Hiking Maple Pass and Rainy Lake in the North Cascades

We choose Maple Pass as our first trail to hike on this visit to the North Cascades.  The Maple Pass trail is known for its great views and accessibility:  difficult enough to provide a challenge, but easy enough for most hikers.

At the trailhead, we find a map of the 2,638 mile (4,245 km) long Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (of which this trail is a small portion), stretching from Canada to Mexico, while passing through 24 national forests, 7 national parks, and 33 wilderness areas.  The trail climbs as high as 13,200 feet (4,023 meters) above sea level in the Sierra Mountains and descends to 140 feet (43 meters) at the Columbia River.  Hikers who make it all the way usually start in April and finish in September.

Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail

Today, we'll just explore the small portion of this trail that heads toward Maple Pass and then down to Rainy Lake.  We park at the Rainy Lake/Maple Pass Trailhead and start up.

Trailhead

Starting up

Initial views of the mountains

The path emerges from the trees and gets steeper as we progress further up the mountain.

Trail on the other side of the gulley

Continuing up

Looking down on Rainy Lake

Continuing around the lake

View from high up

On our return to the trailhead, we admire the flowers that are blooming along the trail; we were too focused on heading up to notice them the first time we passed.

Heading back down

Admiring the vegetation

Passing a waterfall

At the trailhead, we follow the more-level, less-rocky path in the other direction toward Rainy Lake (which we've recently looked down on from the Maple Pass Trail) and arrive at the shore of a beautiful lake with incredibly clear water and tall waterfalls flowing into the lake from the surrounding mountains.

Path to Rainy Lake

A sign at the lake tells us that Rainy Lake was formed in a narrow pocket called a cirque that was chipped and carved out over thousands of years by glacial ice.  Water would seek into cracks, freeze, and then "frost wedge" the rock into pieces later carried away by moving water and ice.  At the bottom of the moving glacier, a moraine (earth dam) was pushed up which now holds the lake water in.

Rainy Lake

A great start to our North Cascades visit.

Arriving at the North Cascade Mountains

We arrive in Winthrop, Washington, on the eastern side of the North Cascades, for a few days of hiking in the mountains and enjoying the beauty of this area.  We drive up to the Washington Pass overlook (elevation 5,477 feet (1,669 meters)), offering an incredible perspective of the area's towering granite peaks, white granite outcrops, and paths through the towering conifers.  The trail from the parking lot emerges into a viewing area expansive sights of rock faces rising 2,000 feet (610 meters) above Highway 20 through the mountains.  In other directions, jagged ridgelines stand up from the valleys:  Vasiliki Ridge, Snagtooth Ridge, and Kangaroo Ridge.

Road through the pass

Path to the lookout

Emerging at the outlook

Views from the outlook

These mountains started to form around a million years ago as the glaciers chewed their way through the area and formed a sharp bend in the landscape (and, now also, a sharp bend in Highway 20) as two glaciers met, moved together, and created an impressive ridge separating the two.  During periods of glacial maximums, only the very tops of the mountains were free of the ice, with the glaciers forming alpine lakes and steep and craggy mountains as they retreated.

Highway 20 (North Cascade Highway) through the mountains took 79 years to complete.  The first attempt was in 1893 when workers roughed out 12 miles of highway only to have it wash away in floods in 1897.  In 1932, a three new routes were proposed and studied for 25 years, leading to the choice of the current route on which construction began in 1962 with opening in 1972.

Highway 20 is closed every winter for 5 to 7 months, closing in November or December and reopening in April or May.  The road crosses dozens of avalanche paths and the passes (Washington Pass and Rainy Pass) receive up to 15 feet (4.6 meters) of snow throughout the winter and avalanches often leave over  20 feet (6 meters) of snow on the road.

We return from the pass to Winthrop, 30 miles down Highway 20 from the outlook and check in to our hotel on the Chewuch River (complete with deck and hot tub for relaxing after days of hiking the mountains).

Views from our deck

And, with the hot tub

It's great to be back and we're looking forward to a few days of mountain exploration.

A Short Stop in Milan

We hop on a late-morning train to Milan where we'll catch a flight to the US the next day.  We arrive mid-afternoon and take the opportunity to wander in Milan for a few hours.  After checking into our hotel on Corso Venezia, we walk down the street toward the Duomo, past the Giardini Pubblici de Porta Venezia and the Museo Civico and Galleria di Arte Moderna.

Passing by the gardens and museums

Map along the way

The Duomo di Milan (Milan Cathedral) is dedicated to the Nativity of St. Mary and is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan.  The cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete, with constuction beginning in 1386 and the final details completed in 1965.  It is the largest church in Italy (the larger St. Peter's Basilica is in the State of Vatican City) and is one of the largest in the world.

Duomo di Milan

Alongside the square in front of the Duomo, the covered Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II hosts restaurants, bars, and high end stores.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Proceeding down Via Dante from the square in front of the Duomo, we head toward Castelo Sforzesco, passing shops, restaurants, and a band playing for whoever walks by.

Via Dante, with band

Crossing the street in front of Castelo Sforzesco, we admire the old-style trams scurrying up and down the streets.

Trams

 

Casello Sforzesco is a mdieval fortification built in the 15th century and enlarged in the 16th and 17th centuries to become one of the largest citadels in Europe.  Extensively rebuilt in the late 19th century, it now houses several of Milan's museums and art collections.

Casello Sforzesco

Walking through the casello

Emerging on the other side of the museums, we enter Parco Sempione, which is full of people enjoying the beautiful weather and the expansive, delightful park.  At the far end of the park we see Arco della Pace (Arch of Peace) in Porta Sempione, a gate that was part of the original Roman walls of Milan

Arco della Pace

Through the park

Arco della Pace

We head back toward the hotel, passing through a corner of Giardini Pubblici di Porta Venezia and cutting down a side street, where we stop for an aperitivo.

Passing through the gardens

Aperitivo on a side street

After our walk and aperitivo, it's time for dinner and we wander over to Sabatini, a few blocks from our hotel, where we dine well on Catalana di polpo e gamberi (octopus and shrimp tomato salad), risotto alla milanese (with saffron), and spaghetti aglio e olio (garlic and oil).  Simple and incredible!

Salad

Risotto, spaghetti

Back at our hotel, we stop for a while on the roof to watch the sun set over Milan.

Sunset over Milan

What a perfect ending to another great trip to Italy.  We'll be back soon!