Maple Pass loop autumn larches
— — the two weeks the high country turns gold.
Not only on a wall.
“The loop starts at Rainy Pass on State Route 20, climbs past Lake Ann, and reaches the saddle at about 6,650 feet, where the subalpine larches stand. The larches are the rare deciduous conifer of the Cascades: green through summer, brilliant gold for two weeks in late September and early October, bare by the end of the month. The trail is 7.2 miles round trip with about 2,000 feet of climb, and it is at its best walked clockwise so the larches face you on the descent. By the third week of October the high country usually carries its first snow.
Maple Pass loop autumn larches, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Maple Pass Loop runs from the Rainy Pass trailhead on State Route 20, the North Cascades Highway, climbing through subalpine forest to Maple Pass at about 6,650 feet. The trail crosses the boundary between Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and North Cascades National Park along the ridge above Lake Ann. The loop is 7.2 miles round trip with about 2,000 feet of elevation gain. Rainy Pass sits at 4,855 feet and marks the highway crest between the Skagit and Methow drainages. The North Cascades Highway closes by snow each winter, typically from late November through mid- or late April, depending on snowpack.
The draw is the subalpine larch (Larix lyallii), the only conifer in the North Cascades that drops its needles each year. The needles turn yellow-gold in mid- to late September and hold colour for roughly two weeks before falling. Peak in most years runs between the third week of September and the first week of October, depending on the timing of the first hard frost. The trail is crowded through this window; weekday mornings are the lower-pressure window. By the third week of October the high country usually carries its first snow and the road below the pass begins to ice at night.
The trailhead sits at the Rainy Pass picnic area on State Route 20, about 35 miles west of Winthrop and 70 miles east of Marblemount. A Northwest Forest Pass or America the Beautiful Pass is required at the trailhead. The loop is walked clockwise by most hikers, which puts the larches in front of you on the descent from Maple Pass; counter-clockwise is the steeper climb. There is no water on the trail above Lake Ann and the upper sections are exposed; the larch-window sun is strong and the snow can arrive without warning by early October. Cell coverage is spotty above the highway.