Easy Pass

Location: North Cascades Pass

Length: 7 miles roundtrip

Elevation: Gain/2800 ft. Highest/6500 ft.

Difficulty: Slightly Severe

Time: 5 hours

What a hike! You start in the forest amongst the pine and cedars for a good while winding your way up along Easy Pass Creek with cool, rustic boardwalks and a very legit bridge made out of some fine old growth. I tried hiking here earlier in the season and the trail was completely flooded out, and even this late in the year we came across some very wet spots. 

After a nice cardio/booty workout in the woods, you finally break out into an airy field of boulders and endless blueberry patches. We saw probably 4-5 marmots that were absolutely fearless. They are so cute, fuzzy, and fat! The blueberries were amazing. After visiting with the critters and adding to the big inukshuk, we got some serious elevation gain back in the woods for a short while before breaking out into another field of rocks. This time, the rocks were chunky and so easy to trip and sprain an ankle on. As the rocks get finer, you have to deal with slipping up a very steep push to the final destination. Take your time during this last push, bring your hiking poles if that's what you're into, and do not bring children or pets on this hike. In fact, pets aren't allowed due to the conservation of wildlife up there.

The top gives you a tremendous payoff since the view is hidden until the very end... Once you get to the top, the trail, of course, veers steeply down into the valley below Mt. Arriva and continues for who knows how long. Bring your binoculars as I am sure you can spot some animals in the vast expanse of wilderness. The view of Fisher Peak next to Mt. Arriva is incredibly gorgeous and your eyes can barely take it all in. From the same spot, you can look back to the left from where you came and see The Needles of the eastern side. The wind whistled through the valley like it was straight out of a movie and although it's still warm out, we were quite chilly at the top during peak daylight hours.

I highly recommend this hike!

A little motivation to push through to the top!

What a marmot.