Maple Pass 10/7/2009

When you combine great group of people, trail with incredible views, bit of fall colors, first snow of the season, clouds perfectly placed in the sky adding a bit of drama but not obscuring any of the views, plenty of sunshine, and incredible sunset later in the day, it calls for a wonderful adventure. And we had just this perfect combination of elements during our hike to Maple Pass.



Our day started early as we drove long ways through the awakening mountains and small mountain towns towards the trailhead on Hwy 20. I travelled this road few times already this year but today with fog rolling around the road, hugging farmhouses and creeping around the bottom of the mountains, I really enjoyed the 2+ hours drive plus it was also a nice change to continue deeper into the mountains than we usually do.



The trailhead welcomed us with distinctive chill of an October morning. There's no denying that the cold part of the year is knocking on the door. The good thing - there was no wasting time at the trailhead - everybody was ready to move (just to keep warm) pretty fast.



Soon after we left our car, a paved path led us to a junction where we chose the steeper trail as a beginning of our loop. It proved to be a good choice. After about couple miles we emerged from the forest and enteres world of magnificent views. Our pace slowed down considerably, and the sound of our boots marching up the hill was replaced by the sound of our cameras snapping hundreds of photos which did not stop until we dropped back into the forest on the other side of the valley.



Maple Pass is going on "My Favorites" list. I'm definitely going to hike this trail again in the future.