trail a little after 10:30am. The switchbacks were a dream - going up was so easy. The trees are so big and straight - super impressive. We took a spur trail to Lake Ann which is a glacial cirque lake. The water was so clear and the surrounding mountains make it look like a postcard. From Lake Ann we could see the pass that we were going to take.

Lake Ann

Heading up towards Maple Pass with Lake Ann below us

The trail from Lake Ann to the pass was full of beautiful views of mountains, lakes, and wildflowers. We saw some other hikers who did not do the whole loop because they were worried about the snow in the pass. We had read about the trail conditions, so we had spikes and ice tools which was definitely overkill. We did play in the snow and it helped to keep us from getting way too hot. The pass was gorgeous!

Lake Ann from above

The snow fields were easy to traverse

Dan enjoying the carefully made PB&J

The views from the pass were so awesome 

Trying to make snow angels

I couldn't resist making a snowman

We enjoyed our PB&Js and soaked in the beauty along the pass. One thing I love about passes is that when you get to the top, it is like opening a door to a whole new set of views. The Northern Cascades are breathtaking - such beautiful mountains. The pass was so awesome, I didn't want to go down.

The pass and the ridgeline were excellent 

The mountain heather is a tough alpine plant that have sweet little flowers

At the crest of Heather Pass about to descend

The trail down was a bit steeper than the gradual up, but it was not difficult at all. There were alpine meadows of flowers surrounded by snowcapped peaks - I felt like I could have hiked forever.

Dan hiking down

Tough wildflower growing right through the snow pack

We soon started to see views of Rainy Lake - the color was striking. It was another glacial cirque lake that had a spur trail to it. We decided to check out the lake and it didn't add much extra mileage. To my surprise, Dan decided to go for a dip in the snow fed lake. It was so hot outside that it felt great.

Rainy Lake from above

Really big blow downs are everywhere. Trail crew does a super job of clearing the trail.

Dan shocked the pants off me when he went swimming in the snow fed lake

The water temps were warm enough that I could just float

Back at the trailhead

Our hotel was about 30 min away in the town of Winthrop, WA. We were pleasantly surprised at the placed we stayed. It was perfect - right on the Methow River which was great because it was still in the high 90s outside. There were only 2 places to get food in town, so we chose pizza. I was beat, so we ate the pizza in our room and I nodded off before my head could hit the pillow.