From the parking lot there are several choices on how to do a loop hike in this fabulous neighborhood. We choose to ascend Cady Ridge and descend via Meander Meadows and the Little Wenatchee trail. Both trails are in good condition although the latter is very brushy. Other options would include Cady Creek Trail and an adventurous high route along Wenatchee Ridge which traverses three summits before dropping a steep 2100' to the parking lot. The views are superb of both east and west sides. Glacier dominates to the north. Berries are prolific to the point of absurdity. We ascended Kodak Peak, a former fire lookout, for it's fantastic views. Water is sparse but we managed by visiting Lake Sally Ann (too many campers to stay there), and at a free flowing creek just north of Indian Pass. My biggest disappointment of this trip is the lack of etiquette on the trail. Numerous fire pits, some built nearly ON the trail, and toilet paper (and it's associated mess) visible in the trees. We dispersed several rock rings and the gallons of burnt wood. There wasn't much we could do about the latter.

Took Cady Ridge up and then followed the PCT to White Pass. As reported by others, there are a few blowdowns along the Cady Ridge Trail, but not too difficult to cross. From White Pass, headed up to the summit of White Mountain. Great views at the top and there is an easy boot path to follow directly up from the pass. Then headed west along the ridge of White Mountain and eventually dropped back down to the PCT shortly before Red Pass. Went up to Red Pass briefly. Nice views there too if you prefer not to head up White Mountain (although not quite as nice as from the peak). On the return I took the short side trip up Kodak Peak, also recommended. Nice flowers along the Little Wenatchee River Trail as it heads down to Meander Meadows. As others have noted, the rest of the trail below Meander Meadows is extremely brushy for much of the way. Would be very wet if in the morning with dew or shortly after rain. Luckily it was dry as I headed back in the early evening, but still very brushy. Not difficult to follow the trail, but the brush makes it relatively slow going. More pictures at the link below.

3 day, 2 night loop. We left a car at the Indian Creek/White River TH and drove to the Smithbrook TH. Smithbrook trail is in great shape, the switchbacks take the edge off the moderate climb, and there are tons of ripe blueberries and huckleberries. Raspberries coming soon. There were several cars at the lot, but apparently all were headed for Valhalla, and we saw almost no one out there on Day 1. We turned north onto the PCT and met a FS employee hauling out bags of trash at the junction. The PCT is, of course, well trod and in good shape. We had a brief rain shower as we climbed away from Janus and then sort of followed the rain through all the wet vegetation it left behind to get our feet wet. The views from Grizzly Peak were well worth the climb, and here we saw our first party of southbound thru hikers. Not many stream crossings with water in them, but we had lunch at Lake Janus and then hiked on to Pear Lake to camp. The whole stretch had quite a few blueberries ripe. Pear Lake camping is condensed into a small space on the northeast, where you could fit 4-6 parties and have good access to the water and to the toilet. There are some additional options in the meadow at the north shore, but more difficulty reaching the water from there. We cozied up with 2 other parties (a pair of southie thru hikers and a northbound section hiker) in the main area. Beautiful lake with lots of birds and jumping fish, some rodents through camp at night. Some gnats, but not really any flies or mosquitoes. The weather was nice but windy. Day 2 was the shortest, headed to Lake Sally Ann. There were a few streams with water in them on the descent to Cady Pass. Some variation in elevation, but never more than 1000ft at a time. More good trail and stunning views. Some of the meadows are past their wildflower prime, but we still caught some good fireweed and a mix of others. Many more blueberries/huckleberries today, and a few other hiking parties, mostly southbound. We camped at Lake Sally Ann. Even with the smaller lake and bigger crowd of overnighters (the southies say there are a lot of dry stretches north, so this is a popular camp), there are enough trees to afford a good deal of privacy between campers. Some gnats, but not really any flies or mosquitoes. The weather was nice but windy. Day 3 we dawdled on north along the PCT as far as Indian Pass and did a side trip up Kodak Peak - very obvious boot path in nice condition, and the 360 views are well worth the steep 600ft of elevation gain. We saw several other hikers out on this stretch. Once we reached Indian Pass, we turned east onto the Indian Creek trail (1502). The junction is clearly signed, and the trail at the top is excellent tread. It fairly quickly drops 1000 ft into the forest, with moderate erosion of the trail, but easy enough to walk. It then emerges into a brushy clearing with a small stream crossing. The middle stretch is approximately 8 miles of static elevation and relentless BRUSH. It was extremely slow going, with brush grabbing your legs and feet, and enough rocky-rooty tread to want careful foot placement, but too much brush to see your feet. The bugs were pretty bad through here, many grasshoppers, but also plenty of flies and mosquitoes. There is occasional brief respite in the forest, where the brush is less dense but still brushy. These are best at just confirming you are still trail adjacent, as it is really hard to tell in the brush (members of our party did not always agree). When the brush is below head level, there are nice views of the surrounding peaks, and they are useful to just keep yourself pointed down valley. We scared up a snake and some grouse and saw a variety of scat, but no real wildlife, par for the course with the canine companion along. Probably an excellent area to (literally) bump into a bear. Lots of ripe berries (blueberries, raspberries, salmon berries), especially in the shady bits. Occasionally, what I believed to be the trail would follow streambeds, mostly dry now, but this route would be tenfold more miserable in wet weather. We crossed a huge avalanche blow down of (hundreds?) of trees somewhere midvalley, but all but 1 or 2 have been cleared. This was one of the easier bits, actually. This midsection was surprisingly dry, with all the streambeds apparently ephemeral. Fill up when you have the chance. Finally, with about 4 miles to go, the trail become more forest trail than bushwack, though there is still plenty more moderate brush ahead. In the forest, the trail is obvious, if mildly eroded (increasing numbers of hoof prints and horse poop), and there are a couple of streams. Once you hear Indian Creek again for maybe the second time in miles, the trail begins to lose elevation in a series of long switchbacks (brush free!) and a few down trees to climb over. The bridge across Indian Creek is in great shape, and then there are about 2 more miles to go - mostly forest, a few patches of waist-high brush, and intermittent views of the White River. The trail is in good shape here with the exception of a few blow downs. The few stream crossings were pretty small. Through here, the giant cedars are impressive, and once you find the fine, sturdy bridge across the White River, you are back at the trailhead. We had underestimated both the distance of this trail (initially thought 6-8 miles total, and then my GPS died about the same time my soul did) and the difficulty. It is a through trail on the maps, but the guidebooks and many trip reports discuss it as an out-and-back dayhike (RT 8 miles) from the White River TH, which is the only section that appears to have been maintained and is probably a lovely hike if you aren't exhausted and dehydrated and rushing to beat sunset like we were. We saw zero other people dumb enough to take this route. The TH signage has been replaced since that June report, but the trail update only discussed the Mt. David trail. The map there does have Indian Creek as a thru trail, with 11 miles to the PCT. It took us about 7 hours to get across without really any stops (also on day 3 blisters and after enjoying PCT peaks and views all morning). If you are up for an epic adventure, this is a great option. If you prefer a saner approach, avoid using Indian Creek to leave the PCT - Meander Meadow/Little Wenatchee River Trail is lovely.

I started this hike at the North Fork Sauk River, hiked along Pilot Ridge, and camped the first night at Blue Lake. This was a very hot and dry hike; especially along Poets Ridge, which is pretty much made up of fragmented game trails. I was not even supposed to be on this ridge, but I took a wrong turn at Kodak peak while attempting to complete Pilot Ridge Loop (in the reverse direction) and ended up on top of Bryant Peak. At the base of Kodak peak I encountered a wolverine. It walked out of the forest towards a stagnant water pool and froze as soon as it saw me sitting in the grass on the hillside (about 30 meters away). The front half was primarily dark brown and the back half was a reddish "foxy" color. It had the build and movement of a small bear. My dog (Roux) spotted it shortly after I had and jumped to her feet. The wolverine immediately turned and bolted into the forest. Of course, Roux gave chase before I could grab her leash. Fortunately she listened to my screams and stopped at the tree line. We decided this was our cue to get back on the trail. Both Roux and I kept looking back at the trail behind us, and in our haste we ended up on Poets Ridge. It was in the low 90s that day (at 6000 feet!), and by this point I only had about 16 oz of water remaining. The trail kept disappearing and then reappearing in a piecewise fashion. I managed to make the water last until we had bushwhacked our way to the summit of Bryant Peak. This is where I realized that something had gone horribly wrong. I was hoping to reconnect with the main trail to White Pass and thought we were getting close to water, but instead we were in the middle of nowhere; about 5 miles from the last water I had seen. I was beat! Already dying of thirst and crushed that I had to retrace my steps; knowing there would be no water for miles, which equated to hours. It was mid-day. Roux laid in the minimal shade produced by a sapling, breathing heavily. She must have been just as thirsty as I was. This is where I had to make the decision to either wait for things to cool off, or power through the heat of the day in order to cover ground and find water. I made Roux get up and we headed back down Poets Ridge towards Kodak Peak. Roux kept ducking into pockets of shade. Sometimes I would join her, but mostly I just called her along. I am sure her black coat didn't help anything. At one point I stopped for a potty break. Knowing that Roux was dying of thirst, I pulled out her empty water dish and used it to her advantage. We pressed on. By now my tongue was permanently stuck to the roof of my mouth. I tried not to swallow because it would throw me into fits of dry heaving. There wasn't even anything to swallow, or to throw up for that matter. Dozens of waterfalls taunted me from across the valley as they gushed out of rocks towards me, only to fall deep into the valley below. We eventually made it back to Kodak peak. I saw where we had missed our turn earlier that day and decided to head back out the way I had come in rather than proceed on to White Pass and risk taking another wrong turn, or prolonging my trek for water. Roux purposefully moved towards the stagnant pool where we had seen the wolverine, lapped up a healthy portion of water, and then laid down in the middle of it. The pool had thousands of little parasites squirming in the sun lit murky water. I tried digging a seep in the mud next to the pool, but the water was so dirty that it instantly plugged my filter. I knew there was cleaner water ahead, so I abstained from hydration for a little while longer. Once we made it to a little creek I filled up both of my Nalgenes, cracked open my emergency water purification capsules, and waited in the shade for another half hour while they did their job. I had never been even close to this thirsty before in my entire life! This is the first hike I have been on where I (literally) cried with joy upon reaching my car. I sobbed like a baby. I plan to return later this year to complete the loop. PS. I tried to keep a long story short. Sorry if it was difficult to read (I wrote it on my smartphone).

Finally, a three day weekend-which means longer drive times become very much acceptable and areas we rarely get to venture to are no longer out of reach. Ah, thank you forefathers. First off, the road to the trailhead is completely accessible by all-up until the last two miles or so. While we saw low-clearance vehicles that had obviously made it past the potholes, roots and rocks, I can't guarantee that they did it unscathed. That's one bumpy, brushy forest service road, and I wouldn't have wanted to drive it in my little commuter car. We opted to hike the loop clockwise, starting with heading up...and up...and up (as we were not relishing coming down...and down...and down) the Cady Ridge trail, traversing the PCT over Dishpan Gap with a side trip to Kodak Peak, then out through Meander Meadows on the Little Wenatchee River Trail. While the first bit of the Cady Ridge Trail is a gentle up through lovely forest, it quickly turns into a brutal ascent with little shade and no respite-the grade is steep and the tread rough. I'm sure it was made much worse by the excessive heat (we really didn't time that one well), but no way would I want to have to descend that ridge in any weather. If you have stronger knees than I, it may not seem so daunting. Mine ache just thinking about it. That being said, I may have actually preferred it to the bushwacking that we were forced to perform two days later as we exited along the Little Wenatchee. Good Lord! Never again. Someone get in there with a machete, please! (Ponder, in his never-wavering attempt to find Good in All Things, remarked that we sure were breathing some well-oxygenated air! Yes. Yes, we were. The flora is quite happy on that trail.) Cady Ridge itself, however, as well as this particular section of the PCT and Meander Meadows, I really don't even have words for. Absolutely breathtaking. Wildflowers are at peak right now for most of the way, Glacier Peak is in-your-face spectacular, and the meadows and hillsides are the most brilliant emerald green imaginable. This was definitely one of those trips that make us just pause and give thanks for where we live, and for the wilderness we are fortunate enough to have access to. The theme of the hike was dry, dry, dry. There's no water source anywhere along Cady Ridge, and the sporadic trickles along the PCT just north of the Cady Ridge junction, and north of Kodak Peak, are so small that there was no way our Sawyer Gravity was going to be able to scoop up enough water for filtering. Some pump models might be able to make a go of it, but to be on the safe side, pack double the amount of water you think you might need, or be willing to make the trek to one of the lakes in the area (Lake Sally Ann is an easy half mile ramble heading south on the PCT from the Cady Ridge trail). We ended up hiking down to Indian Pass on our second day, and then a little over a mile or so along the Indian Creek Trail, where we found the creek flowing abundantly. Rumor has it there was also water further north along the PCT in the White Pass area, but that was more trekking than we were willing to take on during this particularly hot trip. If Meander Meadows is your destination water will not be an issue as there is a creek that, well, meanders through the camps. Campsites along this loop are ample-there are many more places to throw down a tent than are marked on the Green Trails map of the area. One pretty great spot on the Cady Ridge Trail just before it intersects with the PCT, a few tucked discreetly along the trail between Cady Ridge and Dishpan Gap (where we spent our first night), several at the junction of the PCT with the Blue Lake High Trail, and one or two affording absolutely epic views of Glacier further along the PCT just before reaching the Little Wenatchee River Trail sign. We were lucky enough to spend our second night in the only site available on the trail to Kodak Peak (“trail” may be a bit of misnomer-it's a peak bagger's route, which means straight up, narrow, and rocky. And totally worth it, as it awards you a 360 view of all of the surrounding peaks). It's right on the trail, but only a whopping three people (and one dog) passed us within the 24 hours we were camped there. Really, the entire three days was remarkably uncrowded (unless you count our brief visit to Lake Sally Ann to get water. It's probably a lovely place to camp-if you don't mind company. After having hiked up until that point only encountering a handful of other people it was quite a shock to round the corner and discover 486 humans and half again as many dogs lounging on the banks of the lake. Okay, there were maybe a dozen people. But it felt like party central. No thanks). One final word of wisdom – Permethrin your clothes and bring along DEET. The biting flies were worse than the 'skeeters, but both were out in full force and apparently ravenous.