Ever changing weather. Clouds rolled in and out. Thunder storm in both afternoons. Lots of mosquitoes. Abundant flowers at the passes (more to come), especially on the slope right after Maple Pass.
First mile is in the woods. With starting elevation ~4850 ft, the trail quickly emerges above tree line. Zigzag up and around half of Lake Ann, at 2.5 miles, reaching Heather Pass (6200 ft). Gorgeous view of Glacier Peak and other snow draped cliffs to the right (south?), open meadows (huckleberry + heather), breezy (less bugs).
Retracting 3/4 mile, a side trail leads west to the green/yellow cloudy glacial Lewis Lake (5800 ft). ~1 mile on loose boulder. Rain started and made the progress precarious and visibility severely reduced. Reached Lewis after ~1 hour, drenched. Luckily rain stopped, made cooking possible, and the lake reappeared. A large camping site next to the lake was occupied by 3 tents. 
Sunny Sunday morning. At 10am headed up towards Wing Lake (~7000 ft) at the foot of Black Peak. 1 hr later, reached the beautiful blue lake: clear, deep, ice floating on the surface. 4 very nice camp sites in the vicinity, only 1 tent. Equally swamped with mosquitoes. Many larch trees standing in boulders.
Maple Pass is one mile + 400 ft above of Heather Pass. Windy. Thunder rolled in. Here is the most pleasant ridge walk, among flowers. At some points, can see both Rainy Lake and Lake Ann. 
Rainy Lake is prettier and bigger, has a nice waterfall. The last mile or 2 are steeper and mostly in woods. Highway noise. Once reaching the board walk, turn left for the parking lot. 5:30pm.
3.5 hrs from Seattle. Hwy 20 at Rainy Pass (37 miles east of Newhalem). Total ~11 miles, ~4000 ft, ~30 mosquito bites.
