Cutthroat Pass via the Pacific Crest Trail — Monday, Oct. 2, 2023

We did a one night overnight at the pass on Saturday 9/30 to enjoy the larch show. Road to the TH has some large potholes. We saw all manner of vehicles but just an FYI. When we arrived at 10am on Sat the lot was mostly full. We originally intended to overnight down near Cutthroat lake (we were ambitious and wanted to go up and over the pass to the lake), but when we found a spot below the pass with the most amazing view of the mountains and right in a larch grove, we decided to drop the heavy packs and do a day excursion over the pass instead. I also want to add that there are no water sources up here or immediately up and over the pass. I would advise filtering down by the creeks where the larches start before camping up at the pass.

I would say the larches are 75% at peak, with the other 25% a green/yellow mostly at the lower elevations. The weather forecast for the past weekend said sunny both days, but we ended up with clouds and even snow flurries on Sat. It got very cold overnight, and the ground froze on the trail until the sun came out. We about 7-8 groups overnighting along with us.

For our day excursion, we went up and over the pass intending to make it down to Cutthroat lake. However, the trail down was a lot longer then we had intended, so we did not go all the way as we had to back up. However, the larch grove immediately below the pass is one of the best I have ever seen! It is for sure worth adding the extra mileage.

I would say this week the larches will be peak here. It is also worth mentioning (even if obvious) that this is a very popular trail. We passed maybe 60 people going up when we were hiking out on Sunday. Cars were parked up and down the road when we drove out at 1pm. There also seemed to be more dogs off leash then on, and this was concerning not only because of how busy the trail was, but especially as horses are allowed on the trail (and we did see someone on one).