Saturday, risking the morning clouds, we headed all the way up to Rainy Pass for a hike up to Cutthroat Pass. As sometimes happens around here, the farther into the mountains we went, the sunnier the skies, until after 3-1/2 hours of driving we emerged from the car into full sunshine. Yay! An easy, steady grade; no difficult stream crossings (although one log bridge is cracked in half, it's still secure enough to cross); 360 degree views; and dry, eastern-side air combined for a stress-free, eye-full hike. We day-hiked over Cutthroat Pass to just above Granite Pass (at about 6-1/2 miles before we turned around to head back to the car. Some flowers are out, mostly heather. There were almost no bugs until we got back down to the car in the early evening when a swarm of mosquitos appeared. There's some water over the trail from snow melt, but otherwise it's in great shape.