Beware of bear activities!!!

Arrived Rainy Pass at around 11am on Thursday, there's a long line of vehicles parked on Hwy 20 for Heather Maple Pass Loop.  Cutthroat Pass TH was full too but plenty of spots along the dirt road.

Around three miles up the trail, we saw a large black bear running across the trail and down the hillside.  We alerted everyone of the sighting.

Trail is in excellent shape though a bit dusty.  Stream crossings are non issue this time of year.  

This may be my new favorite.  1/100th the traffic of Heather-Maple Pass Loop, just as scenic and an easier grade.

Got to the TH at 0830 and parking was already getting filled but not ridiculous.

Larches were starting to yellow nicely.  Just a little haze in the morning when we were at the top.

     Hiking Cutthroat Pass today was spectacular. We pulled into the Th lot at Rainy Pass just after 8:30 and it was half full. The Forest Service Vault toilet was open with supplies. It was clear blue skies and in the upper 40’s.  After 2 miles, going steadily uphill on the PCT, we started to shed our outer clothing layers and by 10:30 we’re down to short sleeves. The sun started coming through the canopy and was out across the valley on the south facing hillside. We walked back into the shade as the trail switchbacked to the south. It felt cooler but the yellowing larches, red blueberry foliage mixed in with granite boulders took your mind off everything but amazing scenery. Compared with our hike on the Heather / Maple Pass Loop yesterday this hike felt like we had it mostly to ourselves. We walked up to Cutthroat Pass junction and a few groups of hikers were scattered around in a 1/2 mile area taking a break and enjoying the amazing 360 degree views. The entire trail was dry and dusty and the few stream crossings were just a trickle.

  At 12:50 we packed up and headed down on the trail to Cutthroat Lake. The scenery on this side of the pass was equally as beautiful as our ascent on the PCT. Trail traffic on this route was significantly less, we passed only 2 groups (one of 2 Mtn bikers) in the 6.5 miles down to the Th. Cutthroat Lake level seemed low and very quiet, no fish or bird sightings. We reached the TH at 3:30 and only 6 cars were parked here. We headed down the road toward Hwy 20 since our friends hadn’t arrived to pick us up yet. So we completed a 12 mile through hike in beautiful country.   Another fantastic day to be out in nature with friends.

As other hikes have mentioned, we avoided the Congo line hiking up Maple Pass by going to cutthroat Pass instead. The parking lot was almost full and I think there might have been people parking there to walk across the street to Maple Pass. On the trail itself all was very quiet and peaceful with just the occasional respectful hikers coming up or down.

Fall foliage, leaves, raspberry bushes, etc, were stunning. The larches midway up have not turned but when they do in a week or two they will be fantastic. This includes a basin full of larches that is on the trail. 

The larches for the last quarter of the hike to the top are golden to almost there. The views were gorgeous and as others have noticed, the area by Diablo lake was very smoky but all cleared once close to the trailhead. Hiking time was about 4 hours and 30 minutes for us. The ascent is nice and gradual and for a 10 mile hike, it was very doable in a day. We had plenty of time to hang out at the top as well.

The trail: it's in great condition and nice & wide - I wore shorts and didn't have to contend with brushy bits at all. The valley and pass are absolutely stunning, and even though the larches aren't at peak gold yet, their yellow-green color added tons of drama in addition to the bright yellows and reds on the valley floor. There are lots of campsites to the left and right when you arrive at the pass, plus a few campsites down in the valley before the last set of switchbacks, and a site or two near Porcupine Creek. There is a tree at the edge of the trail .35 miles in that had a ground bee hive at its base - I accidentally disturbed it while getting something out of my bag and one stung me; and then a quarter mile later (almost back at the trailhead) another one stung me while I was moving! :(

Crowds/timing: Going on a Sunday evening in the early days of larch madness seemed to be the perfect time - there were a ton of folks headed downhill on my way up, an equal mix of day hikers and backpackers, but only a few other folks also headed up with me. In the end it was just me and another pair of campers at the pass.

Smoke: although it was much clearer than around the Ross/Diablo Lakes area, you could still see and smell that there was smoke in the air from nearby fires, enough that my breathing felt different and I could taste it in my mouth at the end of the day.

Parking: Arrived at the trailhead around 1pm on a Sunday and there were cars overflowing onto the highway but as suspected when I pulled into the lot there were spots open right next to the trailhead due to early morning folks having left already.When I left around 11:30am the next day (Monday) there were less cars in the lot than when I arrived but then there were tons of cars lining both sides of the highway - perhaps all of those were parked for Heather Pass across the street?