My daughter and I hiked to the Winchester Lookout and it was great. Views were awesome, tons of blueberries, the lookout is really cool, and there is a resident chipmunk who is well fed. We returned to the junction with High Pass and had clocked 3.45 miles. Decided to do High Pass. If you are going to drive THAT road up and you are an avid hiker up for the day, Winchester may not be enough. High Pass is much less used, is slightly overgrown in places, and has wildflowers blooming. There are a few trickling water sources if you need them. Just before each pass, you get a punchy, switchbacking climb, but each gives you a new view. When we reached High Pass, we checked the map and my 18 year-old said we really needed to finish the trail. Our years of encouraging (forcing) our kid to do hard things may have paid off. It is ~.7 and the steepest section. Our achilles burned and the trail is faint at times, but the views from the top top High Pass. On the way in, ran into a younger couple who had summited Larrabee and one other young guy. On the way out in the afternoon, we saw no one except a small family of Sooty Grouse.
Stats for both trails: 9 miles, 3,244 ft gain. Bugs: None on trail. Abundant at trailhead.
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