I was the first one on the trail at 6:20am (in the dark), guessing this gorgeous sunny October day of Larch-madness would be crazy. Since this trail is exposed, the early morning light aided my headlamp and after about 15 minutes my lamp was no longer needed. By 7:20am the sun caught up with me, at the ridge just before Tatie Peak. Which worked out great because it made all the larches glow!
There was a frost layer on the ground in the larch grove below Syncline Mountain. My destination was Grasshopper Pass, which I arrived at about 8:10am. Other than a couple camping backpackers I said good morning to (at about 3.5 miles in) I didn’t see anyone else on trail until I was on my way back. Complete solitude and peace! After that, there was a steady stream of hikers, about every couple hundred yards another group would come along.
The larches are at their prime right now. Some were a little past prime, but it didn’t matter to me. Grasshopper Pass was FULL of larches.
The majority of the hike you’re on rocky mountain-sides, with easy long and gradual up then down in elevation. Overall I think I tracked about 1,300 of elev. gain/loss.
I saw two female big horn sheep, a pica, and a grouse. Bugs were not an issue. I saw one last purple bell wildflower. No blowdowns.
There is no bathroom at the trailhead, but the campground just below/before the trailhead has one. There were about 7 cars in the trailhead lot at 6am. By the time I returned at 10am the trailhead was completely full and cars were starting to park down the road. The forest service road in is narrow and washboard bumpy with regular small pullouts for passing. On my way down said forest road, I must have passed at least three dozen or more vehicles coming in. Crazy. (But that didn’t even come close to the literally hundreds and hundreds of vehicles parked on highway 20 to hike Maple Pass and Blue Lake. Absolutely absurd.)
All four legged friends were on lease. Please be aware the only source of water from the trail is 3.5 miles in. There is a campsite next to the trail and a rock with “Water” written on it. You’ll need to head down the hill a bit to a small pond, (which also has a campsite.)
This hike is definitely still worth doing especially if you can get there in the next few days. I’d recommend coming as early as possible to beat the crowds.
Have fun, this was probably one of my favorite hikes of the year. What a Larch-fest it was!!
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