Going slowly uphill in the woods for ~20 minutes until an open slope with good view. Then the dusty trail goes back in the woods, soon passing the branch to Lake Ann to your left. Keep straight, you'll start zigzag going up over a flowering slope and soon you'll see the lake below you. The flowers were mostly dead now, still some aster and fireweed in bloom.At about mile 2, you reach Heather Pass. Yes, a lot of heather (but flowers are gone by now), quite a lot of huckleberry -- they are small, but still very tasty. Here multiple branches going to different campsites.
Take the one going to the right and up, over the flat pass. Here you can see Black Peak. Go down over a long talus field to Lewis Lake. Various cairns pointing to different directions. It has a beautiful glacier blue. A group of people lounging on the rocks at the lake shore. The lake shore is somewhat steep - couldn't find a good campsite.
Continue on, the trail goes along the right side of the lake, then it goes up and up for about a mile until Wing Lake - no glacier color. Chilly. Again the trail goes along the right side of the lake. ~A dozen tents here scattered around. A lot of larches. Probably should come a month later. Pitched the tent, and after dinner, moved to a great spot (but farther from the lake). Beautiful sunset. No bugs.Moon was bright. Not too cold.
8/30, Sunday. Sunny in the morning. The trail on my map indicates the ascent via the left ridge. However, looking at the terrain, the right one seems to be easier. The left side is too steep and loose. We did follow where everyone else was going, the left side. It's all rock, and then scree to the saddle. The scree is very loose and steep, especially closer to the saddle - I think this is the most dangerous part. The view from the saddle is already amazing.
From the saddle, it has a trail going along the ridge for awhile, then it's rock scramble. The very top 10-20 feet requires hands to pull you up. I actually went up one way and came down a different side, both risky. The view is stupendous - well worth the effort. Unfortunately, my phone's battery was at its end. I snapped a few shots without seeing on the display. Had to cut the top and stitch them together to form a panorama. If you don't want to risk the last short scramble, there's a flat spot (or false summit) that makes an excellent destination. The view is equally good.Coming down from the saddle is the worst. The two girls behind me were kicking rocks down towards us. Should have brought a helmet. Finally safe at the camp. Relaxed a bit, and headed out. On the way back, I walked to the other side of Lewis Lake hopping rocks instead of following the trail. It's more direct and faster. By then, the weather had turned. Much cooler. As soon as we reached the main trail, encountered regular hikers. Not many today, as it was by now very cloudy.
Back to the car at 6pm. It started to rain on the drive back to Seattle.
This trip is better done at least a month earlier when snow is covering all the rocks and scree. Would be more flowers and mosquitoes, but shouldn't be so dusty. Or, come here a month later for the larch color.
