Wing Lake, Heather-Maple Pass Loop - Oct. 5, 2022
Continuing with the theme of doing easy, popular hikes during larch season, I planned to check out Wing Lake in the morning and then head up to Maple Pass at sunset with my friend Holly. I ended up doing the whole loop and boy was it a treat! This is definitely a hike that’s popular for a reason.
We left Seattle around 7am on a Wednesday and began hiking around 11 AM, sharing the trail with lots of hikers until we peeled off from the masses at Heather Pass. There were some larches that had already fully turned yellow here which served to hype up the rest of the day. I had been to Wing Lake before on my climb of Black Peak but that was during summer in heavy wildfire smoke. I was back this time to see the larches, ironically also with wildfire smoke. Newhalem, Diablo, and Ross Lake were choked with the most horrific smoke I’d ever seen. Thankfully, it petered out to a light haze once we were at Rainy Pass.
At Lewis Lake, we took a lunch break and Holly decided she would hang back since she wasn’t feeling too well. We both had our inReaches which made coordinating separate itineraries a breeze. I made quick work of the hike up to Wing Lake (on a very established trail the whole way) and only slowed near the top once the larches became prevalent. The views of Cutthroat Peak and Whistler Mountain were tremendous and the larches dotting the foreground only added to the landscape. From a photography perspective, I was also very happy with the shots I got from Wing Lake even though they were in suboptimal lighting. Somehow, it feels to me like the views of the Cutthroat-Whistler ridgeline get overlooked by peakbaggers looking to summit Black Peak – the views of the ridge are less aesthetic from the summit in my opinion.
In the afternoon, I met back up with Holly at Heather Pass where she decided she was going to take sunset photos below Maple Pass. I continued on to Maple since I’d never been there before, and then I was intrigued by the high point below Frisco Mountain and just kept going. If you live in Washington, I’m sure you’ve seen the classic photos of Lake Ann from the trail like I have. I’d believed that that was the best view to be had on the loop and I could not have been more wrong. From Maple Pass, the views of Corteo and Black Peaks were already good but from the high point of the trail, watching the sun set over Porcupine Peak with Hardy, Tower, and Golden Horn in the distance was phenomenal. If I’d known of these views, I’d have done this trail a long time ago!
I spent at least an hour up top and stayed long after the sun had properly set. At that point, it was just faster to complete the loop and meet back up with Holly at the trailhead. Ran into two women on the way down who were using their phone lights since they didn’t have headlamps and helped guide them the rest of the way.
This trip ended up being one of my favorite outings of autumn. It had originally began as an idea to do the loop hike at sunset, then gradually morphed into a collection of easy hikes that had us waking up early for a full day of hiking. I’m still shocked at how nice the Heather-Maple Pass loop was and how the average person online (WTA, Washington Hikers & Climbers, etc.) just posts the same photos of Lake Ann. It makes me curious what else I’m missing on with other popular hikes simply because I’ve seen other people’s photos and based my decision that the views aren’t worth it on their photos alone…
