Went out to climb Glacier Peak this past week and, since we live in Leavenworth, decided to go for an alternate approach to save us several hours of drive time. We ended up hiking in on Cady Ridge Trail, taking the PCT out to White Pass and Glacier Peak, and then descending via the Little Wenatchee River Trail. The last two miles of the road into the TH are rough, we made it with a low clearance vehicle but not without bottoming out a couple times. Not ideal. 

Day 1: Little Wenatchee Trailhead to Dishpan Gap via Cady Ridge Trail

Got a late jump on the day, hitting the trail at 7pm to avoid the heat. We hiked in a few hours, including about an hour in the dark, to set up camp at Dishpan Gap where there was a small, stagnant tarn. This was the first water we had seen in the ~8 miles since we started. Some steep sections on the climb up to Cady Ridge, but trail is generally in good condition. 

Day 1 totals: 9 miles, 3.5 hours, ~3500' elevation

Day 2: Dishpan Camp to Glacier Peak Base Camp via the PCT 

The mosquitoes were awful when we woke up, forcing us to get moving quickly that morning.  We cruised out on the high meadows of the PCT to White Pass. The trail here is in great shape and offers fantastic views. Bugs made sure our breaks were short along this section.

After arriving at White Pass, we turned onto Foam Creek Trail towards base camp. The trail is initially well-maintained as it traverses the hillside northeast of White Pass. A climb down, up and over a second ridge takes you into a rocky glacial basin. The trail here gets considerably rougher and more difficult to follow. A slow slog through this basin clambering over rocks, hopping streams and skirting across snowfields gets you to base camp at ~7300 between the White Chuck and Suiattle Glaciers. There isn't any glacier travel before base camp. No views of glacier peak from camp but many flat sites complete with rock bivys to block the wind, which was prevalent. No bugs at all up here. We crawled into the sleeping bags early to get ready for an early morning summit bid. 

Day 2 totals: 11 miles, 6 hours, ~4000' elevation

Day 3: Base Camp to Summit, back to car via PCT/Little Wenatchee River

We set out for the summit at 4am. The trail is well defined and easy to follow out of base camp, going up and over a ridge and then switchbacking down a snowfield on the backside. The route then goes up the moraine near the edge of the Suiattle glacier. Eventually it becomes easier to move onto the glacier rather than clambering around on the moraine, so we threw the crampons on and followed the bootpack on the edge of the glacier. We decided to rope up to traverse over to the Cool Glacier, but didn't encounter any crevasses or funkiness on the well-defined bootpack. 

Getting onto the Cool Glacier is the crux of the route. There is a snow-bridge immediately followed by a hop-over crevasse. Other groups we encountered on the way up didn't rope up for this section, but we were happy that we did. The snow-bridge was wide but there is an overhanging lip on the crevasse immediately after it. I do not recommend going all the way to the edge of this crevasse to start your hop/step, since it is maybe 6 inches thick at the furthest point of the lip. This felt easy and secure for us but could get trickier in the next couple weeks as the crevasse widens. The glaciers on the route were in great shape other than this short (~30 foot) section. 

Once we were on the Cool Glacier, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. There were a few more small crevasses on the bootpack on the glacier, but they were very easy to step over. A few bigger crevasses in other parts of the glacier off the path, it'll be interesting to see what it looks like in a couple weeks. We hit the moraine ridge at the end of the glacier and stashed our rope and harnesses for the final push to the summit. Ascend loose scree on a well defined path until you hit the steepest part of the route ~300 feet below the summit. This section was a mix of rock, scree and small snowfields but is never more than easy class 2/3. We made it to the summit at 8am, 4 hours from when we started. Incredible views from up here! 

It took us just under three hours to descend back to base camp, where we packed up and headed out for the car. While we were gone, rodents got into our food and even chewed a hole in a sleeping pad.  Bring a bear can or find some other creative way to secure your stuff, no places to hang up here. The Little Wenatchee River Trail is very overgrown, but still easy to follow. A serious slog, but we elected to take it back down rather than do the extra elevation on Cady Ridge. We got back to the car at 7pm after a long, long descent from base camp. This approach is no joke!

Day 3 totals: 26 miles, 15 hours, ~6000' elevation

Overall this was a fantastic trip and our whole crew's first time up Glacier Peak. Our group is relatively new to glacier travel and this felt like a great intro for us.

After work on Saturday, my fiance and I headed up the Little Wenatchee to check out Cady Ridge and the surrounding area. It was later in the evening by the time we started, and we only made it 5 miles in that night. As previously described, the trail is pretty monotonous for the first three miles. After that you begin to get glimpses of Wenatchee Ridge and Poe Mountain. The huckleberries were also very plentiful, so it may be wise to bring a Ziploc. If you are backpacking in, know that the number of camp spots along Cady Ridge are limited. There is a nice larger site at about 3.9 miles and we did not find the next site until about 6.25 miles in. Water is even more scarce along the ridge, until you hit the PCT. On Sunday morning, we stashed our gear at Lake Sally Ann and proceeded to day hike out to Kodak Peak. There are plenty of small streams along the PCT that would make for a good water source. The trail to Kodak peak is more of a community trail that heads up the eastern ridgeline. You will want to go to the junction where the PCT begins to head down towards Indian Pass and White Pass. This is a short detour that is well worth the effort. The weather could not have been more excellent, and the views of Glacier Peak were astounding. Expect to run into plenty of people, especially around Lake Sally Ann.

We were super excited and had planned to do a trail run up Cady Ridge and then loop around on the PCT and return via Cady Creek. 

Then, got a bit confused at the first junction and went right up little Wenatchee River. Went 1 mile up before noticing and decided to just keep going. It's brushy! Like bushwhacking through sharp, wet plants above your head all the way to the meadow. It was miserable. My legs are all cut up and I was soaked. 

Once you get to the meadow it's beautiful, but the bugs don't care that you're wearing deet. We ended up running/hiking while eating lunch or reapplying sunscreen, because if we stopped, we were swarmed. 

Once we made it to the PCT, everything was amazing. 

Taking the Cady Ridge trail down was nice, but dusty. 

Overall a great day to be running in the mountains. Just be warned about the misleading sign to Cady Ridge from the TH or be prepared for miles of bushwhacking. 

Just got back from a 3-day, 2-night loop in the Henry Jackson and Glacier Peak Wilderness. Starting from the Little Wenatchee Trailhead, we hiked up the Cady Ridge Trail to Lake Sally Ann and the PCT, day-hiked north along the PCT to near White Pass (with a side-trip up Kodak Peak), and then back out to the car via the PCT and Cady Creek Trail.

Cady Ridge Trail was in great shape. A few steep and loose sections, but nothing that crazy. Fairly easy to navigate even with a large pack. Once you are on top of the ridge, the walking becomes much easier for the last several miles. Great views of the surrounding terrain and Glacier Peak. Wildflowers are definitely a little past peak here. As a previous report says, lots of annoying fly things on the Cady Ridge trail but no mosquitoes that we saw. No water. 

Lake Sally Ann made for a great camp site. Lots of spots to choose from, and only a few other groups mid-week. Mosquitoes were present but easily kept at bay with a little citronella and an intermittent breeze. Easy to get water from the stream flowing into the lake. 

On Day 2 we hiked north along the PCT. We had thought about camping somewhere along the crest for better views, but were worried about lack of water sources. There turned out to be an abundance of small streams and trickles along the PCT between Lake Sally Ann and White Pass. I would be worried about most of them drying up in the next few weeks though. We made it nearly to White Pass before turning around for the day. Took a detour up Kodak Peak on the way back to Lake Sally Ann and had dinner up there while we watched the sun go down. AMAZING views from the top, Glacier Peak kept going in and out of the clouds. This would make a great (dry) campsite, though you could grab water from one of the little streams along the PCT just north of the peak for probably at least a few more weeks. Lots of wildflowers along this whole section of the PCT but again seems to be a little past peak already. Peak bug season seems to be past already as well...we didn't notice too many. 

To make a loop and hopefully a more gradual descent, we decided to return via Cady Pass and the Cady Creek Trail. If I had to do it again, I would just go back down the Cady Ridge Trail. All sources have the Cady Creek return at about 8-9 miles from Lake Sally Ann, but it felt like FAR longer. The Cady Creek trail is passable, but super annoying. Lots of roots, rocks, and tall brush make for slow walking and there are basically no views to speak of whatsoever. There were a good deal of ripe salmonberries, huckleberries, and thimbleberries to break up the monotony, but that was about the only good thing I have to say about this trail. 

Made a loop from Little Wenatchee Ford trailhead ascending the Poe Mountain trail to the summit then following the Wenatchee Ridge / Poet Traverse to the PCT, following the PCT south to Cady Ridge trail and descending that to the trailhead. Worked out be 19.6 miles and 6900' of ascent with tagging the summits of Longfellow and Bryant. Was supposed to be a scenic tour but spent the whole day in a cloud; soaked without every getting rained on. My route info is based on my first time there and limited viz so, yeah. The wet made this route much more hazardous because of all the traversing steep vegetated slopes with minimal trail. I would highly recommend a dry day. You could even get some views.

Poe Mountain trail:  Trail is in great shape. Couple logs, but nothing more than knee height. Flowers fading. Began in the dark so not sure on low elevation berries. Up above 5000' the alpine berries are mostly green, maybe a little green/red, blossoms still too. 

Poet Ridge- Poe to Longfellow:  Often a decent track to follow through here. Gets you used to the theme of route which is traversing on the W slopes and gaining the ridge top when its wide enough. There is a small basin W of Pt 6540 with some campsites and the only running water I saw on the ridge. Just past this is a larger basin with large, flat talus. I made my way traversing upwards across this until NW of Longfellow's summit. I took a 3rd/4th class route up the cliffs to get onto the summit ridge about 400' NW of the summit. With better viz you could probably find something better as is mentioned in another TR. On the N side of the ridge, it is easy to the summit. 

Poet Ridge- Longfellow to Bryant: I found this section the most challenging as I found the least trail through here. One thing I found was the ground vegetation cover was denser on the W side of the ridge, while the easterly aspect had more exposed soil which made easier and safer travel in these wet conditions. I suspect the deep drifts on the leeward side of the ridge melt out late and support less dense ground cover. I often stayed near the ridge, on the easterly side. Some rocky scrambles forced me off the ridge, but I regained it before getting to Bryant. I found more of a trail closer to Bryant. The main trail traverses slopes on Bryant's west side. I opted again stay east which worked well here. I traversed east below the steep rocks on Bryant's south ridge until I was able to pick a steep but mellow route on rocks and grass up the east side straight to the summit. 

Poet Ridge- Bryant to PCT: Going north from Bryant's summit on the ridge was aesthetic easy ridge walking until Pt. 6296 cliffs out and forced me west. I dropped about 400' then regained the ridge and found a nice basin to descend on its NE side. The trail was faint but followable down to a faint ridge gap at 5460' from which the trail comes on strong. I don't recall much difficultly with travel from there to the PCT. 

PCT-Cady Ridge Trail- Even though I was soaked, my water supply was empty by this point. On the PCT I passed by a couple trickles that I didn't like, but probably could have made work. I used a good stream just south of Ward's Pass, north of Cady Ridge turn off. 

In this wet, slippery conditions I found myself relying a lot on my poles to control slips and slides. Below is the only video I could find of the technique which is adapted from an ice axe position, piolet ramasse. Take note of the comments below the video that 1. Grip the poles together as close to the tips as practical for strength, and 2. Keep the poles perpendicular or steeper to the slope for more bite.

Works on snow and wet heather.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmHtLnJqLP0