Grasshopper Pass along the PCT

 We drove up to Harts Pass from Mazama on a rough forest service road, and then drove the two miles to the Brown Bear Trailhead at 6,410 ft. We hiked south on the PCT for 5+ miles to Grasshopper Pass, with on overall elevation gain of 1,350 ft. This is an open section  of the PCT with a gentle grade and fabulous views.

 The trail goes through the forest for about 20 yards before entering the open slopes. Even in the forest, we found wildflowers blooming.

 We soon crossed a large talus field where we saw several pikas running around the rocks.

 After the talus field, the trail would cross many slopes filled with various wildflowers in bloom.

 View to the southeast of the many peaks in this area.

 It was so lovely to walk among the wildflowers with views that stretched out for miles and miles

 The trail had a few turns around the slopes at the beginning of the hike.

 There were huge patches of lewisia in bloom.

 Excited to see what was around the next bend

 more mountains and fields of wildflowers!

 loved seeing the mixture of colors

 everywhere we looked was a delight to the eyes

















looking ahead to where the south bound PCT will take us today

 part of the trail was on top of the ridges

 in places, there was so much Partridgefoot, in seemed to tumble down the hillsides in avalanches.















panoramic view along one portion of this trail

 We were continually hiking into views

 Looking over the ridge towards the west

 views to the southeast

 enjoying the many colorful blooms alongside us















Wide angle view of Azurite Peak and Mount Ballard from near Grasshopper Pass:

we continued hiking until the trail began to quickly descend down towards Glacier Pass.



On our hike back, we continued to enjoy the wildflowers and the views, now seen from the other direction, and I couldn't help but turn around for all the views.

more wildflowers we saw along the trail: