The alarm went off at 5:15 in the morning, I started the coffee, then woke Jameson. I was super excited that he wanted to go hiking with me today. Wally arrived at my house about 6am and we hit the road. We made the long drive to Mazama where we made the mandatory stop at the bakery to pick up a baguette. If you have never had one before, put it on your life list. Back on the road we found the turn off for the Easy Pass Trailhead about 28 miles east of the road to Mazama. 

Easy Pass has been on my to do list forever in an effort to hike as many trails as I can that feature the golden alpine larch. Having completed 16 other hikes in the Cascades in search of the illusive deciduous conifer, I’m down to a short list of destinations yet to hike in Washington. To be honest I’m quite thankful due to the amount of people now venturing into the mountains. Hoards of people descend upon these fragile environments to walk off trail for the perfect shot for their social media account not thinking of anyone else on the trail or the damage they could be causing. Trash is a common site on these trails with thoughtless people paying no attention to leave no trace principles. I escape to the mountains to leave people behind, to find peace and tranquility, and to have honest conversations with myself, a little soul searching if you will. I know that being out here makes me part of the problem, but I’m always respectful to others and the land, and I rarely repeat a hike to help minimize the amount of boots on the ground. 

We quickly found the trailhead with about a dozen other vehicles at the end of a short paved road. We parked the car, loaded the packs, and took one more bite from the warm baguette before hitting the trail. Just beyond the trailhead sign the path dropped a few feet to sand. I’m assuming during the highwater of spring runoff Granite Creek must overflow into this side channel. A short way down the sandy trail we reached a rough-hewn set of stairs to a sturdy log spanning Granite Creek with a good hand rail. Once across the creek the trail took off uphill, gradually at first but then we ran into a series of big switchbacks as the grade kicked it up a notch. The forest here is stunning, very different from forests on the dryer east side of the Cascade Crest. We walked the moss lined trail through cedar groves and passed fern as we climbed higher. Eventually we replaced the sound of the North Cascade Highway with that of Easy Pass Creek and its many waterfalls. The shady forest trail eventually gave us our first glimpse toward the high country at an open crossing of Easy Pass Creek. Once across the creek the forest gave way to lush vegetation and vine maple, below freezing temps at night left the trail under our feet frozen and covered in frost. Eventually the trail popped out into an open meadow as the dirt trail gave way to rock and we entered a series of switchbacks through talus. 

The views began to open up with New Morning Peak stealing the show, and just to her left, Easy Pass, our objective. Fall color was everywhere, which is what we were after, there is nothing like an autumn hike in the mountains. As we made the rocky climb Jameson noticed what he thought was a bear on the hill side, it was actually a few hikers making their way down from a giant ice cave on the hill side. Due to the steep nature of the ridge line above, I doubt the north facing ice cave ever sees the sun, even in the peak of summer. Ice caves are very dangerous to enter, though very tempting, many people have died in the cascades when the icy ceiling calves off crushing the unsuspecting hiker below. We continued uphill as the grade pushed even steeper. The trail, always in the shade, only teased us with the sun just out of reach, even with the amount of work we were putting in I was ready to feel some heat. The trail left the scree slope and reentered the trees through a series of switchbacks, we pulled over at one to take in the view back down the Easy Pass Creek drainage and beyond toward lofty summits. 

Finally we broke away from the trees as we entered the upper basin. Red blueberry bushes ablaze in fall color lined the rocky path as we switched backed up and up. At one switch back we entered the sun which warmed me to the soul, if felt amazing like a warm embrace. The final approach to the pass pushed the trail out below massive granite cliffs that faded to rocky summits above. Golden alpine larch lined the ridges above as they ran down to the pass like a yellow fence. Triumphantly we took those final steps to the summit of Easy Pass, no easy feat. We climbed over 3,000 feet of elevation in just over 3 miles to get to the top, we were ready for a break. We passed the park boundary into North Cascades National Park and worked our way west from the pass above the main trail down to Fisher Creek to find a stellar view of the whole valley. We readily dropped our packs and grabbed our water bottles and lunch. Jameson and I shared a buffalo chicken wrap while taking it all in. The weather was perfect, glorious blue skies with hardly a cloud and no wind to speak of. The vista was jaw dropping, formidable summits stretched as far as you could see, the view south and west featured famous North Cascade summits such as Fisher Peak, Black Peak, Mount Arriva, Mount Logan, Eldorado Peak, and Mesahchie Peak. Below our feet stretched the entire Fisher Creek drainage and beyond, a popular hiker access point to further destinations deep within North Cascades National Park. The famous golden larch were just at the start of their peak color change with some in full color but mostly in a yellow to bright green phase. I’ve been chasing these trees for decades, you can tell someone all about them but you really have to experience it in person to understand how magical they are. After lunch we wandered the pass gawking at larch trees before taking one more break atop a rocky outcrop to soak in the view east toward Silver Star Peak, The Needles, Tower Mountain, and Holliway Mountain. We took in the views for as long as we could stand the company of the people who decided to stand right in front of the pictures we were taking. I really don’t miss the Cascade crowds now that I primarily hike in Idaho, and Montana, but that is changing too. 

We bid farewell to the larches and began our descent. We picked up the rocky trail back down through the maze of switchbacks and once again had to enter the cold shade. The hike out was rockier than we remembered so when we finally reached loamy dirt our joints thanked us. With creaky knees we eventually reached the trailhead. We unpacked the gear and loaded up for the five hour drive home. The Methow Valley and North Cascades will always have a special place in my heart, these are the old family stomping grounds and I am forever grateful that my dad kept bringing us back here when I was child, and now I get to share it with my son. Easy Pass is an amazing hike with stunning views if you can tolerate the climb. We covered over 8 miles with around 3,000 feet of elevation gain. Click the link to see more pictures. Easy Pass Hike Photos