Left Everett at around 4 AM and arrived at the trailhead at around 7:30 AM and took the last parking spot near the bathroom. I knew Maple Pass Trail will be busy but a full parking lot on a Sunday at 7:30 AM was like wow! 

The forecast called for widespread haze and I could smell the smoke at the beginning of the hike. The smell disappeared as we went further up.

Trail was dry and dusty and there were only 2 blowdowns at the beginning that we had to go over and around.

As expected, there were tons of hikers at Maple Pass Trail but the crowds thinned out after we took a right to Wing Lake Trail. There were still a good number of hikers (mostly backpackers) that we met on this trail, taking advantage of this beautiful 'summer' in October 😀.

The trail to Lewis Lake involved a decent amount of bouldering / scrambling. I actually love this part. There were cairns that guided and misguided us but routefinding wasn't difficult at this time of the year. There was enough foot traffic that I barely checked my GPS. There was also a section where I had to cross a gully that looked a bit sketchy.

After Lewis Lake, the trail became steep and narrow, but it wasn't difficult to follow. We arrived at Wing Lake at around 11:30 PM. It took us less than 4 hours including decent breaks here and there.

The fall colors mixed with some golden larches were breathtaking. I think the best view was the hike between Lewis and Wing Lake. 

I would love to go to Black Peak but did not have a helmet and poles with me and the route looked pretty steep with loose rocks and I think it involves some class 3-4 scramble. Met a group of dayhikers who started earlier and they mentioned that it took at least additional 2 hours to go to Black Peak. 

Got this one crossed off my list. This hike has tons of beauty. I believe more than it’s popular neighbor BUT it is harder, longer, and the Boulder field is long. Did I mention boulders???
Drop down to remain low. There is a somewhat obvious place if you are looking for it. Do your research. Do not take this hike lightly.
10 miles round trip from starting at the counter clockwise trailhead to Wing lake. Fall is in the air. Enjoy it.

ROAD/TRAILHEAD:

Trailhead is right off the highway which is nice to not have any forest roads. However, it does mean it is much more accessible and more crowds. We arrived around 8:30, trailhead was maybe 1/3rd or so full. Lots of people began to arrive as we were leaving.

TRAIL:

Maple pass loop trail is a very pleasant mellow grade to the cutoff towards Black Peak. Passed maybe 8 or so people moving up the trail. Took just over an hour to get to the turnoff and another 1/2 more or so. (~2.5 miles & 1200 ft vert. Saw some fall colors, but soon things are really going to bloom and be spectacular!

We followed the boulders at the start and made our way through using intuition and the occasional cairn. A faint trail would appear every once in a while. Everything was pretty straightforward. Before lewis lake you pick up a clear trail, turns out there is an actual trail to the far left of the boulders, took that on the way up. Lewis lake was gorgeous, our dog took a quick swim and we kept moving. From lewis lake to wing lake is somewhat steep at times (~1.1 miles & 1100 ft vert.)

Took us about 3hrs 20 min to make it to wing lake, however we were moving pretty slow from Lewis to wing lake. Wing lake was incredible, great views of Black Peak, and of the North Cascades. Lots of great campsites. Our dog took a quick swim, filtered some water and began to move up black peak.

From Wing Lake to the saddle is about 8 tenths of a mile and 1100 ft vert. Some snow to cross lower down but nothing too bad. Scree field wasn't terrible. Stuff was very loose and had to stay alert for above and below. I would recommend a helmet for this. Made it to the saddle in about an hour, views really opened up. 

From the saddle to the false summit, there was a faint trail and cairns. Wasn't too hard to follow but took some time to figure out where to go safest. Mainly mild to low 3rd class stuff for a while. Took about an hour to reach false summit. 

From the false summit to true summit there are many ways to get up, however the easiest will be to go to the far end (hang right) and you'll see a route up with good runout and 4th class to maybe low 5th class moves. I felt pretty good on most and don't too much rock climbing. Our dog stopped at the base of the final scramble, we felt it was too much for her however she was able to do everything before. The summit is gorgeous and complete 360 views of 100's of peaks. Truly stunning. 360 photo linked below

We followed our same route down, just be very careful. People tend to make mistakes and not think more on the way down. Didn't see anyone on our way out. However, we did see two large black bears which was scary. One walking around lake ann and another running down towards the lake. Made noise and tried to move very quickly to get out, light was slowly fading.

SUMMARY

An absolute wonderful day in the North Cascades! Highly recommend to try it! Stats were 12.1 miles & 5000 vert according to GAIA. I'll link a GPX down below. If you go in a couple weeks larches will be on full display. 

We arrived at the trailhead on a practically cloud free day about 10:50am and the parking lot was mostly full and were on the trail heading counterclockwise by 11am. Bugs were not an issue anywhere on the trail even at the lakes. Once you get passed the Lake Ann trail split there is not much cover, so you’ll be exposed most of the time so consider sunblock for sure.

The hike to Heather Pass is as pleasant as most people probably already know.  Enjoy that relative ease…  From Heather pass, the path heading down towards Lewis Lake is easy to find, but quickly seems to disappear, which isn’t really a concern because there’s no way to get lost. Some people recommend staying as low as possible (hugging the scant treeline), which we’ve done previously, but we now prefer following a more or less straight line across the boulder field until you pick up the trail just below Lewis Lake. Either way, you’ll have to spend a considerable amount of time traversing boulders and rocks of all sizes, many of which are unstable and show evidence of recent movement so be very careful.

Lewis lake is absolutely stunning in it’s own right and you’ll probably meet up with others planning to spend the night there for which there are many excellent camping spots (some are hidden up and to the right of the lake with gorgeous views of the valley).  After resting our knees and replenishing some calories, we were quickly back on the trail around the lake (counterclockwise), heading up the most difficult part of the hike in my opinion. The trail from Lewis Lake to Wing Lake is brutal, with a very steep grade heading almost entirely straight up with agonizingly few flat or shady spots. The views are definitely stunning, but I was too tired to enjoy them until the way down…

Wing Lake is amazing – set under the backdrop of imposing Black Peak with a unique shade of aqua which is even lighter and more clear than Lewis Lake.  There is still snow along the far banks to remind you of the elevation you’re at. Perfectly placed evergreens along the water provide the ideal spot to ponder life while you rest your weary legs, enjoy some food, and take in the magnificence surrounding you. We never came across any other hikers once we passed Lewis lake so we had Wing Lake all to ourselves. From here, you can clearly see the scramble route you’d have to take for those brave enough to make the summit of Black Peak.  

After lingering for about 45 minutes, we headed back down keeping in mind we needed to have some energy in reserve for the boulder field crossing which by 4pm was already in total shade so be mindful of that if you plan to hike much later.  I can imagine this would be very tricky indeed if it was close to sunset.

Although it comes at a physical price depending on your age, this is one of my all-time favorite hikes because of the terrain diversity, stunning views and access to 2 amazing lakes. Plan on 6+ hours depending on your hiking style, skill level and time spent enjoying the views.  Highly Recommended!

Had to take another day trip out to the North Cascades. We started the hike counter clockwise which is usually the most popular because it’s more gradual elevation. Once we saw the turn off for Heather Meadows we took that turnoff and made our way for Lewis and Wing Lake. The hike to Lewis Lake starts out through an open meadow with not much elevation gain. Shortly after you hit a boulder field which starts to get a little tricky. You can look for cairns but the best thing to do is stay to the right when you’re going down to Lewis Lake. Scrambling continued for about a mile and then eventually we arrived at the lake. Lewis Lake was beautiful and we were the only ones there. After Lewis Lake it is about another 1.3 push very steep and rocky. Wing Lake was very beautiful as well, really nice views of Black Peak. We considered going to Black Peak but today just wasn’t the day. After a nice break at Wing Lake we made our way back down to Lewis Lake and then back up the boulder field to the Maple Pass trail. Once you get back on the main trail it is a gradual climb up to the top of the pass. Weather was clear and perfect. Took us a little under an hour to get down to the bottom from the top. Round trip was 13.1 miles and 4100 feet elevation gain! This is the route less traveled by which is very surprising with how busy the trail is.