North Fork Sauk River — Friday, Jul. 9, 2021

This is my second backpacking trip with my 11-year-old lab border collie mix this summer.  I've been looking for trails with lots of shade, water access, and not much elevation gain, so the North Sauk Trail was a good fit.  Arrived at the trailhead a little before 11 on Friday.  The road in was rough: potholes and two spots where water had strewn rocks across the roadway.  I drive a 2WD VW Golf and going slow I made it there and back fine.  Negotiating the potholes and avoiding the rocks did take some time though: I would not recommend this as a day hike unless you have a higher clearance vehicle or really enjoy driving on rough roads.

Trailhead parking lot was mostly full but didn't see many people on the trail, as there are lots of trip options that depart from there.  The forest is splendid - words and photos don't do it justice, the magnificent old-growth cedars and firs and giant skunk cabbage and devils club in the understory.  I am glad my dog is a slow hiker and stops a lot to sniff, as it gave me the chance to admire this magical place.  There are also plenty of spots to get water along this stretch of the trail.

My plan was to camp somewhere in the valley, after seeing the campsites near Red Creek, I decided to continue to the Mackinaw Shelter, which according to Alltrails is 6.3 miles from the trailhead.  Though the shelter has collapsed, this location offers some excellent campsites not far from the North Fork Sauk for those who still want to experience this wild place but are not able to access the high country.  We camped here for two nights, there were some black flies during the day and mosquitos in the evening but nothing too bad. 

On our second day, my dog and I went about a third of the way up to White Pass.  The switchbacks are relentless but soon views of the valley open up and the trail passes through some flower gardens with tiger lilly and paintbrush currently in bloom.  We ran into a few hikers heading up to climb Glacier Peak or spend a day or two in the high country.

Our return trip to the trailhead today was made much easier by the work of a crew that had brushed out the overgrown sections of the trail!  The North Sauk trail is in great shape and the crew told me they were off to remove the large log obstructing the tread between Red Creek and Mackinaw.  Thank you for your hard work making these wild places easier to access!