Enjoyed a two night - three day backpack starting at N. Fork Skykomish and exiting the W. Cady Ridge Trail. Short story: Berries, big trees, butterflies, birds, views, and lots of solitude. 

Road/Parking: Forest road in is washboarded in places, but we saw a sedan at the trailhead, so anyone can make it! Parking was almost full when we arrived before 1pm on a Friday. Toilet was clean and stocked. Parking lot was less full when we exited on Sunday afternoon.  

N. Fork Skykomish trail to Dishpan Gap (9 miles): the trail up the river is so mellow and well maintained, it was hard to believe we were gaining elevation. We only saw a couple of parties coming out and we kept stopping to eat all the berries, including the most giant salmonberries I've ever seen. I was nervous about the ford at 5 miles in...I overthought it. My partner did it by stepping on rocks. I put water shoes on, and did manage to slip in but it was all in good fun. There's a log crossing as well, if that's more your style. There was one tent at the campsite past the junction. At this point the trail takes a hard left and is marked by pink tags on trees. There's a few blowdowns but very easy to navigate. Water: we walked down a dry creek bed and found water about .5 miles before the gap because we were nervous about getting water for the night - we found it! And then crossed a creek about 1/3 mile before the gap, which probably won't be there in another few weeks. Campsites: There's not a lot of proper campsites to be had at the gap, we got one just off  the trail from the junction, but we looked off the PCT and many were not really proper sites and in meadows. Bugs were annoying in the evening, but not unbearable and completely disappeared after dark. 

Dishpan Gap to Benchmark Mountain Camp (9.5 miles): We stopped at Lake Sally Ann to filter water and to enjoy some Vaux swifts. There was some folks heading North on the PCT, all backpackers, but we had long stretches of solitude. The surrounding views of mountains are stunning here. Then we dropped down to Pass Creek, where we filtered water for the rest of our trip - this was necessary as there is no water (besides a trickle of a creek) and muddy tarns for the rest of the hike (note 10 miles, so we carried a lot of water!). There's ample tent sites here and a toilet. We turned off on the west cady ridge trail and saw no one until we reached camp. Campsites: we planned to camp at benchmark mountain. We saw the "mountain from the trail" and tried to take a social trail up...it went nowhere. We lucked out when we went to the trail marked on the map (you will be well past the mountain if coming from the east). Just off the trail there are a few tent sites - we met some nice folks who were setting up camp and showed us where the other tent sites were. That evening we made our way up the mountain (a 1/2 mile trail) and there is one proper tent site at the top, albeit very exposed. There are berries everywhere and we enjoyed. The views of Glacier Peak and the surrounds are top notch. Bugs were a little annoying but not bad. 

Benchmark Mountain - West Cady Ridge Trail - trailhead (6.6 miles): We woke to fog and the mountains around were shrouded. We enjoyed more berries and wildflowers on our way out. The W Cady Ridge Trail is very rocky and in a gully for some parts, until the last few miles, which are in beautiful forest. There are at least seven blowdowns on this portion, all are navigated easily by under/over or around. We only saw two trail runners and a day hiker making their way in. Water: There's some streams in the last couple of miles, but otherwise this stretch is completely dry except for some muddy tarns about 1 mile west of Benchmark. We saw and heard lots of birds on the way out including a western tanager and evening grosbeak. 

We had a nice time making a quick loop from Dishpan Gap to Cady Pass and back down this weekend. We did White Pass two weeks ago and enjoyed that this was a much easier grade up to the PCT! Our itinerary:

• Day 1: North Fork Skykomish trailhead to junction with Pass Creek Junction
• Day 2: North Fork Skykomish trail to Dishpan Gap, continuing to Cady Pass via PCT, camping at Pass Creek Trail / PCT Junction
• Day 3: Back to TH via Pass Creek Trail and North Fork Skykomish

Some brief notes:

• The best part of these trails is the solitude! We saw few other hikers, particularly when we were off the PCT. 
• Tons of bear scat on the N. Fork trail - be prepared to store food properly at those camps. We did not observe bear scat on the PCT. 
• Bugs are pretty nuclear. We spent most of our afternoon and evening on night two in our tent avoiding nickel-sized mosquitos.
• There are some down trees, especially on the Pass Creek trail, but they are not terrible.
• Water availability on the PCT is currently pretty good but I wouldn't expect many of the seasonal streams to last more than a few more weeks.
• Huckleberries are still coming in. There are some bushes with berries that appear ripe along the N. Fork Skykomish trail but they are unfortunately quite tart.

Last note, the WTA website may be slightly out of date in that the Index Galena Road is open again. This road is paved all the way to the FS 63/65 junction, is a pleasant drive, and gets you off US 2 earlier if you're coming from the west.

Happy to answer questions in the comments!

A lovely 25 mile loop up North Fork Skykomish to Dishpan Gap, south on the PCT to Lake Sally Ann, up Benchmark Mountain and down West Cady Ridge. I did a resupply/trail angeling for friends doing the Washington section of the PCT. Road in is typical condition, potholes make you want to drive carefully but doable in most cars (high clearance helps). Trailhead bathroom is one of the cleanest I've seen in a while. Two other cars in the parking lot at 7:30 am.

North Fork Skykomish River: Starts pretty gentle for six miles or so before kicking up to Dishpan gap at the end. Brushy and muddy in places, definitely glad to be wearing long pants and waterproofed boots. Pretty easy water crossings most of the way, one tricky one at 7 miles or so that I crossed a little downstream of the trail on a bigger log. Plenty of opportunities to refill water if needed. Blowdowns here and there, mostly easy except for a couple that required carefully vaulting. In general, it is a lovely forest walk with lots of frogs. Near mile 8, around 5000 feet, snow appears, but doesn't become troublesome until the last quarter mile where the trail is steepest. I wouldn't have put on spikes if I had had them, it just slowed me a little. Met friends at Dishpan Gap and had the burritos I had brought for lunch. 

PCT from Dishpan Gap to West Cady Ridge Trail: Similar to the top sections of North Fork Trail. Mostly clear, not a whole lot of brush or mud, just sections of snow left and deadfalls. Snow was not too hard as it was never very steep. Some blowdowns are challenging to cross, but most are relatively easy. Dishpan Gap has some nice views both East and West, could see a little smoke from the Pomas fire. Lake Sally Ann is very pretty, still too cold to comfortably swim with snow and ice still covering spots. Was very nice to be able to walk with friends for 7 miles or so and break up the solitude of the other 18 miles. Great views to the East and South for the first four miles, so nice to be outside in the wilderness. Turned off at the West Cady Ridge Trail and transferred the rest of the contents I had brought them.

West Cady Ridge to Benchmark Mountain: Little bit more brushy (in the form of small trees) and snowy than the PCT. Steep in sections too, it's slightly more of a battle to get up to the top. Routefinding is a little challenging across the snow, but trails can be seen in most places. GPS is helpful, especially going up from West Cady Ridge to Benchmark Mountain, but not fully required. Regardless, the views are for sure worth it. Can see a lot of the cascade range, both Glacier and Rainier, and the entire basin behind Blanca Lake to the West. Coming down from the summit was beautiful, as the trail winds through alpine meadows and along the ridge. Many wildflowers could be found here, as evidenced below. Super nice day to be out, clouds came in at around this point and provided some great lighting to enjoy the views. Glad I came down this way, and it was much steeper than the North Fork Trail. 

Garmin logged 25.5 miles and 6200 feet of elevation gain. Saw one other person apart from my friends all day, definitely a great place for some solitude and peace.

I’ve made it up to the Glacier Peak area every year since 2018, but typically have done it mid to late August. Last year I went up in mid-July and enjoyed experiencing the area and wildlife earlier in the season. With snow pack levels reportedly lower this year and an amazing stretch of weather starting on Sunday I decided to burn a vacation day and do a fast overnight trip to the area.  

I’ve done the N Fork Sauk trail to death and have grown sick of both the first 6 miles of it and the long series of gravel roads it takes to get to the trailhead. I also wanted to get some more miles in my legs and get a look at snow conditions on the PCT since I know a bunch of SOBO hikers are starting in the next week. I had a couple options, but I chose the N Fork Skykomish trailhead since that involved the least amount of driving and also left me with some interesting alternates on the return trip depending on time.  

I woke up early and got to the trailhead about 6am on Sunday morning. The hike up to Dishpan Gap on the N Fork Skykomish was beautiful and uneventful. Last November’s bomb cyclone seems to have spared this area, thankfully, and there was only one substantial blowdown that required much work to get over and it’s been there since at least late last summer. The other few blowdowns were small and easily crossed over or under. The river crossing was below the knee and not too tricky with poles.  

Given the SNOTEL data I’d seen this year, I was a bit surprised to see snow completely covering the trail below Dishpan Gap starting at about 5000ft. Route finding was a bit challenging, but I was more or less able to stick to the actual trail by following the GPX file in my Garmin watch. Slight tangent, but having a Garmin with maps loaded has been extremely helpful on many hikes and downright amazing on trips like this where the trail was obscured by snow for long periods of time. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s worth the high cost for someone who wouldn’t normally buy one, but if you were buying one already I’d say the extra money to get a model with built in maps is likely worth it.  

The PCT north of Dishpan still had lots of snow and multiple 500m+ sections of unbroken snow. Traffic on this section has obviously been minimal and with snow melting quickly it became difficult to follow prior hikers paths and again picking the right line through the snow was difficult. I had decided to leave my microspikes at home since I expected much, much less snow than this based on SNOTEL data and June weather. Thankfully most of the slopes aren’t too steep and/or don’t have bad runout, but there were a few sections where I was very careful to kick in secure steps rather than risk finding myself sliding down a steep slope.  

I encountered a couple of hikers who were doing (at least) the whole Section K SOBO. The first was a woman who said she had microspikes and had been mostly okay except for Fire Creek Pass which was apparently very scary. The man I encountered slightly after her did not bring spikes and was having a very bad time. He said he’d fallen down a gully the day before and he was actively trying to figure out how to hitch into a place he could buy spikes. Alas this is arguably the hardest portion of the hardest section to do so.  

I’d originally intended on hiking the Foam Creek Trail over to Glacier Peak basin on my way in and the (now unofficial) Glacier Peak Meadows trail bad to Red Pass on my return, but I was making good enough time that I decided to reverse this to leave myself a bit more flexibility the next day. The snow seemed to mostly be on east facing slopes and for the most part west facing slopes were snow free, so the trail from White Pass to Red Pass was very cruisy. There were, however, a couple ~50 yard snow patches just south of Red Pass that were on very steep slopes and had bad runout. I might have felt comfortable crossing these with microspikes and firmer snow, but without either I was absolutely not comfortable walking them. Fortunately I was able to descend the steep slope and climb around the bottom of one and climb above the other utilizing a mote and some light scrambling.  

The valley north of Red Pass was still 90% covered in snow. Rather than try to follow the PCT I glissaded down a bit and then walked the east side of the valley in an area that’s very tough to traverse once it melts out. Then I cut over to the Glacier Peak Meadows trail and ascended to the basin at the top near the climbers trail. The meadows were all still 90% under snow, but the ascent was actually easier than I was expecting.  

As expected, the basin was also almost completely snow covered, but I was able to find a spot where I could pitch my trekking pole tent. After wandering the basin a bit looking for wildlife I headed to bed just after sundown. As I layed in my tent I heard at least one White-tailed Ptarmigan doing its “scream display” where they fly over their territory giving a really crazy call.  

After a somewhat sleepless, windy night the Ptarmigan woke me up again the next morning just after 4am. I packed up camp, wandered around the basin a bit more and then hit the trail back home. I’d originally intended on returning back through the meadows and Red Pass, but I had no desire to ascend the pass in the snow or repeat those bad sections of snow so I returned to White Pass by going over Marmot Pass and using the Foam Creek Trail. I’ve never loved the Foam Creek trail for it’s constant up/down rocky section, but it was arguably more bearable in this condition. The snow evened things out a bit and the snow bridges were mostly intact and hard. That will probably not be true by the holiday weekend though and I expect it will get quite miserable, especially as the snow bridges start failing.  

 The return from White Pass to Dishpan Gap was uneventful. It was interesting to see how much my footsteps had faded already and how quickly the small patches of snow were fading. Those large stretches are going to be there a good long while I’m guessing.  

At Dishpan Gap I made the choice to continue south 6mi and try to hit Lake Sally Ann and then return via the Pass Creek Trail. The snow immediately south of Dishpan was really bad and I lost the trail for about a quarter mile. The heavy snow on the trail continued for at least a mile and I was concerned I might have to retreat back north or face significant slowdowns, but just north of Lake Sally Ann conditions improved and the trail got a bit faster and easier to follow.  

I took a quick lunch break at a still-mostly-frozen Lake Sally Ann and soaked my shirt to try to cool off. The air was probably only in the 70s, but between the reflection from the snow and the radiation of the rock the trail was cooking.  

The 4 miles between Lake Sally Ann and the Pass Creek Trailhead were mostly snow free, but there were occasional patches where snow had piled up and bent small trees over, blocking the trail and confusing navigation. When disturbed these trees can free themselves and become impromptu catapults attempting to launch whatever is in their way (Ex. My face) into the stratosphere.  

After a pretty boring 4 miles I finally crossed Pass Creek and turned on to the Pass Creek Trail. The signage is confusing here as there’s also a trail to a small campsite and I believe I have a 100% rate of ending up in the wrong place when trying to make this turn and having to bushwack over to the real trail. The Pass Creek Trail was in similar condition to the North Fork Sky trail. A few blowdowns that were easily crossed, maybe one larger one that required a bit more effort, and a lot of smaller debris. There’s a crossing near some small falls that I’ve been able to cross on rocks later in the season that became a short wade this time of year. There are also two river crossings which are typically always wades, but came up to my knees and were much trickier. Not a big deal for an adult with poles, but it’d be a bit sketchy for kids.  

The trail was extremely quiet the whole day and I did not see a single person between the climbers camped near me at Glacier Peak and getting back to my car.  

Day 1: 26.0 miles, 7700ft gain. 

Day 2: 26.01 miles (believe it or not), 2300ft gain.  

I drove out to the North Fork Sauk River trailhead for an overnight loop hike.  The loop I did is a combo of the White Pass-Pilot Ridge trek and Craig Romano's Blue Lake Loop.  Starting at the NFSR trailhead, I walked south on road 49 for 3 miles to the Bald Eagle Mountain trailhead.  There is an impassible washout on this part of the road so you have to walk or mountain bike from NFSR or one of the nearby pullouts.

Bald Eagle is overgrown in places but never hard to follow.  The first 4 miles or so to Curry Gap is a mellow woodsey hike with some muddy sections of trail and several blowdowns.  Hikers can cross them easily but stock might have more difficulty.  After a snack break at Curry, the trail switchbacks up the ridge to Bald Eagle Mountain.  There are steep sections that are nicely broken up by gentler grades.  The trail gains the ridge and meanders you through splendid meadows to June Mountain.  A few down trees along the way but not tough to go around or under.  There's very little water past Curry Gap: only one tiny trickle at about mile 8.5 and some stagnant creek water at the camp 9 miles in.  I camped on June Mtn and woke to find myself in a cloud.  I packed and headed past the Pilot Ridge Trail junction and on to Dishpan Gap.  Had I been doing the Blue Lake Loop, I would have turned onto Pilot Ridge and gone toward Johnson Mtn.  Instead, I hiked 3 miles through misty meadows to Dishpan and the PCT.  I met some thru-hikers there who said there is an alternate route open for the PCT Northbound.  Apparently you take the Indian Creek Trail to the White River, over Boulder Pass, through the Napeequa Valley, over Little Giant Pass and then head up Phelp's Creek to Spider Gap.  Now there's an adventure!

I followed the PCT north for 8 miles or so to White Pass.  Blueberries are ripe and the leaves are turning purple and red.  Ran into a handful of other hikers but not as many as you'd expect.  White Pass was between groups when I passed through and the mist lifted just enough for a few pictures. Heading back down the Sauk River Trail, I passed three parties heading for Glacier Peak.  There are a few blowdowns on the NF Sauk Trail including a big one you have to crawl under.  The log bridge called Redbridge has damaged railings probably from a fallen tree.  There is an easy ford just downstream if you are uncomfortable with the gap in the railings.

Summary: ~35miles RT w/~7000ft elevation gain. ~16 hours moving time.

"Farewell we call to hearth and hall! Though wind may blow and rain may fall. We must away ere the break of day. Far over wood and mountain tall."

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit