Heather - Maple Pass Loop
Trip Date: October 15, 2018
Distance: 7.00 miles
Elevation Gain: 2021 ft
Fees/Permits: Northwest Forest Pass
GPX: View my Gaia GPS track here
It’s late at night. I’m completely exhausted from three straight nights with less than 5 hours of sleep. And I’m so content and happy.
On our hike today, Kristen was musing about how sometimes you feel obligated to meet these big goals but then it becomes stressful, which then totally defeats the purpose of doing these things. Today was one of those days where I was able to do something not-so-strenuous, but also walk away feeling incredibly grateful for my friends and left in awe of how beautiful nature is. Also, larches.
Somehow, Washington has been blessed for a third week of golden larches and beautiful sunny weather, so Kristen, Greg, and I decided to take advantage of a free Monday and hike the Heather – Maple Pass Loop which is normally descended upon by hoards of people during fall weekends.
We opted to go the counter-clockwise direction, which was an awesome choice because we got to round a corner and get greeted with dramatic views of Black Peak and the downhill portion was perfect for running.
There were larches everywhere and we spent good amounts of time lollygagging, snapping photos, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the scenery in general. And frolicking. Lots of that. And capturing Greg’s first encounter ever with a larch. Precious moments.
