Little Giant Pass — Monday, Oct. 14, 2019

Beautiful day to be out here! From the looks of the trip reports in the past week, things change here pretty rapidly. Lots less snow today but I think we're due for more in a couple days, so I'm sure this will all be moot soon!

Road is paved most of the way in except about the last 8 miles, which does take some time. Definite washboard and potholes but should be navigable by most vehicles just going slowly. I got to the trailhead at 10:30am and was the first person in the registry. Met one hunter in the parking area who was going back to get the rest of yesterday's kill, but other than that only ended up seeing one other person the whole day. Stream crossing at the start was simple but cold. I stayed closer to the (small) rapids since I knew it would be shallower there. Came up to about mid/upper-calf on me and I'm 5'5". Definitely helped to have poles here for extra stability. I went with Chacos just to have a little more tread, too. 

Trail is in good condition, overall, just a few downed trees that are easy to slide or step over. Overgrown in some places but nothing crazy. I brought my microspikes with me but never needed to put them on. There were some ice-mud/mud-ice sections that required a little extra attention but that's really it. Most slippery thing was the mud in some places. 

Most of the blueberries are starting to lose their brilliant red, but it's still gorgeous up there, especially with a few larches here and there popping out. There are actually some berries still near the pass - they're droopy and will pop easily if you squeeze them too hard, but wow their sugars are full-on. Tasted pretty much like candy! 

I made it up in 3hr45min with lots of breathing and photo breaks. Back down in 2.5hrs, mostly uninterrupted except for a visit from an owl and a trail blockage with some mule deer.