Heather - Maple Pass Loop — Saturday, Jun. 14, 2025

Larches schmarches - What an incredible early summer day out at Maple Pass with fewer than 30 people at the trail on a speckled cloud Saturday. It doesn't get much better than this in life. ATTN: Scott we met on trail - pics I took of you as just a speck in the vast expanse of our beautiful mountainside are here.

Hiked clockwise to try to avoid steep snow descents and think that was the right call. There are still some steep-ish, exposed-ish sections of snow - traversing or climbing/descending. The back 50% of the trail is still snow covered but melting quickly - expect it to be that way until July. Some people we ran into who had dogs or were just in tennis shoes turned around but me and Jane were fine and just minded our feet and kicked step in where needed. We used trekking poles and spikes for some of the trail but honestly not needed with how soft the snow was - poles were helpful for balance at times. 

We saw a few marmots screaming at us and took a very enjoyable side detour to Heather Pass Peak for some lonely views. Looked down on Lewis Lake (see photo) which was still about 50% covered in ice. CalTopo clocked 8.5mi +2470' of elevation.