For our next adventure, Jim combined Brooke’s desire to do the Maple Pass Loop with a climb of Black Peak.
As we left Winthrop, we were pleased to have sunshine on the snowy peaks. Any mountain enthusiast can tell you how special it is to be in the mountains on the first sunny day after the first snow. Everything is crispy white and the views go forever.
Just driving up the North Cascades Highway, we had to pull over to snap pictures of Liberty Bell.
We decided on a quick stop at the North Cascades View Point which ended up taking us 45 minutes. Silver Star Mountain was breathtaking with all the fresh snow.
We arrived the Rainy Pass parking lot around 11am on a Sunday and found about 500 cars there. The parking lot was full. The driveway to the parking lot was full. Cars were all up and down the highway. Not a huge surprise considering the Maple Pass Loop is one of the top fall day hikes in Washington.
After shoehorning our car into a space in the parking lot, Jim, Brooke, and I headed out on the Maple Pass Loop. It felt like we were hiking Mt Si on a Saturday in the spring. People everywhere.
As we climbed, we quickly forgot the crowds and started enjoying the view. First up was Rainy Lake.
Then Corteo Peak and Black Peak appeared. Wow, there was a lot of fresh snow on Black Peak. Not sure we can climb that.
We figured we would just hike up to the ridgeline on Black Peak and enjoy the view. That was for tomorrow. Today we were just here to enjoy the fall colors and fresh snow.
The closer we got to Maple Pass, the deeper the snow got.
From Maple Pass, Black Peak looked really intimidating. I climbed it in the summer with Fay and Deb. There was no snow on that trip, thankfully.
The cold winds did not allow for a long stop at Maple Pass. We headed toward Heather Pass which is where we would leave the Maple Pass Loop and head towards Lewis Lake and camp for the night.
As we hiked toward Heather Pass, I found myself stopping every 5 minutes to take in the view. Golden Horn Peak and Tower Mountain summit horns were the on dark spots on the mountains.
The fall colors, snowy mountains, and blue lakes were everywhere you looked.
The Golden Larch Trees and blueberry bushes lite up Heather Pass.
As we left the Maple Pass Loop, we also left the crowds behind.
From Heather Pass, we got a good look at Black Peak and quickly decided it was probably not climbable. But the views from the ridge would be amazing in the morning.
After what seemed like an hour of traversing rock fields, we came upon Lewis Lake and decided to camp for the night. We had hoped to get to Wing Lake but the Maple Pass Loop was so pretty, we didn’t want to hurry through it.
Sometime during the night, the wind direction changed bringing warm breezes from the south. We woke to blue skies and left camp in short sleeve shirts.
As we approached Wing Lake, we encountered a couple inches of fresh snow which seemed to be melting before our eyes. The sun was beating down on us. We couldn’t believe how much snow had already melted off the face of Black Peak.
The air temps had become so warm that Brooke decided to take a swim before heading up the peak.
Our first goal was the shoulder of the ridge. The slope got very steep just before the top.
Once reaching the ridge, we were rewarded with an amazing views of snow dusted peaks. Mount Goode had center stage.
We headed up the ridge which was easy but wet. The snow was over our boots in many cases. We all were looking forward to the views from the shoulder below the summit block.
At this point, we needed to traverse around the summit block. The traverse was full of snow. The snow was perfect for booting which was good because otherwise we were done climbing.
It took us a while to find the correct scramble route for the summit. In the end, it turned out we had traversed too low and had to boot up a snow shoot.
Scrambling the summit block was a bit interesting with the fresh snow. We had in our possession a short panic rope which we used as a hand line. I think it offered more peace of mind than actual safety.
We were all very careful as we approached the summit. This was no place to slip.
Black Peak is one of the Tall Twelve peak on Jim’s Major Peaks List. Brooke was so excited to have summited her 1st Major Peak in Washington.
Our route down was methodical. Making sure we took our time as not to make any mistakes. When we reached the lower ridge, we discovered that our tracks in the snow were gone as well as the snow itself. It was definitely a hot day and the snow was not going to last long.
At this point, we started to hurry. None of us wanted to return to camp in the dark. We did have to stop at Wing Lake for more pictures.
On our way back to Lewis Lake, we hiked through groves of Golden Larch trees.
and a glowing sunset.
We did reach our tents without our headlamps but it was pretty nearly dark. We enjoyed dinner in light weight clothing. It was hard to believe that it was almost October.
We rose early and packed up quickly. We were all eager to get back to our car and head to Lake Chelan where we had booked a condo for 2 nights in order to do laundry and repack for our next outing. First thing on the agenda when we reached Chelan was a swim in the lake and then wine tasting.
——– Complete Photo Gallery ——–
