Winthrop Day 4 - Lake Hikes

 As we drove Hwy 20 towards Winthrop on Sunday afternoon we must have passed 20 trailhead signs, many of which we knew were coming because of the giant line of parked cars on the side of the road leading up to the parking lot entrance. We knew we couldn't stop but we knew we had to go back... 

With cooler temps and clouds in the forecast, we took advantage of one more sunny day to drive back to the pass and hike a few of the seemingly super popular trailheads we had reluctantly driven by on the way to camp: Washington Pass Overlook, Rainy Lake, Lake Ann and Blue Lake. Oh, we found out why they were so popular!

First stop: Washington Pass Overlook. Short easy walk on a paved trail to a panoramic view of Washington Pass and Highway 20!

The Rainy Pass trailhead is one of the most popular trails in NW Washington, and the already full parking lot on a Wednesday morning in October proved it. It is also an access point to the Pacific Crest Trail. Although the Maple Pass Loop is the trail everyone was there for, we opted to do the trails to Rainy Lake and Lake Ann instead, giving us time to do some more lakes as we headed back east towards Winthrop...

The trail to Rainy Lake was an easy 1 mile hike/walk on a level and practically paved trail. And we only saw three other people on it! The lake was in a large rock basin with a lovely waterfall feeding it at the far end. But with no shore, we took a few pics and headed for Lake Ann, off the Maple Pass Loop trail.

We saw a LOT more than 3 people on the next trail! But we figured out why it was so popular! <3 Fall was definitely in the air... 

When we arrived to find the parking lot full and having to park on the street, we assumed we'd arrived too late in the day. When we got back to the car, we realized we weren't the only ones. Cars parked on the side of the highway as far as you could see in either direction! Lesson learned??? It pays to get up early if you want to hke on the North Cascades Scenic Highway. ;)

Blue Lake was the longest hike on our list for the day and the only one not rated "good for kids." But the boast of its turquoise waters lured me in. Once again the parking lot was PACKED and there were kids everywhere!

I don't know if it was the unevenness of the trail, the 1150' elevation gain in 2 miles or the fact that we had already hike 6.5 miles, but it was a tough trail! But the views were gorgeous along the way and it made us feel pretty good to be hopscotching people much younger than us on the way to the lake... :)

We knew we were getting closer when a sweet little boy, probably noticing that we were sucking air pretty hard, told us, "Don't worry. You're almost there." <3 But we knew when we were close when we could hear the noise from all the screaming children that apparently didn't read the same article I had about it not being a good hike for kids. ;) And I'm sure it wasn't helped by the fact that Blue Lake is also set into the bottom of a huge giant, echo-y, rock bowl!

Unfortunately it was a bit late in the day to enjoy the turquoise of the water but it was very pretty just the same. And we took the time to wander a side trail just long enough that there were very few people left at the lake when we got back... :)

Someone had the right idea to build a cabin by the lake

this little guy was not happy to see us or our dog...

It was a nice quiet, downhill hike back to the car. While it was starting to get a bit dark in the trees, the light on the peaks was just too pretty...

Sadly, our eleven miles of hiking took too long and there just wasn't time to hike the last lake on our list. Maybe next time? But all that hiking meant a very good night's sleep for all three of us... :)