Showing off the best of the North Cascades

7/6/2024 Maple Pass Loop

I apologize for the more-than-normal number of pictures, but it was hard to down-select a reasonable number.

My son’s friend has visited most US national parks, but this was his first time to the North Cascades. On previous trips they have visited Rainier and Olympics National Parks, so this is the last of the three national parks in Washington for him, and number 45 overall. Very impressive, especially for someone in their twenties.

We were hoping to take him to Cascade Pass/Sahale Arm, but the road is currently washed out, as it often is. We chose to go to Maple Pass, and we were not disappointed. The conditions were perfect. We had clear skies, and the temperatures were warm but not hot, since we were close to 7000' elevation. 

Our research suggested that we hike the loop counterclockwise to tackle the steep north-facing slope, which still had quite a bit of snow, on the way up instead of the way down. There was one place where we lost the trail in the snow, but for the rest of the hike, there was a clear boot path to follow. Honestly, we could have gone clockwise like we normally do, but it was nice to go in the same direction as the majority of the other hikers to avoid stopping to let others pass.

Going this direction brought us to Lake Ann first with a clear view of Maple Pass from across the lake, and we could see where we would encounter the snow.

The view looking down on Lake Ann is iconic and probably the one people most associate with this hike. However, there are so many great views it is hard to pick just one.

At the pass is a narrow outcropping that faces north, with 360 degrees of all that this great location has to offer. This is our preferred spot for the customary PB&J lunch. I did get very nervous when our friend had to go out to the sketchiest point around.

The descent was south-facing and essentially snow free with lots of wildflowers. Another advantage of going counterclockwise is that we ended the hike passing Rainy Lake while the sun was at its highest, making the lighting on the lake much better than when you encounter it earlier in the day when it is under shadows.

We stopped at Diablo Lake to take in the view of the incredible green-colored lake. Being a Saturday with such great weather, the lot was overflowing and the temperatures were now very high (95 degrees). It was fun to see all of the kayakers and paddleboarders below in the water and at the small islands. Still a worthwhile stop, but we kept the time to a minimum.

Our last stop was at the visitor center in Newhalem to pick up a map. It was still 95 there and surprisingly crowded, so that was a very brief stop.