Quick report- after the snow last weekend, it’s much harder to get to Lewis/Wing Lakes.
The talus field you cross to get to Lewis Lake is challenging/sketchy now. Whoever broke trail on Monday did not always follow the actual trail (honestly, it would have been near impossible to follow the rock cairns under all the snow), so there are lots of awkward snow covered boulders. If you haven’t done this hike before, this is no joke! It’s about 0.6 miles of talus/boulder field, on a steep slope, covered in snow.
When I did it on Tuesday, no one had yet tried to go up to Wing Lake, so I did my best to break trail along the actual route. It’s steep, but much more straightforward than the talus field to Lewis Lake. Got some nice solitude at wing lake with peak larches, but honestly enjoyed the adventure of it more than the larches. Also, was serenaded by a dipper at Lewis Lake in the way back!
Be safe! This is a trail you might want to ready to turn back from is it gets sketchy. (Mainly putting this emphatic warning because of how many folks come up to Maple pass who aren’t well versed in winter/snow route finding/scrambling- I saw a good number of people turn back from their attempt at Lewis Lake)
[edit: not sure why the pictures are rotated wrong, if anyone knows how to fix it, let me know!]
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