Except for being startled by deer twice today and feeding the mosquitos it was a peaceful day on the Indian Creek trail. Audible water flowing was nearly always present.

I hiked a little over five miles up the trail before turning around. There are a couple of larger blowdowns that are easily walked around in the first two miles. Also a couple of locations where the trail is part of a stream for 40-60 feet but manageable. Otherwise the tread is in good shape. After about four miles the trail was a bit more involved. There are a few substantial downed trees that require climbing over/under. Also the trail can be hard to follow at times through the upper meadows as the grass was shoulder high in places.

Three days/two night trip to Airplane Lake and up Mount Saul with my small (15lb) dog, with the goal of replacing the pen in the summit registry :)   

Indian Creek: The trail is well maintained and easy walking up to the creek, which has a newly built bridge.  A WTA volunteer trail crew was working to clear the brush after the switchbacks, and they had cleared up to the Airplane Lake turnoff (about 4.5mi from trailhead) on my way up.  Thank you!

Airplane Lake: There's some bootpath in the middle of the climb up, but the beginning (through the forest after the turnoff) and the end (towards the top of the climb and traversing to the lake) were bushwhacks.  Even with boot pack, the 'trail' would start and stop abruptly. You will want to stay to the right of the creek, generally pointing yourself up and to the left.  The climb from the turn off to the lake took ~3 hrs up and ~2.5hrs down, covering about 1.5 mi.  The lake was surprisingly busy for being remote, with both campsites occupied and an additional group coming through in the evening on Friday.  It was nice to see so many different groups using the trail - hunters, fishers, and hikers.  Fall colors are out and beautiful.

Mount Saul: The hardest part of getting to the summit is the bushwhack through the heather and trees from Airplane Lake to the saddle. The ridge from the saddle to the summit is broad, with one short boulder scramble and not-too-steep gain.  There are two small-ish snowfields remaining.

The registry is wet, as other trip reports have noted, and is in need of replacement, which is fair given that the it's from 1984 - older than me!  I wanted to look through it but was afraid I'd cause damage, so left only a small note and then returned it to the container with the fresh pen. ~5hrs roundtrip from my campsite at the lake outflow, with lots of snack and picture breaks.

We decided on a trip to Airplane Lake after looking through maps for a secluded alpine lake on a busy summer weekend. This trip seemed to have very little information about it online and seemed like a perfect candidate. It’s a challenging scramble to get here and so you’re likely to find some solitude.

The trail starts at the White River trailhead past Lake Wenatchee. The road turns to gravel several miles before the trailhead. It’s rough in places but suitable for all vehicles. There’s a lot here for at least 25 cars. There were maybe a dozen on a busy summer weekend, but there are several trails that fan out from here and we only encountered one other party on our trip (and not a soul once leaving established trails). It’s a USFS Trailhead so it requires either a NW forest pass, interagency pass (america the beautiful pass), or using a fee envelope at the trailhead.

From the trailhead cross the bridge and head north on the Indian Creek trail. The trail is extremely flat for the first two miles and would be a great option for trail running. The trail passes a huge 12ft diameter tree around 1.75 miles in, coming to the Indian Creek crossing 0.25mi later. There’s a newly constructed bridge across the creek here. From this point onwards the trail climbs some switchbacks at a gentle grade. There’s been some recent trail maintenance in this area and the trail is in excellent condition. The trail crosses some grassy areas that were freshly cut back.

At around 4.5mi from the car there will be a faint trail to the right, immediately before a campsite along the trail to the left. Take the faint trail and after 250ft you’ll see a sign that says “Marking of Routes is Prohibited” to let you know you’re on the right track. Continue following the faint trail, and in another 500ft or so the trail will exit the dense forest. From here, the trail enters a burned area. From past trip reports it sounds like this area burned in 2016. The trail becomes easier to follow here for the next 1500ft of elevation, but it’s dusty, steep, and loose. The brush is coming back in this area, but the presence of the scramble trail means there’s minimal bushwhacking required. Around 500ft of elevation before the lake the trail becomes harder to follow, but cross-country travel isn’t too difficult. At 5200ft it’s important to intercept the traversing trail to the lake which provides a good path through some cliffy areas. Near the lake the trail drops down slightly to the outflow. You could also attempt to find the faint trail slightly to the right in the brush which we took on the way out.

Once at the outflow, there’s a nice trail following the east side of the lake. You’ll come to a small campsite immediately. There’s space for a couple tents but there isn’t great water access here. Continuing along the trail to the north side of the lake takes you to a very nice campsite with space for many tents in the trees. There’s a cooking area outside the trees with excellent views of Mount Saul. There’s a grass meadow here that extends into the lake which was actually not muddy at all.

The next morning we scrambled up to the ridge line on the northern side of the lake. This is definitely a bushwhack with sections of steep heather and blueberry bushes, and wet brush could make things unpleasant, luckily it was only slightly damp for us. It’s not too dense so most routes will go just fine. You’ll want to aim for the saddle in the ridge where a rock ramp provides easy access (an easy class 3 scramble).

Once on the ridge line you’ll be greeted with views of Glacier Peak to the north. There’s a definite trail once on the ridge although some sections require a bit of route finding. There are some steps of class 3 scrambling but nothing is too difficult. The ridge is wide and a fairly steady grade. There are some benches that would be suitable for camping. Once near the summit the route enters an interesting area of large granite slabs. Near the summit there was a patch of snow holding on here and some runoff that provided some water. The actual summit of Mount Saul is quite broad with some jagged rocks at the very top. The summit register is west of the highest point in some rocks maybe 15ft below the highest point. The register is surprisingly full since it’s been here some time, even though this peak only sees a few summits per year. The register is in rough shape. It’s been soaked by water and is probably due for replacement. The included pen also does not work.

https://caltopo.com/m/UEA6T

* Trailhead to turnoff, easy trail: 4.5 mi, 1200ft
* Turnoff to Lake, scramble through burnt forest: 1.5 mi, 2200ft
* Lake to Summit, bushwhack followed by ridge scramble: 1.5 mi, 2000ft

A very pleasant walk along the milky White Rover amid old growth Cedar and Hemlock. The trail was in excellent shape. We walked it 2.5 miles to the crossing of Indian Creek. A brand new log bridge across the creek was nearing completion with only a couple of segments of hand rail remaining. We encountered only one other party of two with a dog. It was a very quiet and peaceful forest walk

I took a few extra days off after Labor Day weekend to do a 7-day clockwise circuit around Glacier Peak. We slept at the trailhead the night before and got an early start on Sunday morning. The road is accessible to all vehicles -- if our 2008 Toyota Prius could make it, your car can probably make it too. 

Day 1: Indian Creek to White Pass (~15.5 miles)
Wowwww, just wow. Enjoy the first 3 miles (a pleasant meander through your standard PNW forest) or so of this trail because you'll certainly miss them once you encounter Brush Town, USA. Never in my life have I hiked a brushier established trail than this. The valley itself is lovely (especially with all the fall colors starting to pop), but unfortunately I didn't have much capacity to take in the views as I was too busy dragging/forcing myself through overgrown thimbleberry, ferns, alder stands, and various tall grasses. As others have mentioned, the trail is a bit tricky to find at times, but it never took more than a minute or so of "huhhh?"-ing to get back on track. I was SO HAPPY to finally hit the PCT at mile 12-ish. We hiked north on the PCT for about 3 miles to White Pass before taking a trail to the left to drop below the ridge to set up camp for the night at one of the established sites (pit toilet available). There are signs posted asking folks not to camp on the ridge. We saw a bajillion marmots (give or take).

Day 2: White Pass to Mica Lake (~19 miles)
After packing up camp in the wee hours of the morning, we hiked over to Red Pass and into the valley below. Others might disagree, but I thought this was the most scenic section of the entire loop. We got to the valley at around 8am, and something about the low-lying clouds and the way the morning light hit the river and the surrounding hillsides made me feel like we were Sam and Frodo on our way to Mordor to get rid of that blasted ring. Can we all agree that Sam and Frodo were the OG ultralight hikers? They weren't even wearing shoes. We arrived at Mica Lake around 5pm and set up camp next to a pair of NOBO PCT hikers we'd been leapfrogging throughout the day. There isn't much space at the lake itself for folks to camp (probably 4-5 tents max?), but there are more sites about a half mile beyond the lake.

Day 3: Mica Lake to the Suiattle River (~22 miles)
An up and down day in terms of elevation and my overall mood. We were glad to have hit the switchbacks climbing out of Milk Creek early in the day to avoid the sun. The peekaboo glimpses of Glacier Peak were a nice bonus as well. This area was brushy, but really nothing in comparison to what we experienced during our slog up Indian Creek. One of the highlights from this day was the stand of old growth conifers we hiked past on the west side of the Suiattle, close to the bridge crossing. Ancient giants never fail to humble me. I took many photos but failed to capture their enormity. We camped at a site near the bottom of the switchbacks leading up to Miners Ridge. 

Day 4: Suiattle River to Image Lake (~7 miles)
We originally planned for this to be a longer day in terms of mileage, but in the end we decided that we wanted to take it easy and camp at Image Lake. The climb up to Miners Ridge felt like it took forever (nicely graded, just a long haul), but the views were definitely worth it. I highly suggest taking the 0.2 mile detour over to the lookout once you hit the ridge. You can't camp at the lake itself, but there are clear signs to point you in the direction of the established sites. We watched the sunset from a spur trail on the north side of the lake (this area is probably where most of those 'Image Lake w/ Glacier Peak in the background' pics are taken from). The pit toilet near the campsites has an amazing view of Glacier Peak, FYI, so you can poo and experience the wonders of nature at the same time. 

Day 5: Image Lake to Buck Creek Pass (~14 miles)
This section was pretty uneventful, but the views were stupendous. The meadows just out of Image Lake were simply *chef's kiss*. The trail gets a bit steeper after the intersection with the PCT, and the final push up to Buck Creek Pass was grueling at the end of a long day. There are a few spots to camp at the base of Flower Dome, and while you might be tempted to set up camp there after the steep suffer fest you just endured, I'd suggest going another half mile or so to get to the next set of sites near the juncture with the Liberty Cap Trail because you'll be rewarded with an unbeatable view of Glacier Peak right from your tent. I spent about an hour picking blueberries near our campsite while I watched the sunset behind the mountain. Very picturesque. 

Day 6: Buck Creek Pass to Boulder Pass (~14 miles)
High Pass! So marvelous. Ridge walks are my fav. The trail is pretty steep leading up to and dropping into the Napeequa Valley. My knees were unhappy, but thankfully those sections were brief enough. I'm partial to valleys, so I absolutely adored the first few miles of this day. Again, I must credit the fall colors for being the cherry on top of an already beautiful spot. The trail sort of morphs into a Choose Your Own Adventure situation towards the end of the valley (I think a few washouts/slides have obliterated the true trail), but just follow the river and you'll be okay. I do regret that by this point on our loop I probably looked like a frazzled/deranged rodent because we happened to pass a group of what appeared to be super models heading north halfway through the valley. What a time to have looked my worst. To my great displeasure, it started to rain right as we got to where we had to ford the Napeequa. There wasn't really a discernable trail leading to river, but we just headed towards the water right at the intersection with the Little Giant Trail and easily found a spot where other people had clearly crossed at. I'm, like, very short (literally 5'0" on a good day), so the water went up to my hips, but the current wasn't moving very quickly and the crossing itself was super brief. I went barefoot with the aid of trekking poles, but I'm sure that others might prefer to keep their shoes on or switch to water shoes. The water was opaque, so the poles were useful in gauging depth. A few soggy miles after the ford (uphill, but evenly graded), we set up camp at Boulder Pass, which was quite pretty shrouded in mist and burgeoning with fall colors. It continued to rain throughout the night, and I was not pleased as I grumpily ate my instant mashed potatoes. 

Day 7: Boulder Pass to White River (~10.5 miles)
I'm not sure if I would have noticed how brushy the first couple miles of this section were if everything hadn't been so darn wet from the previous night's rain. My pants were 100% drenched within an hour of leaving camp. If I could go back in time, I think I would have packed rain pants. Oh well. I was glad to end the loop on a section that was entirely downhill. I passed the time by listening to irreverent podcasts and gorging on the last of my candy stash.  We got back to the trailhead around 1pm and proceeded to high-five each other and accost a stranger to take photos of us. We celebrated our great accomplishment by eating giant, greasy cheeseburgers in Skykomish before heading back home. I can now rest easy knowing that I did A Thing™ this summer, so it really doesn't matter if I spend the rest of 2021 on my couch re-watching Dawson's Creek for the sixth time.