Wow! What a day to hike Heather/Maple Pass Loop. Larches are at peak. Other fall foliage is at peak. Weather is sublime. Air Quality is OK-ish.
On the first Wednesday in October, I got to the trailhead at 08:23 and parked in one of the last couple spots left. Already, people were starting to circle the loop drive. Yes - this was on a Wednesday.
Based upon feedback I read in a photography guidebook, I decided to hike the trail clockwise. In all my previous hikes here, I'd followed the masses and gone counter-clockwise. It was nice to do the steeper uphill section with a fresh pair of legs. Also, there are far fewer people in the morning in this section. This was my first time hiking the trail without snow on the ground, and I saw sections where I had previously slipped on the ice on my way down. :-) This section is also pretty dusty right now - as there haven't been any hard freezes or rains. That will change soon. I'm very glad I decided to hike this way - and I'll be doing it in the future.
Looking down towards Rainy Lake, I was dismayed by the haze blocking some of the views to the east. Yet, as I climbed higher, I could tell that the western and northern skies were clearer.
At Maple Pass, I stopped to take some photos - the surrounding peaks were just beautiful as they were framed by the golden larches mid-ground and crimson blueberry and huckleberry bushes on the ground amongst other deciduous vegetation. Headed down from Maple Pass, I started seeing (as I expected) A LOT of people huffing and puffing their way up the trail. Since the larches are at full peak now (in fact some are starting to lose their needles), I stopped several times to take photos. Everyone was in great spirits - something about the jaw=dropping beauty of this place brings out the smiles. It's interesting to hear the first-timers on this trail exclaim how beautiful the views are!
Finally, I took the gentle downhill all the way back to the trailhead. There are two easily-navigable blow-downs in the forest area, not far from the trailhead. The one closest to trailhead is already impacting the trail degradation by people walking off the side of the trail to get over the log.
There are still quite a few bugs buzzing about the trail - but it's not too terrible. I'm just amazed at how warm it still is. Birdlife included: lots of red-breasted nuthatches, golden crowned kinglets, some sort of woodpecker (only heard it hammering wood...not calling), mountain chickadees, 2 Clark's Nutcrackers flying around Maple Pass area, a raven, an American robin - and MAYBE a Cassin's finch in a tree between Maple and Heather passes.
A perfect day for a perfect trail!
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