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stever
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stever
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 7:06 am 
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slabbyd
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 7:50 am 
Well with the most magnificent larch stands in all the North Cascades where else would you go? If you don't like crowds I guess you just have to settle for the scrawny B-list larches elsewhere. Saw a similar post regarding Frosty Mtn on the north side of the border.

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BeardoMcGrath
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 9:03 am 
Driving by on Saturday this sounds right, we guessed at least 500 cars lined along the roadway. I suppose some people could have been going up to Cutthroat Pass, rather than the Maple Pass Loop. A more reasonable number of cars were parked at Easy Pass so it seems like there were some good alternates. A few years ago I arrived at Maple Pass with the parking lot full and thought that was bad; times have changed!

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neek
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 9:18 am 
Even Granite Mtn was packed over the weekend. I thought non-larchy places would finally be getting a break, but I guess not. Felt sorry for the WTA crew there, having to halt their work every few seconds to let people by. Yet they must have known what they were getting into.

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NorthwestWanderer
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 9:26 am 
This will be the new norm until more extra curricular activities are allowed again sadly. That same weekend though i backpacked for 3 days for larches and only saw a few people mostly on day 1. No one on day 3 (saturday)

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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 9:27 am 
I drove by on Saturday. I didn't even try to guesstimate how many cars, but a crap ton for sure.

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pula58
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 10:48 am 
Is this all because of Covid? Or is it that the Seattle population has increased a lot, and also, the percentage of people who like hiking and the mountains has perhaps also gone up?

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Foist
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 11:20 am 
Depends what you mean by "this all." If you mean the massive increase in crowds versus last year, then it's basically all Covid. If you mean the even more massive increase versus 5-10 years ago, then yes, those are also factors.

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kiliki
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 11:54 am 
In addition to the substantial local crowds, Maple Pass, along with Blue Lake, Colchuck Lake and other "Instagram famous" hikes, have become destinations for people across the country. I look at travel message boards like Trip Advisor and in the last few years it seems like every person planning some kind of trip that includes WA's national parks includes these hikes on their itinerary (yes I know they aren't in national parks but these travelers include them in their itinerary). They seem to be well known and popular among people that don't even seem to be hikers. Even during this pandemic year there were plenty of people who booked vacations to come and do these hikes.

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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 12:01 pm 
kiliki wrote:
In addition to the substantial local crowds, Maple Pass, along with Blue Lake, Colchuck Lake and other "Instagram famous" hikes, have become destinations for people across the country.
That reminds me, we made a pit stop at the Cutthroat Lake TH on the way back on Saturday, and there were 3 cars with Massachusetts license plates, 2 right next to each other. Probably not a coincidence. That parking lot was also overflowing, not quite all the way back down to Hwy 20 but close.

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Foist
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 12:47 pm 
Wow. Cutthroat Lake used to be very quiet. I once about 6 years ago took the family on a sunny weekend day during larch season and saw no one.

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olderthanIusedtobe
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 1:25 pm 
Foist wrote:
Wow. Cutthroat Lake used to be very quiet. I once about 6 years ago took the family on a sunny weekend day during larch season and saw no one.
Yeah, a lot of used to be quiet hikes are far from it anymore. It wasn't that long ago that Gothic Basin and Hidden Lake LO didn't see much traffic, but both have gotten slammed in recent years. I guess at least I got to enjoy them several times when they were less traveled. Anyway that idea that going further away from Seattle gets you away from the crowds is an outdated notion, it's simply not true anymore.

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seattlenativemike
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 2:02 pm 
When I hiked into the Enchantments Thursday cars were parked to about the bathroom. When I came out Sunday it went about a half mile down the road.

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nordique
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 2:03 pm 
Of course, if you in turn want to visit Massachusetts and see the fall foliage, you may be required to agree to quartenteen.

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Kim Brown
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Kim Brown
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PostTue Oct 06, 2020 2:13 pm 
seattlenativemike wrote:
When I hiked into the Enchantments Thursday cars were parked to about the bathroom. When I came out Sunday it went about a half mile down the road.
Only a half mile! Thinks are looking up then.

"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area." Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert
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