1) The document provides a guided experience of hiking the Maple Pass Loop trail, describing the scenic views of lakes, mountains, forests, and wildlife encountered along the way. 2) It notes the complexity of the tiny ecosystem tucked behind the mountain curtains and discusses feeling simultaneously alive but never at home in either the wild or urban settings. 3) The hike is described clockwise, tackling the steeper initial portions, with many breathtaking views of the surrounding mountain ranges and lakes along the loop back.

1. A G U I D E D E X P E R I E N C E O F M A P L E P A S S L O O P
I S S U E 0 0F A L L 2 0 1 8 P A S S I N G B Y
Murray Behar
Passing By

2. The large boulders here create an ideal home for the marmots. Their tiny squeals echo, seemingly on a cadence, echo so well,
they’re difficult to pinpoint. The last few switchbacks are a breeze compared to the start of the hike. Up and to the right they’ll take
you, little by little. Reaching the top, cut a 180, and follow the ridge back, overlooking the lake. Fill your lungs with the cold mountain
air – you’re here. Absorb everything around you. There is an isolated ledge at the end of the ridge with an ideal vantage point of Lake
Ann below. Everything surrounds you. Diagonally down and to the left is a large plateau before a sudden drop. Scanning along the
slopes from the back of the lake, to directly opposite of you, banners of colors once again lay upon the mountain sides. From white, to
blues, greens, reds, and yellows, each with their own intricacies. To the right is yet another ramp of rocks, bordered on its right by the
forest, leading into the marsh below. The lake is a familiar blue, with a green-blue border. In it is a small isolated oval island with few
trees, peaceful in their solidarity. The lake’s right border is lined with fallen trees, resembling an elements made dam. The slowed water
trickles onward, creating the marsh. The marsh is a bright lime green among the evergreens to either side. This will be the physical peak
of your journey, if you remain on the trail, and the remainder is much less harsh. I’ll leave that to you – to be your own guide, and write
your own story.
During my visits to this ridge, I am always in awe at the complexity of this tiny ecosystem, tucked behind these mountain
curtains. I always feel so alive, but never at home. I imagine the residents here see us nothing more than passerbys, in much the same
way we view pigeons, prancing around our concrete forests. But I don’t feel at home there either. Where do I, one of the terraformers,
belong if not here nor there? I imagine my home of belonging as a perfect blend -- not too wild, not too tame. A place that doesn’t
require tinted lenses, or paint, to be one of beautiful color. A place that smell like nothing in particular, except for perhaps the fauna
within it. A place void of the constant background noise of machinery. I assume most fellow humans must feel this too, and that gives
me hope, blind or not. Our current rising consciousness to our destructive habits must surely bring about this haven I dream of. Not in
my lifetime, but in our collective juniors’, and that is enough to put me at ease, just as much as sitting on this ledge.
Before embarking on Maple Pass, decide in which direction you wish to hike it. Going clockwise tackles the shorter but
steeper portion first on the way up; counterclockwise on the way down. We’re going to be going clockwise in this guided journey; my
knees don’t enjoy descending steep grades.You’re able to get the hardest portion out of the way first, and focus on the amazing experi-
ence you’re walking into thereafter.
Most of the trail to the summit is packed with a plethora of green foliage. Fungi are scattered about if the season is right, but
only reveal themselves if sought. As the numbers of trees whither as while the last few loop-backs in the set, you know you’re approach-
ing Rainy Lake, the larger of the two on this loop. Looking out from the highest viewpoint close to the trail, the mountain range sur-
rounding you seems endless, each a canvas of its own. The lake below seems minuscule. It’s a culmination of its surrounding mountains
-- the artists that created this composition. Scanning the slopes on every side of the lake, ones eyes flow from lakeside to mountain top,
shifting with each new stream of color. It’s beautifully organic and chaotic, but seemingly deliberate. The slopes directly across the lake
from the trail are vertical streams of green, perfectly interlocked on their right into streams of red, into streams of white and so on; each
stream flowing down into a blue-green pool. The slope below and to the right consists mainly of evergreens, scarce at first, increasing in
density the closer to lakeside they get. They too want to be closer. Separating the far right snow-packed ramp to the lake, and the trees
below, is a rocky cliff-side. One could be content with heading back now, but this is only one of many breathtaking sites on this journey.
Here to the peak, expect much shorter flora.
The grade is much simpler for now, and is a nice break
for the legs. A variety of low growing plants and decent
sized rocks occupy this space. Your view begins to slowly
expand as the trees skulk into the forest. The ground is
so dense with roots, footsteps give off a low bellowing
-- an eerie hollow noise. This has always intrigued me on
my trips to Maple Pass, and I funnily can’t help but step
gingerly. About a quarter the way through this hike, you’ll
come upon a cliff-side.
The start of the cliff-side is open to the backside
of Rainy Lake. With such a small percentage of change in
perspective, one is given additional insight. Scenery you
weren’t aware of previously suddenly makes itself known.
Facing out, and looking to the left, the viewpoint from
earlier is much steeper than it seems from above. Behind
the mountain quenching the lake with freshly melted
snow is a valley all its own. There are large sections of only
rocks and boulders that seem to have originated from the
cliff-side. Small rolling hills of various colored flowers, low
growing plants, and few trees, find their homes betweenRainy Lake pictured above.
and around these rock ensembles. Looking down your next expedition, all is open on your left – to the fields and mountaintops in the
distance. While not steep enough to raise immediate concern, don’t risk falling upon the rocks. The right side is a steep face, probably
15 feet high on average for as far as one can see until a right-hand bend. At one point, the face to the right is low enough to step up on.
Looking over the edge here, you see yet another field of large rocks, tumbling down to a wooded area surrounding a marsh.
The opposite mountain face looks heavily wooded, and you can faintly make out the second half of the journey cutting through the
trees. Reaching the bend, the peak of the trail is visible far off in the distance. The trail is straight for a majority, with an excess amount
of switchbacks right before reaching the top. The cliff-side to the right is less steep now, and begins much farther away. A majority of
it is large rocks, with few strangleholds of flowers. The drop-off on the left is almost exclusively boulders for at least 20 yards out at the
smallest portion. Far into the valley, tucked into a corner of 2 mountains sits what looks like an additional marsh, feeding Rainy Lake. It
is uniformly green, perhaps caused by the low growing plants covering the surrounding hills. You’ll begin to hear the distinctive chirp-
ing of marmots all around.
Lake Ann pictured above on the left; The forementioned ridge on the right.
Lake Ann view from the ridge, pictured above. A bear watching me intently, up and to the right.
Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay - an example of what’s possible, to the right.
Andre. Photograph of Lake Ann. Washington Trails Association, 28 Sep. 2018, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2018-10-04.2404435471
Short Beta. Photograph of Rainy Lake. Hiking Project, 13 Oct. 2016, https://www.hikingproject.com/photo/7024075
TheGardens-Introduction-01”. Gardens by the Bay, http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/the-gardens/our-story/history-and-development.html
All other photos by Murray Behar.
2 3