Easy Pass

A beautiful autumn day, with brilliant red huckleberry bushes and golden larch ablaze against blue, blue skies. That was Easy Pass. While I personally wouldn't rate its scenic beauty above Heather/Maple Pass, I felt it was pretty comparable to Blue Lake: the best part was at the end, when I reached the pass and could see the wide open expanses of the mountains and the blazing larch. Took Daphne today, jingling her bear bell with every step, so we had to stop at the NPS boundary. Hiked a little side trail to the left of the boundary marker, that gave a magnificent view of the mountains. The trail is moderately graded until the talus fields at the end; it didn't feel that steep though until I was descending and my knees were complaining. Only other comment is that most of the hike is in the shade; the sun didn't crest the mountain ridge until 12:30 pm and then on the return hike, the entire valley was bathed in shadow, making for a somewhat chilly hike. Saw only one couple with their two dogs on the trail. A great hike for the pooch, as there is lots of water on the trail both to drink and to play in. A big blow-down right near the bridge must have happened while I was hiking, because it wasn't there when I hiked in, but was obstructing the trail on my way out; people can climb over, dogs sneak under.

Distance: approx. 7 miles to the pass
Time: 3:30
Elevation: 2800 ft
Map: Green Trails No. 49
NWFS pass required at trailhead