Maple Pass Trail, North Cascades Highway

Be prepared for photo overload, just a warning. August 2014.....so long ago, another hiking season has already started. My plan was to hit this trail as early as possible to catch the heather in bloom, life happened and we didn't make it till about the 2nd week of August. Much to my surprise the heather was still blooming and so beautiful. There was still so much smoke in the sky from the fires down in the Methow area that the sky's had a lot of haze in them. It was a nice break from the bare hills and burnt scenery. Starting early on this trail gives you a little bit of time to enjoy the views before the trail starts getting busy. Our plan was to eat lunch at the top over looking the glacier, but the fly's were horrible. Nasty biting things that wouldn't stay off you. So we ate our lunch on the run....well hike. Running is beyond my expertise. Still playing catch up, not feeling completely positive on how that's going to happen. Life is very busy, and doesn't slow down for anyone. Maple Pass is a gorgeous hike, It doesn't matter what season you hike it. There is so many views, mountains, flowers and just the feeling alone of being able to witness the surrounding beauty is incredible.

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North Cascades Hwy 20, Snowshoeing

Since we don't take snowshoeing very serious and it's just another way to get out in the great outdoors and have some fun, we snowshoe highway 20 from the parking area up the pass quiet often. It is a busy snowmobile area, but if you just be aware of whats going on around you, it is safe. There is so much room to have fun, snow covered slopes, snowshoe up the road, or venture off the road. It is a gradual climb up the road, we never get very far before we run out of gas and are ready to head back down. I would love to some day take a snowmobile to the top of the pass...and snowshoe....I keep dreaming. This is a easy location to just get out, stretch your legs and enjoy the fresh winter air. I have always been a little bit apprehensive about snowshoeing where there is snowmobile activities, but so far we have met only super polite folks and very respectful to keep their distance of folks snowshoeing.

Yellow Jacket Sno-Park.......................

December 29th, 2012 came along with some beautiful weather in the Mazama area....broken blue skys and a nice 21 degrees.....with my little brother and his wife up visiting through the holiday season we ventured out to play in the snow.....We originally headed up to snowshoe the Cedar Creek trail....but Hwy 20 wasn't plowed past the first sign at the bottom.....and when we came across the Early Winters bridge we could see trucks and cars parked on both sides of the road....somewhere between 25-40 rigs.....lots of snowmobile trailers.....we decided that we needed to locate another snowshoeing spot with a little less traffic since my brother wanted to do a little snowboarding if possible......so we headed to Yellow Jacket Sno-Park....Large parking area with just a few vehicles parked....we strapped on our gear and headed up the trail....nice easy hike up a groomed snowmobile track....lots of places to step off the trail and explore...we pretty much stuck to the trail on the way up.....

The Places We Can Go

Life goes on, things change, storms of life come and go. One thing that always remains the same is the feeling and quiet peace I feel from being in the mountains. This was a spur of the moment overnight trip. It was so needed and such a beautiful time. Left the house around 2:30 PM, traffic was so slow heading up Hwy 20, lots of folks heading out of Mazama. Arrived at the trail head a few minutes before 4 PM, and we were off down the trail in a few minutes. Three quarters of a mile down the trail a bee or some kind of flying ant decided to bite my nieces eye lid, talk about hysteria for a moment. I was pretty sure our trip was over, but we were able to move on with a very cold creek soaked multipurpose face mask. The sun was sinking fast and the wind was howling by the time we reached the top. Made some quick decisions on the best place to park the tents, and we set up camp. It was truly an incredible evening, hiked aroun...

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