Spent a wonderful couple days taking in fall colors and eating hordes of blueberries and huckleberries - meeting some PCT thru-hikers, too, who were ready for the finish line!

Road to TH up to Blanca Lake turnoff and beyond is rough but passable. Just take it slow. We saw a Honda Civic at the TH. Bathroom was in great shape! 

We hiked North Fork to Passing Creek to PCT to Dishpan, then down North Fork - camping at the 13.4-mile site as we started down. The water there is a small trickle of a creek maybe 0.1 or 0.2 above the site. A note that we didn't notice the 14.6-mile site mentioned in "Backpacking Washington" - at least it's not obvious. But you can consistently hear water, so you're never that far from a source - you might just have to go off trail. No water at Dishpan Gap fyi (as expected this late in the season). 

Overall, an awesome 21-mile loop despite the smoke that blew our way Sunday morning. 

Berries everywhere! We did a 2 night overnight from the North Fork Trailhead. After spending the first night at the campsite of the first river crossing, we packed up in the morning and headed uphill, through the wildfire smoke, reaching dishpan gap about 11am. A steady stream of northbound PCT hikers, and a brief rainshower, lightened our mood as we made our way south from dishpan, past lake sally ann, and down to to cady pass, and then back down pass creek, all in all a 12 mile day.

Overnight showers and thunderstorms got everything wet and dampened our enthusiasm to take on more miles on day 3, so we hiked back down to the trail head after helping ourselves to a few liters of ripe huckleberries around camp. 

A beautiful area! Road was in good condition with only a few potholes to slow down for. We counted a dozen treefalls across the trail, but nothing too exciting or inconvenient. The sky and pass creek trails were in good shape but lightly trafficked, especially when compared to the 20+ hikers we saw during our few miles on the PCT. The berries were unbelievably thick from about 4000ft up. Yum! 

For Labor Day Weekend, I did a one-night lollipop loop from the North Fork Skykomish River -> Pass Creek -> PCT -> North Fork Skykomish River trails, camping at Lake Sally Ann. 21.4 miles and 3500 ft elevation. This follows the hike description of "Dishpan Gap" in Craig Romano's Backpacking Washington, 2nd edition.

Road: The Index-Galena road is smooth sailing, while Forest Service Road 63 has some bumpy potholes and one rocky section before the Blanca lake parking lot.

Crowds: I arrived 10am on a Saturday and there were maybe 15-20 cars at the trailhead. There was still space to park. I saw no one on the North Fork Skykomish & Pass Creek trails, then saw ~10 parties on the PCT. Lake Sally Ann was completely full of campers by evening. There were two off-leash dogs, but luckily they seemed well-behaved. The next day I saw ~3 groups at the lake, ~4 groups on the PCT and 1 on the North Fork Skykomish trail. The guidebook mentions campsites at 0.5 miles (Cady Ridge trail), 1.3 miles (Wards Pass), 1.8 miles (Dishpan Gap), and 2.4 miles (creek below Dishpan Gap) from Lake Sally Ann. These might've been better options to avoid the crowds on an otherwise quiet trip, but I was tired and the lake was very pretty!

Water: Plenty of water sources on the North Fork Skykomish and Pass Creek trails. On the PCT, there was water at the Pass Creek/PCT junction, Lake Sally Ann, and a little north of the Cady Ridge trail junction.

Water crossings: All fords of the N Fork Skykomish River were easy (two on the Pass Creek trail, one on the North Fork Skykomish River trail). I did change into sandals for the first Pass Creek crossing just because I'm not very balanced with rock hopping and didn't want to get wet feet, but it was pretty shallow. I rock hopped the other ones, getting slightly wet on the last one. 

Trail conditions: Some downed trees on the non-PCT trails, especially on the North Fork Skykomish trail between Dishpan Gap and the Pass Creek junction. All could be passed, though some took effort since I have short legs.

Highlights: Bountiful berries! The most I've ever seen on a trail. Beautiful fall colors, meadowy ridges galore, and very peaceful option for Labor Day weekend.

Excellent nice long infinity loop backpack!

Day 1: Quartz Creek TH (road is good - if you have a sedan, take the little rocky section just before the Blanca Lake TH slow, but it's fine). Took Quartz Creek up to Curry Gap and Bald Eagle Trail. Got water at Curry Gap - there actually were a few good streams after Curry Gap, but we were not expecting any. The chill grade was so pleasant and the trail was in great condition! Misty moody PNW day still with some pretty views! Got to Dishpan Gap and did a little loop round Meander Meadows, which was showing off in all its glory. Still some wildlfowers and SO many blueberries (and some huckleberries!) along the whole trail. We also saw at least 20 marmots (and a few pikas) over the two days! Somehow no bears, which was baffling, because I would absolutely live here if I were a bear. One could get water at Meander Meadows, but we headed to Sally Ann to camp. The lake was perfect (and not even really cold) for a dip and there were at least a handful of good camping spots. The toilet, however, is getting quite full!

Day 2: We filled water at Pass Creek and then continued on the PCT until we turned off at West Cady Ridge. Bench Mark Mountain was beautiful! The trail up on the East side was thick at times, but going down on the West side was nice and clear. There were a few water spots before crossing the North Fork Skykomish, but we'd planned on enough water from Pass Creek back to the TH. In general the trail was pretty fluffy and it was less steep down than I'd expected. Lots of mushrooms popping up (even some yummy chanterelles we had for appetizers on Day 1!).

Day 1: 20.17 miles/5,817 ft gain

Day 2: 14.79 miles/2,552 ft gain

Momo’s Muddy Paws Club is continuing our summer quest to slowly check off all the dog-friendly backpacks in Craig Romano’s Backpacking Washington—our seasonal bible.

This week’s adventure: the Dishpan Gap Loop. We made it to the North Fork Skykomish trailhead in a Prius and bottomed out exactly zero times. A few evasive pothole maneuvers were required, but otherwise it was smooth sailing.

The berries were all-time. Thimbleberries. Huckleberries. Blueberries. Salmonberries. We ate like kings—Momo included.

We camped at Lake Sally Ann, which has plenty of sites and gorgeous views. Trout were jumping, and the privy boasted a spectacular vista… though it’s more “hole flush with the ground” than “throne.”

The PCT section was stunning, with sweeping views of Glacier Peak. We tackled the loop in two days: about 11 miles to Lake Sally Ann, then just over 10 miles out. If you want to split it up more, there’s excellent camping at 6.5 miles at the PCT junction (47.92824, -121.17769). It’s a bit of a push to Sally Ann with 3,681 feet of gain.

Trails were in great shape, traffic was light but steady, and the berries kept us fueled. Mosquitoes made a few appearances but were never too bad—even at the lake—though repellent is still a good idea.